Coral Only Tank - Maintenance of?

[RaymondL]

I'm setting up a soft only coral tank to be as simplistic as possible such that I don't need to dose any supplements - ie. Ca, Mg.

As noted, this is a fishless tank - I never had one before, so this is new territory for me. How does this impact the Nitrogen cycle? Would I still need to seed bacteria, and since there's no fish or fish food, nitrates and phosphates would be 0, and I would need to just supplement NO3 and PO4 to keep it above 0 to curb out Dinos.

Seeking advice here - as I noted, a fishless tank is a first for me, so hoping folks can assist me on what I need to do, and not do.

Thanks!

 

[RedReefer]

I would add fish, softies like more nutrients. It's a lot easier to feed the fish daily, then to dose nutrients

 

[Goaway]

Might want to look into ammonium chloride, food grade. There are also posts about it on the forums somewhere.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I'm setting up a soft only coral tank to be as simplistic as possible such that I don't need to dose any supplements - ie. Ca, Mg.

As noted, this is a fishless tank - I never had one before, so this is new territory for me. How does this impact the Nitrogen cycle? Would I still need to seed bacteria, and since there's no fish or fish food, nitrates and phosphates would be 0, and I would need to just supplement NO3 and PO4 to keep it above 0 to curb out Dinos.

Seeking advice here - as I noted, a fishless tank is a first for me, so hoping folks can assist me on what I need to do, and not do.

Thanks!

In a fishless tank, you will probably need to dose ammonia to keep the cycle going and provide nutrients for the zooxanthellae in the coral. Fish aren’t there just as a decoration, they are part of the ecosystem which sustains coral.

 

[RedReefer]

So any system that I’ve ever had that had minimal fish. I’ve always had nutrient problems with the tank, that’s why I’ve always had like 4 to 5 fish and all my aquariums.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Do you have another system with fish in it? I didn’t have fish in my 40 gallon breeder for months but did water changes with some water from my main display and my corals thrived. I did end up adding some fish later on but the tank never went through a full on ugly period.

 

[RaymondL]

Do you have another system with fish in it? I didn’t have fish in my 40 gallon breeder for months but did water changes with some water from my main display and my corals thrived. I did end up adding some fish later on but the tank never went through a full on ugly period.

I have 2 other tanks with fish yes. Maybe then when I do a water change I can exchange a few gallons of water from the tank that has fish with the one that doesn't. Is that what you're suggesting?

 

[kevgib67]

Soft corals like the water a little dirtier, I would try to keep phosphates at .05-.1 and nitrates at 10-15. They would definitely like it a little higher than lower.