Minimalist Reefer

[Ron Reefman]

I think if you can get by with just live rock and live sand (whether bought or created at home), that's great. I would think that would mean a fairly small bio load. Although the water changes will sure help.

I keep the bio load light and use filter socks. But I don't need to clean my glass very often (once every 3 or 4 weeks) and I don't do many water changes unless something is going wrong in the tank.

BTW, my Rose Bubble Tip anemone split last night. How amazing! The original is still inside it's pvc end cap and the new one is stuck to the outside of it. I think I'll try removing it and giving it it's very own pvc end cap!

I've also passed on some of my coral in the local tank to make room for some more RFAs. I'm currently cleaning some coral bits off the rocks I kept. I gave away 5 or 6 rocks with green zoas and encrusting gorgonian that have been in my tanks for a long time and that I collected in the Florida Keys.

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

The only issue with this is that partial water changes only replenish partial trace elements. If something is say depleting 30 of X weekly, you are at 70 X in tank. When you take out only 10 percent, you are still at 70 X in tank. Adding 10 percent with 100 X will not fully replenish. It will only have a small percentage of X back. I dont know the exact math, but either dosing or 100 percent water changes will replenish X. Even if its just one of X out of 5000 X, a 50 percent water change will only make it go from 4999X to 4999.5 X. But everything else I agree.

I just started learning about pico reefs. I’m assuming from your username you own a pico.

In my understanding , I’m a pico, 100% water changes paired along with stability (ATO for salinity stability) should be able to sustain stony coral

Of course fish wouldn’t be an option

If this is the case, I think this is as simple as it can get

 

[moretor1]

anyone else enjoy the color of cyano on their rocks? I think it gets a bad rap for being so hardy and prolific but imo some colorations are pretty, especially the deep blue-green ones.

If it exists in the ocean and isnt smothering or endangering your tank why bother?

 

[Readywriter]

BTW, I use Dow Flake (snow melt salt) for Ca and swimming pool soda ash for alk.

My man. If only power compacts and that home depot southern play sand were still available.

 

[Garf]

anyone else enjoy the color of cyano on their rocks? I think it gets a bad rap for being so hardy and prolific but imo some colorations are pretty, especially the deep blue-green ones.

If it exists in the ocean and isnt smothering or endangering your tank why bother?

No

 

[BOYERZ]

anyone else enjoy the color of cyano on their rocks? I think it gets a bad rap for being so hardy and prolific but imo some colorations are pretty, especially the deep blue-green ones.

If it exists in the ocean and isnt smothering or endangering your tank why bother?

No for me as well.

The cyano is the exact same color as the majority of coralline on the rocks, drives me nuts can't tell which is what half the time.

Also the cyano is starting to cloud the water, because Mr diamond goby likes to stirr chit up.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

I just started learning about pico reefs. I’m assuming from your username you own a pico.

In my understanding , I’m a pico, 100% water changes paired along with stability (ATO for salinity stability) should be able to sustain stony coral

Of course fish wouldn’t be an option

If this is the case, I think this is as simple as it can get

A little more complex but yes. If you can find a lid that seals at least 95 peecent then you wont need to worry to much about topping off. Depending on corals as well, stocking and size you may need to dose or do more frequent since going sps. A few frags should be fine until they get large.. You can peak through some of my past builds.depending on size and sgape, certain fish can be. Flaming prawn, if cylinder and around 3 gallon a 4 line wrasse or smaller trimma gobies. If using cylinder, use an airpump with airstone. It will provide all the movement you need as long as its strong enough pump i had to put valve on to reduce.
If it gets very cold youll want to add a heater. But if sealed and depending on location may not need.

Feeding can be tricky. I recomend benepets powder. Provides nutrients and doesnt foul up the water like some foods do. Even small fish like it. Will last you over a year.

 

[Ron Reefman]

anyone else enjoy the color of cyano on their rocks? I think it gets a bad rap for being so hardy and prolific but imo some colorations are pretty, especially the deep blue-green ones.

If it exists in the ocean and isnt smothering or endangering your tank why bother?

I only rarely see cyano in my tanks and I deal with it then I find it. It is a sign that you probably have some other issues in your tank, like poor water flow in that area.

 

[moretor1]

No for me as well.

The cyano is the exact same color as the majority of coralline on the rocks, drives me nuts can't tell which is what half the time.

Also the cyano is starting to cloud the water, because Mr diamond goby likes to stirr chit up.

I only rarely see cyano in my tanks and I deal with it then I find it. It is a sign that you probably have some other issues in your tank, like poor water flow in

I only rarely see cyano in my tanks and I deal with it then I find it. It is a sign that you probably have some other issues in your tank, like poor water flow in that area.

It's all on some cured rock. Not a lot but little patches among other algae

 

[Ron Reefman]

I've made a fundamental change in direction for my 2 tanks. I was going to make the local tank half local livestock and the other half RFAs (with a few bubble tips and maxi-mini anemones as well).

But I've decided to delay the purchase of new RFAs and instead, combine my 2 tanks into one.

I've moved all the livestock out of the 40g breeder aio to a 10g holding tank. The 40g tank and aio insert have been thoroughly cleaned. I expect new sand to be delivered today and it will be mixed with the sand from the tank that I washed. I want a deeper sand bed so the anemone end cap homes will end up completely buried in the sand.

After the sand is in I'll start doing some rockscape and adding some saltwater. After things stabilize, I'll slowly start moving livestock from the holding tank and the 40g cube (all coral)tank; to the 40g breeder.

I have a pair of mated clownfish that I'd like to give away if anybody would come to get them. I want the new tank to be mostly sps & lps corals along with a lot of anemones and CUC. The CUC will include some serpent stars, sea cucumbers, rock boring urchins, a coral banded shrimp, some local little clams, a emerald crab and lots of snails collected from the Florida Keys. I will eventually add my mantis shrimp. But I want the tank pretty well finished before it goes in.

When I was removing stuff from the 40g breeder the mantis took offense and harpooned it tip of my pointing finger. It crated a nasty little hole and has taken several weeks to heal. It was quite painful for the first week. The pain slowly faded and the flesh on the end of my finger all got hard and eventually peeled off. It's about 90% back to normal now, but I know better than to tick off the mantis shrimp again!

 

[Merry]

I've made a fundamental change in direction for my 2 tanks. I was going to make the local tank half local livestock and the other half RFAs (with a few bubble tips and maxi-mini anemones as well).

But I've decided to delay the purchase of new RFAs and instead, combine my 2 tanks into one.

I've moved all the livestock out of the 40g breeder aio to a 10g holding tank. The 40g tank and aio insert have been thoroughly cleaned. I expect new sand to be delivered today and it will be mixed with the sand from the tank that I washed. I want a deeper sand bed so the anemone end cap homes will end up completely buried in the sand.

After the sand is in I'll start doing some rockscape and adding some saltwater. After things stabilize, I'll slowly start moving livestock from the holding tank and the 40g cube (all coral)tank; to the 40g breeder.

I have a pair of mated clownfish that I'd like to give away if anybody would come to get them. I want the new tank to be mostly sps & lps corals along with a lot of anemones and CUC. The CUC will include some serpent stars, sea cucumbers, rock boring urchins, a coral banded shrimp, some local little clams, a emerald crab and lots of snails collected from the Florida Keys. I will eventually add my mantis shrimp. But I want the tank pretty well finished before it goes in.

When I was removing stuff from the 40g breeder the mantis took offense and harpooned it tip of my pointing finger. It crated a nasty little hole and has taken several weeks to heal. It was quite painful for the first week. The pain slowly faded and the flesh on the end of my finger all got hard and eventually peeled off. It's about 90% back to normal now, but I know better than to tick off the mantis shrimp again!

I have two small biocubes (28 and a 32 ) I've considered combining into a larger tank but just don't want to go thru the ugly stages. Plus I like both areas where I have them, one in my study and the other in my bedroom, however getting older I really need to start to plan ahead for strength and energy, time constraints. Good luck! I'll be watching for updates.

 

[vlangel]

I've made a fundamental change in direction for my 2 tanks. I was going to make the local tank half local livestock and the other half RFAs (with a few bubble tips and maxi-mini anemones as well).

But I've decided to delay the purchase of new RFAs and instead, combine my 2 tanks into one.

I've moved all the livestock out of the 40g breeder aio to a 10g holding tank. The 40g tank and aio insert have been thoroughly cleaned. I expect new sand to be delivered today and it will be mixed with the sand from the tank that I washed. I want a deeper sand bed so the anemone end cap homes will end up completely buried in the sand.

After the sand is in I'll start doing some rockscape and adding some saltwater. After things stabilize, I'll slowly start moving livestock from the holding tank and the 40g cube (all coral)tank; to the 40g breeder.

I have a pair of mated clownfish that I'd like to give away if anybody would come to get them. I want the new tank to be mostly sps & lps corals along with a lot of anemones and CUC. The CUC will include some serpent stars, sea cucumbers, rock boring urchins, a coral banded shrimp, some local little clams, a emerald crab and lots of snails collected from the Florida Keys. I will eventually add my mantis shrimp. But I want the tank pretty well finished before it goes in.

When I was removing stuff from the 40g breeder the mantis took offense and harpooned it tip of my pointing finger. It crated a nasty little hole and has taken several weeks to heal. It was quite painful for the first week. The pain slowly faded and the flesh on the end of my finger all got hard and eventually peeled off. It's about 90% back to normal now, but I know better than to tick off the mantis shrimp again!

I will be watching your 'new direction' tank with interest. Some day I may go down to a 40 breeder myself as I think it is the same footprint as my 56 gallon column display. I love the 56 gallon except that I am up to my armpits when I am working in it.

One thing I am wondering about is after you add your deep sand bed, the 40 breeder is going to be a fairly shallow tank. How deep are you thinking for a sand bed?

 

[Ron Reefman]

I have two small biocubes (28 and a 32 ) I've considered combining into a larger tank but just don't want to go thru the ugly stages. Plus I like both areas where I have them, one in my study and the other in my bedroom, however getting older I really need to start to plan ahead for strength and energy, time constraints. Good luck! I'll be watching for updates.

Merry, both of mine are in a spare bedroom that I get to use as a reefroom/man cave. So space and location didn't really enter into the decision. But the breeder tank had 2 Reefbreeder Photon led fixtures (two 16" fixtures end to end). But one died due to corrosion at the connector and I'm just not feeling the need to spend money on a new led fixture. So the 40g cube is a 2' long and has a much nicer mounting system (custom made for me out of stainless steel). It has been moved to the 40g breeder.

I'm right with you on the, "however getting older I really need to start to plan ahead for strength and energy, time constraints." I'm 75 and my wife and I lead a fairly busy life, including travel, photography, snorkeling in the Florida Keys and more. I hate having to ask our friends to care for our cat AND 2 aquariums when we travel. And moving water from the garage to the back bedroom (reefroom) isn't getting any easier!

Here is the 40g breeder all set to get sand & water (sorry for the blue light). Notice the behind the tank light mounts.

This is the holding tank that has what is left of the livestock from the 40g breeder. I gave away a lot of green zoas and encrusting gorgonian corals that I've had for a long time (both collected from the Keys some years ago). All the anemones are in PVC end caps that they seem to love. And if I could find a home for the clowns (a mated pair) I'd give them away and go fish-less.

This is the 40g cube that I made. I love the tank, but the 40g breeder has a bigger footprint and isn't quite as deep, both things I wanted. There is a coralbanded shrimp, 2 serpent stars and 2 small yellow sea cucumbers in this tank as well (all from your snorkeling trips to the Keys).

 

[Ron Reefman]

I will be watching your 'new direction' tank with interest. Some day I may go down to a 40 breeder myself as I think it is the same footprint as my 56 gallon column display. I love the 56 gallon except that I am up to my armpits when I am working in it.

One thing I am wondering about is after you add your deep sand bed, the 40 breeder is going to be a fairly shallow tank. How deep are you thinking for a sand bed?

I just added sand and water yesterday. The sand isn't quite as deep as I might have liked. But at 2" in think all my anemone PVC end cap homes will disappear into the sand.

I placed the aio insert in the middle of the back glass. So I have some room on both sides. I intend to do the rockscape around the aio insert and leave some room out towards the glass for the anemones to fit into the sand and not be too close to the glass.

I have 7 RFAs, 3 BTAs (my 1 recently split and created 2 new ones) and 2 maxi-minis. After things settle down, I may get some more RFAs. I would really like to get a few really super colorful and slightly unusual versions. There are 2 LFS in Miami that carry a lot of RFAs. Maybe on my next trip to go snorkeling in the Keys, I'll stop by them and pick up a few as I drive close by on my way from home to the Keys (a 4+ hour drive).

 

[sfin52]

Just picked up 4 gorgous rfa 4 for 100.

@Ron Reefman thanks for the rfa introduction.

 

[Alexraptor]

This thread kind of flew under my radar a bit, even though someone tagged me in it earlier!

Minimalist is my middle name, my 15G (which someone posted), is the most minimalist possible with a single pump and light. Maintained by dosing AFR daily and weekly 30% water changes.

This one is a little different.

A little more high tech, I have two pumps on a controll unit simulating tide currents with occasional storm cycles. But still ver simple maintenence, if not a bit simpler as I only do monthly water changes on this one. The clove polyps are actually my primary method of nutrient export here, which I scrape off when they start growing out on the front and right side panels. I actually struggle to keep nutrient levels high enough!

That is commonly know as golf ball coral or star coral and it is strictly non-photosynthetic and 100% a stony coral. So, yes, it is illegal to collect and the odds of it living in a standard reef tank for more than a month or two is very minimal.

Looks like a Siderastrea (Starlet coral) to me. I've got one of those myself, that showed up on some imported caribbean rock. There was only a few tiny slivers of tissue left, deep in the center of the skeleton, but I managed to nurtured those polyps back to health.

Even more spectacular when they are fully open.

 

[Ron Reefman]

My tank is going thru the diatom phase. So, yesterday I did a 20g water change and it already looks better today. I moved a wavemaker from the end of the tank to the back wall beside the aio insert. Then I added a second wavemaker on the other side of the aio insert.

The bad news is, that I lost 4 of the 5 RFAs I bought from PV Reefs in Miami. One took to it's pvc end cap right away, but none of the other 4 would. I tried it in a holding tank with minimal water movement and in the DT keeping the end caps inside a small holding tank with lots of flow. I tried using rocks instead of end caps and still they wouldn't attach. One got loose and I think ended up in the wavemaker and the other 3 eventually just died. The one that attached is doing OK and all the other RFAs and the 3 RBT anemones are doing great. I may have been my fault, but I'm very suspicious of the supplier, PV Reefs. They shipped all 5 anemones in one bag and I wonder if they might have done harm to each other. Maybe the nematocysts of one RFA stung the foot of another RFA and that caused them not to want to attach? No matter, I won't buy from PV Reefs again.