Defensive Reefing - Piloting a 50 gallon tank with no plumbing, sump, filter or return pump

[The Rasta Reefer]

It's the world's 1st lockdown and the second week of running our 50g marine tank without any filtration. This is what Blue Lagoon looked like, sitting at the centre of my winter condo in Calgary on April 19, 2020.

and here is the day's API chemistry:

All reefers will confront the fear of crashing their marine tankers on a coral reef at some point in this hobby, unfortunately, the majority that run aground into this fear and experience significant loss within the first year tend to abandon ship.

Defensive Reefing may just be the lighthouse which changes that.

When the world went into the 1st. lockdown in March 2020, many reefers panicked about running out of critical supplies like reef salt. Our response to this fear came the following month in April 2020 where we began to redesign and conduct performance tests on a deep 50 gallon saltwater aquarium affectionately called Blue Lagoon. Seated on a metal stand with no external or internal filtration chambers, Blue Lagoon was equipped with 9 months of supplies to conduct this tank build experiment which we now call Defensive Reefing.

While it’s good to make a redundancy plan for problems that could crash your reef tank, such as running dual return pumps in case one unexpectedly fails, Defensive Reefing builds critical crash scenarios into a tank design, so instead of running dual return pumps, we eliminated all plumbing thus no canisters, no sumps and no return pumps.


Powered Life Support System:

1. One circulating powerhead (Neptune WAV ~ 4,000 gph)
2. One Laguna air pump ~ 793 gph with two Coralife Limewood air stones
3. One Eheim heater (150W)
4. One LED light (Kessil A360X @ 90W)
5. One tank controller (Neptune Apex)
6. One heater controller (Exo Terra thermostat @ 600W)
7. One Seneye Reef Monitor

Basic Test Equipment:

1. Refractometer
2. API Saltwater Master Test Kit
3. Floating thermometer

Initial Tank Ecosystem Parameters:

1. Aquaforest Reef Salt mixed to a specific gravity of 1.025 using dechlorinated Calgary tap water which usually sits at a pH of 8.
2. Water temperature at 78 degrees Fahrenheit +/- 1 degree.
3. ~ Seventy percent of the aquarium’s surface is covered with a three part glass top and the magnetic wooden panel canopy, controls light dissipation and airflow above aquarium.
4. Crushed coral mixed with pumice stone are the primary high flow substrates.
5. Decorative aqua plants are included which also serve as visual flow indicators until more soft corals are added.
6. Buried live rock allows for ~ eighty percent free swimming space.
7. Random flow is generated at the base of the tank to create an Upflow surge across the micro-bubbling airstones at the surface.

Starting Livestock:

1. One Foxface Rabbitfish
2. One Clown fish
3. One Hermit crab
4. One Asterina starfish
5. One Mushroom coral
6. ~ ten percent Live rock
7. One bag of cultured ceramic biomedia

Startup Plan:

1. Maintain low density fish and coral stock as per water quality parameters and ecosystem maturation.
2. Minimize automation by manually dry feeding and toping up with fresh water to compensate for evaporation.
3. Allow ambient and low LED/Lunar lights only to avoid pest and algae outbreak .
4. Conduct small water changes 1% - 3% daily to keep nutrient loads in a safe range but plan for larger (30% - 50% max) if water quality suddenly deteriorates.
5. Dose a mixed bacterial colony daily to minimize sludge and maintain water clarity using oxidation reduction potential (ORP) as a guide.
6. Perform a short five minute daily tank side systems check/service.
7. Keep daily tank records and log system changes.

Expectations:

1. Thirty day ammonia spike expected and should normalize after new media colonized, but no changes expected in nitrite levels. Nitrates should fluctuate but not exceed 40 ppm.
2. System should become stable within 90 days using a simplified marine husbandry plan thus be easily repeatable.
3. After 9 months of testing, Defensive Reefing may prove to either become the most impractical or a very practical methodology for the new marine aquarist desiring to keep fish, invertebrates and coral with less catastrophic crash points.

Closeup view from comfy red cushion on couch (April 19, 2020)

 

[blaxsun]

Interesting. Do invest in a different test kit, ie: Salifert, etc. API is notoriously unreliable.

 

[Drewe]

I am very curious to see how this turns out. While I don't use API myself (not anymore, at least, Hanna all the way), they're fine to use as long as you complete the test in the exact same way every time. These are all hobby grade kits, as long as you're being consistent with how you conduct the test and the frequency in which you do it, you'll get ballpark numbers and trends that will be just as helpful as any other test.

 

[The Rasta Reefer]

POSITIVE PRESSURE CANOPY

April 20, 2020 marked the practical completion of our positive pressure canopy upgrade for Blue Lagoon that was designed to pre-filter out harmful air pollutants prior to being pumped directly to the air stones floating at the tank’s surface.

Three Overlapping glass pieces:

Ensuring they don't stick:

Open surface to front right allows feeding:

and manual top ups:

The canopy top is left open:

Regular tank side air pumps draw unfiltered air directly from the immediate surrounding, which in a winter condo can mean exhaust fumes from cooking and increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) being recirculated through the furnace heating system.

When equipped with Neptune’s solenoid valve, the Laguna air pump sealed within the hydroponic cabinet can be scheduled to come on at night, when excess ambient CO2 is known to depress the aquarium’s pH. Scheduling a reverse light cycle for the LEDs within the grow cabinet as one would illuminate a Refugium at night, allows for perpetually fast growing leafy plants to quickly become a carbon sink. The plant’s freshly produced oxygen is further drawn through a carbon filter as the Laguna pump pushes new air to the tank’s partially covered surface. This high flow of new oxygen creates a positive outward air pressure within the canopy that pushes ambient air contaminants away from the water’s air exchange surface, while welcoming canopy visitors with a gentle breath of freshness.

Here is the air line assembly...

Warming tubing airline connectors with hot water:

Don't forget check valves:

Putting the pieces together:

First test:

Changed to a smaller sand airstone:

Oh what lovely night air views:

While I’m yet to find a reefer that eats harvested Chaeto or algae from their refugium or scrubber, we certainly enjoy the thought of harvesting fresh herbs and veggies that also helped stabilize Blue Lagoon.

Crystal clear tank with No plumbing, No sump, No filter and No return pump and No surface oil slick @ April 20, 2020:

 

[The Rasta Reefer]

I am very curious to see how this turns out. While I don't use API myself (not anymore, at least, Hanna all the way), they're fine to use as long as you complete the test in the exact same way every time. These are all hobby grade kits, as long as you're being consistent with how you conduct the test and the frequency in which you do it, you'll get ballpark numbers and trends that will be just as helpful as any other test.

Here is the tank 7 months later:

 

[The Rasta Reefer]

I was encouraged by a few other reefers to focus our content on the journey of our tank mates, with less emphasis on the equipment that makes our tanks. In searching my archives I found a few of those that were in and around the tank with me (November 2020)...



The surrounding plants and their external grow light environment:



Now a closer look at the tank mates I've gotten to know through this journey...

Mangrove plants opening:

I harvest the string algae from the mangrove bed to feed the Starry Blenny:

Peppa the Peppermint Shrimp on Green Star Polyp:

Hammer Coral Closed:

Hammer Coral Extending:

Here is a part of my sea bed rock layout:


There is so much to learn by simply watching the lives that live with us.

 

[The Rasta Reefer]

Let's look at reef ecosystems and habitats.

Realistic micro marine habitats, such as Aquatop’s ornaments, are not often considered as an element that can be beneficial in a reef tank, where rocks and sand predominantly dominate the aquascape. However, if one dives where a reef meets a healthy mangrove forest, one will find a vibrant and diverse ecosystem which will most likely include seagrass, macro algae and seaweed.

Natural choices for macro algae include Halimeda, which being composed of calcium carbonate in it’s green algal body makes it a reef builder, as it contributes to depositing carbon sediments on reefs. Interestingly, some species have also been found to reproduce in mass spawning events like corals.

Halimeda in hand:


Halimeda in tank:


Having tested ornaments made specifically for fresh and saltwater tanks, I’ve come to generally appreciate the Aquatop brand for its hardiness and aquatic life interactions.

Removing for quarterly cleaning:

Silicone and weighted base designed for saltwater:

Rock and sand are only a part of the reef ecosystem and in the next post I'll show footage of my clown fish hosting peacefully for the very first time ever in it's new ornamental anemone.

 

[Ideallandscaping]

It's the world's 1st lockdown and the second week of running our 50g marine tank without any filtration. This is what Blue Lagoon looked like, sitting at the centre of my winter condo in Calgary on April 19, 2020.

and here is the day's API chemistry:

All reefers will confront the fear of crashing their marine tankers on a coral reef at some point in this hobby, unfortunately, the majority that run aground into this fear and experience significant loss within the first year tend to abandon ship.

Defensive Reefing may just be the lighthouse which changes that.

When the world went into the 1st. lockdown in March 2020, many reefers panicked about running out of critical supplies like reef salt. Our response to this fear came the following month in April 2020 where we began to redesign and conduct performance tests on a deep 50 gallon saltwater aquarium affectionately called Blue Lagoon. Seated on a metal stand with no external or internal filtration chambers, Blue Lagoon was equipped with 9 months of supplies to conduct this tank build experiment which we now call Defensive Reefing.

While it’s good to make a redundancy plan for problems that could crash your reef tank, such as running dual return pumps in case one unexpectedly fails, Defensive Reefing builds critical crash scenarios into a tank design, so instead of running dual return pumps, we eliminated all plumbing thus no canisters, no sumps and no return pumps.


Powered Life Support System:

1. One circulating powerhead (Neptune WAV ~ 4,000 gph)
2. One Laguna air pump ~ 793 gph with two Coralife Limewood air stones
3. One Eheim heater (150W)
4. One LED light (Kessil A360X @ 90W)
5. One tank controller (Neptune Apex)
6. One heater controller (Exo Terra thermostat @ 600W)
7. One Seneye Reef Monitor

Basic Test Equipment:

1. Refractometer
2. API Saltwater Master Test Kit
3. Floating thermometer

Initial Tank Ecosystem Parameters:

1. Aquaforest Reef Salt mixed to a specific gravity of 1.025 using dechlorinated Calgary tap water which usually sits at a pH of 8.
2. Water temperature at 78 degrees Fahrenheit +/- 1 degree.
3. ~ Seventy percent of the aquarium’s surface is covered with a three part glass top and the magnetic wooden panel canopy, controls light dissipation and airflow above aquarium.
4. Crushed coral mixed with pumice stone are the primary high flow substrates.
5. Decorative aqua plants are included which also serve as visual flow indicators until more soft corals are added.
6. Buried live rock allows for ~ eighty percent free swimming space.
7. Random flow is generated at the base of the tank to create an Upflow surge across the micro-bubbling airstones at the surface.

Starting Livestock:

1. One Foxface Rabbitfish
2. One Clown fish
3. One Hermit crab
4. One Asterina starfish
5. One Mushroom coral
6. ~ ten percent Live rock
7. One bag of cultured ceramic biomedia

Startup Plan:

1. Maintain low density fish and coral stock as per water quality parameters and ecosystem maturation.
2. Minimize automation by manually dry feeding and toping up with fresh water to compensate for evaporation.
3. Allow ambient and low LED/Lunar lights only to avoid pest and algae outbreak .
4. Conduct small water changes 1% - 3% daily to keep nutrient loads in a safe range but plan for larger (30% - 50% max) if water quality suddenly deteriorates.
5. Dose a mixed bacterial colony daily to minimize sludge and maintain water clarity using oxidation reduction potential (ORP) as a guide.
6. Perform a short five minute daily tank side systems check/service.
7. Keep daily tank records and log system changes.

Expectations:

1. Thirty day ammonia spike expected and should normalize after new media colonized, but no changes expected in nitrite levels. Nitrates should fluctuate but not exceed 40 ppm.
2. System should become stable within 90 days using a simplified marine husbandry plan thus be easily repeatable.
3. After 9 months of testing, Defensive Reefing may prove to either become the most impractical or a very practical methodology for the new marine aquarist desiring to keep fish, invertebrates and coral with less catastrophic crash points.

Closeup view from comfy red cushion on couch (April 19, 2020)

Wow I loveee the height of that display!!!!!!

 

[The Rasta Reefer]

Wow I loveee the height of that display!!!!!!

The mangroves grew up really fast too and sleeping beside such a deep tank feels like night diving in the Caribbean Sea

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Your tank is great looking!!! Love the mangrove plant in the tank!

 

[The Rasta Reefer]

I Looove my girls too they remind me soo much of Jamaica. I did however make a few early mistakes so my top tips are:

1) Mist the leaves regularly even daily as this washes off the salt they excrete from their glands. This is generally accomplished through rain in the natural environment.
2) If planted outside the main tank ensure there is at least a continuous trickle flow through the root zone bringing nutrient rich water. The girls didn't like when their flow was intermittent.
3) Make sure you are using a light rated for aquatic plants. The sweet spot for PAR was 400 at the top of mangroves to 150 at base. My Seneye measured a PAR of 1,400 right under the light.

Here are a few earl pics of the initial setup...

Thanks again and have fun as they are an awesome addition to a saltwater tank.

 

[The Rasta Reefer]

Can your aquarium blow out smoke?

If your planted reef tank is in close proximity to a kitchen, furnace or where you chill n light up, what happens if your aquarium becomes suddenly engulfed with smoke? Will all those volatile organics easily enter your aquarium's water column and possibly harm your corals and other inhabitants?

Here is my automatic smoke removal system using floating wooden air stones and a semi enclosed canopy: