As Natural as a Reef Tank as possible.

[...]

Okay, I am back and after reading a post in the 'What have you done that someone told you not to' poll, I saw someone said that they have a natural tank with chaeto in the tank etc, this might not be the same and I know that replicating and ocean is literally impossible but in my 40, is it possible to have a natural reef tank? I do plan on Copepods and Amphipods and I have around a 3-4" sandbed, the only equipment I will want to have will be - T5s with two Kessil A80s for shimmer, Tunze 9014 Skimmer, Media Reacter for Chaetomorpha, a single mp10mqd (I will only have lps softies and a BTA.), dosing trace elements and a Tunze 3155 with HOB Float Valve) I will aim for a water change every fortnight done by a Auto Water Change of some sort to keep water in balance, Mechanical Filtration done by Filter Feeders ( I want two maxima clams and some coco worms), Bio and Chemical filtration done in another media reacter, Bio first than seperated by sponge some carbon, Tiny bit of Vibrant dosed every week for algae control and chuck some nori in every 3 days and hopefully it sinks to the bottom so the diadema urchin and lawnmower blenny can get it, any other things I should do?

 

[shwareefer]

If you have a pump running from the ocean to your tank and back, you can have a natural reef tank.
Everything in your post looks like a 'normal' reef tank to me.

 

[F i s h y]

Natural would be no filtration. A tank, lights, and a pump to move water. Nothing else. It is doable. You won't have a clean looking tank. There will be algae and it won't be "pristine" like a lot of the tanks you see on here.

 

[...]

Oh, Lol.

 

[ApoIsland]

Natural would be no filtration. A tank, lights, and a pump to move water. Nothing else. It is doable. You won't have a clean looking tank. There will be algae and it won't be "pristine" like a lot of the tanks you see on here.

I ran this exact system with a 55g mixed reef for 2 years and did not have any algae issues.
1 power head, 2 Chinese black box lights. Used 55g tank and 1 fan for the summer. Less than $500 invested in the tank and equip. Corals looked as good as any other system I have run and better than my current system with pic below.

It really depends on how how much water you are willing to change each week, what corals you want to keep, and what fish you keep while finding that equilibrium between how much bioload your rocks can process.
In my 55 I had it heavily loaded with rock. a yellow tang and blue tang for algae eating. A yellow coris wrasse and Christmas wrasse, tomato clown, pink spot jawfish, and a marine beta. I was changing 20-30 gallons every week or two so that is a very significant amount of new water going in. figure i had somewhere between 40 and 45g total water volume.
Of course I did not need to do any dosing with that amount of new water going in every other week.

Corals grew so fast that last 6 months I had to upgrade to my current 120. I still do not run any filtration. I did add a sump to increase water volume and delay the frequency for water changes. I do a 45-65 gallon water chance once every 4-6 weeks now. I have just a few more fish in this current system and at least 3 times the water volume. The corals I keep are not Acros though. I doubt you could keep those this way. I also can’t keep a tank loaded with 20 - 30 fish like you see in a lot of the 120g tanks with heavy filtration. Everyone from the local club that comes to see this tank though is in awe of the results attained with such a simple setup.
You absolutely can have a nice natural tank. Just have to do those water changes or keep the fish load to a minimum.

 

[...]

Nice tank, I have a 40G and I plan on
-2 Ocellaris
-Coral Beauty
-YWG Plus Shrimp
-Lawnmower Blenny
-Diamond Watchman
And I will have about a medium amount of rock, maybe 10 gallon a week? I want to do a auto water change because I don't trust that I'll turn everything needed off? I will heavily feed though so what equipment would you recommend? Also, should I use a media reacter for some bio media and carbon? I want carbon because of Impurities, toxins etc, could I put Chaeto in my main display?

 

[najer]

Evo 13.5 G / 52 L, heater, return pump powerhed and lights, no water changes unless required.

I would go for caulerpa prolifera (the long bladed one) as it is easier to control in a display.

 

[...]

Will it go sexual?

 

[WVNed]

Exactly what does "natural" mean? I can't use tidal forces from the moon circling my tank to move my water so I have pumps. I dont have a beach so no surf so I use a skimmer. There is no star in my basement so I have big honking lights.

I guess my system is supernatural.

 

[...]

I mean like, natural seawater levels, thriving microfauna, thriving fish/corals/inverts, natural methods of algae removal and natural methods on keeping nutrients down. Also less equipment like sumps, fuges, etc. Yes maybe a skimmer, yes maybe A reactor for carbon and some Bio Media, Yes lighting and powerheads and salt, etc. But Not things like, Filters, Filter Socks, Ugly Hang Ons, Overflows or tubes, wires, controllers, calcium reacters, but still get essential things like ATOs and so on so on.

 

[Waters]

You just pretty much described every reef tank minus all the fun equipment

 

[...]

OOOOOOOOOF, Do Coral Beautys eat macroalgae?' Like chaetomorpha or the one above and can I still have a thriving long term reef tank with minimal equipment.

 

[shwareefer]

Way back people used the Berlin method and could have as little as lights, heater, main pump and a mountain of live rock. This dependence on live rock to essentially do everything was thought "natural". Throwing in a skimmer was the extreme. Like all anecdotal data, some people had great results, some people grew prolific hair algae.

So the answer is yes but YMMV.

 

[...]

Whats YMMv..? Also I have a pincushion urchin so Hair Algae is not an issue for me

 

[WVNed]

Oh like this
3 Maxijets, a small skimmer and some PVC pipe, 2 tube T-5 and a heater.

I did that in 2009

Trying some other stuff now.

 

[...]

That looks awesome!

 

[najer]

Will it go sexual?

It can, the stuff in my little tank is more likely to go sexual.
They are invasive but I just weed it like a garden as required.

 

[Nano sapiens]

'As Natural as a Reef Tank as possible'. A better way to say this would be as 'As minimalistic as possible'

Live rock, live sand (can be optional), pump, heater, thermometer...and patience:

 

[F i s h y]

I ran this exact system with a 55g mixed reef for 2 years and did not have any algae issues.
1 power head, 2 Chinese black box lights. Used 55g tank and 1 fan for the summer. Less than $500 invested in the tank and equip. Corals looked as good as any other system I have run and better than my current system with pic below.

It really depends on how how much water you are willing to change each week, what corals you want to keep, and what fish you keep while finding that equilibrium between how much bioload your rocks can process.
In my 55 I had it heavily loaded with rock. a yellow tang and blue tang for algae eating. A yellow coris wrasse and Christmas wrasse, tomato clown, pink spot jawfish, and a marine beta. I was changing 20-30 gallons every week or two so that is a very significant amount of new water going in. figure i had somewhere between 40 and 45g total water volume.
Of course I did not need to do any dosing with that amount of new water going in every other week.

Corals grew so fast that last 6 months I had to upgrade to my current 120. I still do not run any filtration. I did add a sump to increase water volume and delay the frequency for water changes. I do a 45-65 gallon water chance once every 4-6 weeks now. I have just a few more fish in this current system and at least 3 times the water volume. The corals I keep are not Acros though. I doubt you could keep those this way. I also can’t keep a tank loaded with 20 - 30 fish like you see in a lot of the 120g tanks with heavy filtration. Everyone from the local club that comes to see this tank though is in awe of the results attained with such a simple setup.
You absolutely can have a nice natural tank. Just have to do those water changes or keep the fish load to a minimum.

This is beautiful and exactly how I kept my 75 gallon before I exited the hobby about 10 years ago. I have been helping set up a friends tank and so far we have done it this way as well. The key is the water changes in my opinion. Thanks for posting. Your experience will definitely help the OP decide if its right for them.