Truly maintenance free tanks

[CleanReef]

you know, when I wrote this

you know, when I wrote this

I kept thinking, I gotta impress Josh.

I am not trying to impress anyone. If you like the maintenance involved with your tank and like to do remedial tasks :headwalls:, please go to the next forum post.

 

[BigEZ77]

Just a few questions...

-Do you ever do any trolling in your water?

-Has your water ever turned the same green as Shrek?

-Would you say your tank is uncontrolled?

-Did Anthony Trollope ever write a book about reefing?

-Does your tank look just as good when returning from a stroll?

-Have you ever considered making a bridge with your scape and putting one of those little troll dolls underneath and a trolley going over top? That would be super cool!

Looking forward to your feedback.

Thanks,

 

[czwannabe]

Just a few questions...

-Do you ever do any trolling in your water?

-Has your water ever turned the same green as Shrek?

-Would you say your tank is uncontrolled?

-Did Anthony Trollope ever write a book about reefing?

-Does your tank look just as good when returning from a stroll?

-Have you ever considered making a bridge with your scape and putting one of those little troll dolls underneath and a trolley going over top? That would be super cool!

Looking forward to your feedback.

Thanks,

Haha I second this guy ☝��

 

[CleanReef]

A troll

A troll

is somebody who isn't trying to promote a positive message or is trying to diminish something that is actually an accomplishment.

This is an accomplishment. Whether it be a mistake or on purpose, it actually works. I already have 2 tanks that are on this method of 0 maintenance, and have no reason for posting here other than the desire to HELP somebody else.

 

[CleanReef]

current measurements

current measurements

Ammo 0
Nitrate 0
Alk 6.5
CA 440 ppm

I realize alkalinity is low, but I don't have hard corals now. I guess you could buffer if necessary.

 

[Luckedout]

Just a few questions...

-Do you ever do any trolling in your water?

-Has your water ever turned the same green as Shrek?

-Would you say your tank is uncontrolled?

-Did Anthony Trollope ever write a book about reefing?

-Does your tank look just as good when returning from a stroll?

-Have you ever considered making a bridge with your scape and putting one of those little troll dolls underneath and a trolley going over top? That would be super cool!

Looking forward to your feedback.

Thanks,

The real question is how do you have over 600 posts in 8 months!

 

[BigEZ77]

I +1 everythang!

 

[stravo71]

Look. I'm in the same boat as the creator of this post. I do a water change every 4 months. Not that I'm lazy but I specifically built my tank to be able to do this. I run a Cal reactor. Auto dose essential elements. Only thing I do regularly is recharge and replace purigen. Replace gfo and clean filter socks. My tank is a 150 with 175lbs of live rock. I have a 40 gallon sump with bio pellet reactor and skimmer. Then I also have a 40 Gallon hex refugium with macro and seahorses. Ibhave 5 fish in the main tank. And a huge clean up crew. I have a mixed reef with both sps and lps. It is possible to have a tank and have to do minimal maintenance. And that's not being lazy. If you know what your doing and have the experience of what not to do you can do it. But a tank with no maintenance is not possible. The title of post should be minimal maintenance tank.

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[joshky]

Look. I'm in the same boat as the creator of this post. I do a water change every 4 months. Not that I'm lazy but I specifically built my tank to be able to do this. I run a Cal reactor. Auto dose essential elements. Only thing I do regularly is recharge and replace purigen. Replace gfo and clean filter socks. My tank is a 150 with 175lbs of live rock. I have a 40 gallon sump with bio pellet reactor and skimmer. Then I also have a 40 Gallon hex refugium with macro and seahorses. Ibhave 5 fish in the main tank. And a huge clean up crew. I have a mixed reef with both sps and lps. It is possible to have a tank and have to do minimal maintenance. And that's not being lazy. If you know what your doing and have the experience of what not to do you can do it. But a tank with no maintenance is not possible. The title of post should be minimal maintenance tank.

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Not even the same boat. Your post is riddled with maintenance. You have a properly setup system that works for both you and your corals, keeping essential parameters in mind and not saying "Good luck, hope you survive!".

 

[stravo71]

Not even the same boat. Your post is riddled with maintenance. You have a properly setup system that works for both you and your corals, keeping essential parameters in mind and not saying "Good luck, hope you survive!".

I guess your right. Lol. Doesn't seem or feel like I do that much to it.

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[CleanReef]

Thanks for sharing your experience

Thanks for sharing your experience

Look. I'm in the same boat as the creator of this post. I do a water change every 4 months. Not that I'm lazy but I specifically built my tank to be able to do this. I run a Cal reactor. Auto dose essential elements. Only thing I do regularly is recharge and replace purigen. Replace gfo and clean filter socks. My tank is a 150 with 175lbs of live rock. I have a 40 gallon sump with bio pellet reactor and skimmer. Then I also have a 40 Gallon hex refugium with macro and seahorses. Ibhave 5 fish in the main tank. And a huge clean up crew. I have a mixed reef with both sps and lps. It is possible to have a tank and have to do minimal maintenance. And that's not being lazy. If you know what your doing and have the experience of what not to do you can do it. But a tank with no maintenance is not possible. The title of post should be minimal maintenance tank.

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Funny how you feel differently about your level of care after reading a two-liner that exists for no other purpose than to take up space on a disk somewhere.

Your setup sounds really cool though. Any documentation/pictures ?

 

[stravo71]

Funny how you feel differently about your level of care after reading a two-liner that exists for no other purpose than to take up space on a disk somewhere.

Your setup sounds really cool though. Any documentation/pictures ?

There is this bad stigma that surrounds this hobby of it being so much work and care. If you do it right it really isnt. The initial set up and cycle is by far the most daunting part. And the average person hears all the horror stories about all the money and time spent and it turns them away. It took me all but a year to accumulate all the equipment needed to start my tank the way I wanted it. I learned on my old 40 bow on what not to do and what worked. I honestly feel I don't do a fraction of work/maintenance as other reef enthusiasts do on their tank. Sometimes I look at my tank and wish there was something to do. Just trying to find something the fiddle with. But then I stop myself and say don't mess with a good thing. And when someone hears someone that has successfully set up a tank and it is doing good they get all up in arms and try to find something to point out wrong. I say congratulations my friend keep up the good work and reef on. I will post some pics of my tank and setup once I get home

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[CleanReef]

Thanks for the input

Thanks for the input

There is this bad stigma that surrounds this hobby of it being so much work and care. If you do it right it really isnt. The initial set up and cycle is by far the most daunting part. And the average person hears all the horror stories about all the money and time spent and it turns them away. It took me all but a year to accumulate all the equipment needed to start my tank the way I wanted it. I learned on my old 40 bow on what not to do and what worked. I honestly feel I don't do a fraction of work/maintenance as other reef enthusiasts do on their tank. Sometimes I look at my tank and wish there was something to do. Just trying to find something the fiddle with. But then I stop myself and say don't mess with a good thing. And when someone hears someone that has successfully set up a tank and it is doing good they get all up in arms and try to find something to point out wrong. I say congratulations my friend keep up the good work and reef on. I will post some pics of my tank and setup once I get home

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I think you are spot on. I dont have a setup nearly as nice as yours, but I agree with you. I am starting to look into auto-dosing now too. I appreciate your feedback. Have a good one!

 

[joshky]

I think you are spot on. I dont have a setup nearly as nice as yours, but I agree with you. I am starting to look into auto-dosing now too. I appreciate your feedback. Have a good one!

That's something I can get behind, I could care less if you don't do a single water change but keep your big three (Ca, Alk, Mg) within a sustainable range and hopefully at some point stable and your tank will finally blossom. This of course, still has some minor maintenance involved; like mixing the solution, filling your containers, cleaning the containers (if needed), and testing to make sure you're dosing the correct amounts. It's not hard, but it's necessary maintenance. I would suggest something like B-Ionic ESV 2-Part as it has trace elements and will help with growth and coloration of corals.

I do very minimal maintenance on my tank and I'm constantly trying to improve things to make it even easier, you never know when something will come up and you have to dedicate less time to your reef. Doing absolutely no maintenance on a reef is impossible for long term success, but minimal maintenance is definitely a goal you can shoot for and succeed.

 

[stravo71]

Only thing water changes do Is replace lost essential elements and export excess nutrients. But if you have nutrients under control than the only thing you would need is the elements. So if you have calcium reactor and a dose your taken care of there. No need to change water. Just top off evaporation and that's it
I just do water changes every 4 months or so just for added security. Probably could go longer if I wanted to.

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[CleanReef]

I dont know how long this stream will last...

I dont know how long this stream will last...

I dont know how long youtube lets you stream for. I'll have to hook this up to a laptop tomorrow instead to consume less power. If youtube doesnt work out, I'll look for something else I guess. Using droidcam.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bMhgiwDjbBU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[CleanReef]

I dont know how long this stream will last...

I dont know how long this stream will last...

I am trying a youtube stream to see if this works. I'm not sure how long they will let me stream for before this gets cut off. Also, I plan on changing to a lower power computer for this stream so I dont eat up power on my desktop.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bMhgiwDjbBU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[CleanReef]

doesnt work

doesnt work

And I cant delete posts because something seems wrong with the page. If interested, it is posted here:

https://youtu.be/BeZWVpShzeg

 

[sde1500]

While some of the posts here do seem kinda harsh, the way you post also seems to invite a certain response. I am of the belief there are many ways to keep a successful tank, and these boards show many of them. High maintenance, low maint, tons of tech, or almost no tech. Water changes, no water changes, etc etc.

But calling a tank that has lost most fish, and corals, a success is very incorrect. Keep a tank for a couple years. Keep the parameters correct, the live stock living, and the water in good shape, then I'd say you can call it a success. I understand, the majority will say you need to do a water change to keep the tank healthy, and that may or may not be true. You just in most people's opinion haven't yet reached a point where you can "prove" no water changes worked. Everyone here looks forward to seeing others have success with their tanks, its a hobby we all love, and love that others love. They also just don't like seeing "I've lost most of my fish, and most coral that I've added to my tank, and didn't read the directions on the RO so I was using the waste water. But see, this tank that is mostly empty and only 10 months old proves you can be successful doing almost no maintenance."

Good luck with your tanks, I'm glad to see you are looking into dosing, you'll have much better success with corals if you keep the params where they need to be.

 

[Taahirs]

There certainly are ways to not do waterchanges. But this is not one of them.