Who has the largest tank without a fuge, sump, or skimmer?

[Aquabucket]

I was originally going to go with a 30 Gallon set-up but now I might go with a 38. I prefer to go skimmerless and had great success with 20G by keeping up with water changes and running carbon 24/7 and floss when needed.

I don't like skimmers because they smell and make too much noise. I also like to have desirable macro algaes in the main display as I think its more natural, helps with nutrient export, and boosts pod populations.

I guess I want to know if this has been done with success on a larger tank like a 38. I am very diligent with my husbandry, baste my LR regularily and syphon out detritus when needed. I prefer LPS, Softies with a few of the lower light demanding SPS added to the mix.

If you have had success with a tank similar in size or larger without a skimmer, sump, or fuge, please let me know and post pics if you can.

TIA,
~Spike

 

[Fantasy Reefer]

My 55 was setup that way for almost 2 years until 3 weeks ago when i bought a skimmer. I thought it was fine. I got the skimmer because i get so busy during the summer that it is hard to keep up with cleaning. Sorry, no camera for pics.

 

[Rurouni Kenshin]

29 before i added corals with lagoonish look:

29 with SPS and various softies and macro:

 

[Rurouni Kenshin]

look in gallery for more. oh ya no skimmer sump or fuge

 

[aberg12012]

I'm thinking of doing the same with my 75... No room for one in the sump (stand it's tall enough) and I don't want a HOB. I assume as long as I keep up with water changes, it should be ok right?

Don't get me wrong... I would love to spring for a euroreef, but it just wouldn't fit.

 

[Aquabucket]

More frequent water changes and other forms of export like some nice macros in the display is a must IMO. Changing out carbon every 2 weeks is very important as well.

Spot feeding livestock helps too. Overfeeding means more WCs and problems. I think if you do all these things right you can have a nice clean tank, in fact my last tank blew away many tanks that I saw with skimmers.

Anyways I decided to go with a 30.

Its been a hectic few days but my stand turned out great and the tank is now cycling with 15lbs of LR and 65lbs of LS (Aragamax, Fiji pink, Aragalive, and some Southdown from an established
System). I will post some pics tonight and run a new thread when my Aragamax milkskake clears up.

4 hermits and 2 Margarita snails are doing fine. Hikari algae wafers were addied to help kick start the cycle and keep the hermits and snails happy.

RK, your tank looks nice and clean! Thanks for sharing.

aberg, good luck with your 75.

FS, hope your new skimmer works out for you. Thanks for posting.

 

[sinned]

Here's an old pic of my 50g skimmerless, sumpless fully loaded 5 year
old reef. Look in my gallery. Dennis (fish2223)

 

[sinned]

Here's an old pic of my 50g skimmerless, sumpless fully loaded 5 year
old reef. Dennis (fish2223)

 

[Aquabucket]

Double post and still no pic. What happened there Dennis?

Did you reed the sticky on attachments?

 

[sinned]

Yeah..... I don't know why there was a double post.... Please look in my
galley for a pic, as indicated in original post. Dennis (fish2223)

 

[Aquabucket]

Really nice Dennis! Great collection of rics. Very colorful tank you have there.

 

[nigle]

Oi!

75 gal with a 'silly' berlin 60 in the well of my Penguin filter, no sump. Doing just fine.

29 no sump no skimmer

29 no sump Prizim [if you want to call it a skimmer]

Cheers!
nigle
!~!

 

[kmu]

There must be bigger ones out there, or is it just to hard to keep up with a larger tank?

 

[K9]

My 30g has been skimmerless, sumpless, and fugeless since the beginning (01/01/04). Pics are in my photo gallery.

 

[Danger731]

40 gallon without

 

[smleee]

34 gallon without the works. . .

 

[Danger731]

40 gallon.

 

[ubasst]

i have a 20 gallon with 2 eheim 2213s..i had a bigger tank and the filters were just laying around so i used them both on my tank..one eheim has the original eheim media that is used and on my other eheim i have phosban and chemi pure in it..will the combo of the 2 filters do any harm to my tank? my water is crystal clear and the circulation is great..anyone have comments on this.sorry to get into your thread.

 

[madeeb]

125 gallon with two carbon filters and a canaster filter.one and a half years old never lost a fish or coral.if they say it cant be done i well find away to prove them wrong

 

[johara]

155 gallon, skimmerless for three years (since I upgraded from an essentially skimmerless 55G) - I'm considering adding a skimmer to see what change it would make. Overall I'm happy with the tank as is but given the intensity of feeling about how crucial skimmers are I'm now curious to see how much better the tank could be.