Minimalist Reefer

[Ron Reefman]

This was when I first set up the simple reef.

This is today. I have plans for the next build that will be a 20 gallon no sump or skimmer. I will be using just Florida like rock and sand. I would love to see this thread grow .

That tank looks really good. How long have you had it running?

 

[Ron Reefman]

@Ron Reefman a thought I just had. Would it make sense to either start a new thread with a compilation of links related to minimal reef setups or have people post them here and you could edit your first post to copy them there?

Actually I'm hoping we can get the powers at R2R to start a new forum for us. I have a tiny bit of pull as a member of the Reef Squad and I get to chat with Peace River who is also a RS member and is closer to the people in control than I am.

I'm willing to run just this thread for a while and hope it does well enough (with me being a pest) to get the new forum. If not, we'll bundle in the others.

 

[fishnchip]

I'm all for a minimalist setup, too. Keeping things as simple and low maintenance as possible is what I try and do with my tanks as well. I'm working on my second tank, and all I have are a filter sock, some biological matrix, an ATO, and maybe a heater, but I'm just watching to see what the tank hangs out around without one.

For my previous tank, I did weekly water changes, about 20%. I also never dosed and was able to keep anemones, LPS, and softies with no problem. There's only a BTA, a shrimp, and 3 fish in there now, but I only do about 4 water changes a year, and those guys are doing just fine.

I plan to keep the same motto for this new setup, so I look forward to keeping an eye on this thread!

 

[X-37B]

Sounds like a good idea to me!
Alot of people dont have the funds to go all in even if they wanted.
I keep my reefs simple for me anyway.
Simple to me is:
Larger systems.
Live rock
Skimmer
Return pump
Carx
Correct flow
Mesh socks.
No controller except for powerheads
I am running ozone in my new 150 with orp controller

I started this 18" nano cube when a few said AI 16hd's wont grow corals. Was a 30+ halide user.
After this I am now 100% leds and wont go back.

I set this up with live rock from my other systems.
1 powerhead, 1 return pump, and thats it.
Dosing was esv 2 part, I did try AFR and it worked well when I rebooted this system after I had taken it down.
10%- 2gal WC once a month.
Here it is from zero to 10 months.
It was by far the easiest system to run. Only problem, if you could call it one, is that it grows in very fast and space is a premium.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

That tank looks really good. How long have you had it running?

Thank you, Started it this August

 

[VintageReefer]

Alot of people dont have the funds to go all in even if they wanted.
I keep my reefs simple for me anyway.
Simple to me is:
Larger systems.
Live rock
Skimmer
Return pump
Carx
Correct flow
Mesh socks.
No controller except for powerheads
I am running ozone in my new 150 with orp controller

I started this 18" nano cube when a few said AI 16hd's wont grow corals. Was a 30+ halide user.
After this I am now 100% leds and wont go back.

I set this up with live rock from my other systems.
1 powerhead, 1 return pump, and thats it.
Dosing was esv 2 part, I did try AFR and it worked well when I rebooted this system after I had taken it down.
10%- 2gal WC once a month.
Here it is from zero to 10 months.
It was by far the easiest system to run. Only problem, if you could call it one, is that it grows in very fast and space is a premium.

Very nice! What are the 4 corals on the back wall?

 

[kevgib67]

Started my first saltwater in the mid nineties and had it running for 16 years and two moves. No sump, simple filtration, a lot of live rock and an oversized skimmer. I relied on religious weekly 10% water changes. When setting up my current tank I haven’t strayed from my old ways especially since I am very low tech.

 

[X-37B]

Very nice! What are the 4 corals on the back wall?

Upper 2 are green slimers
Large green is a pavona
Upper right is a purple stylo
Orange is a lepto

 

[ScottD]

Actually I'm hoping we can get the powers at R2R to start a new forum for us. I have a tiny bit of pull as a member of the Reef Squad and I get to chat with Peace River who is also a RS member and is closer to the people in control than I am.

I'm willing to run just this thread for a while and hope it does well enough (with me being a pest) to get the new forum. If not, we'll bundle in the others.

Ya I understand your intent. Just thinking as a backup incase the powers that be up above decide not to grant your wish.

 

[Macbalacano]

I love this thread, thank you for starting it @Ron Reefman !

I just started a new Waterbox 15 AIO two months ago, and wanting to keep it as simple as possible as well. I currently use:
- Filter floss
- Small bag of GFO and Carbon
- 1 doser that is dosing All For Reef (I tried not having to dose, and just do water changes, but the amount of corals and their growth made this impossible)
- Basic equipment: Prime HD 16 LED lights, titanium heater, thermometer, stock return pump, nano wavemaker

Almost everything I stock for coral is easy to care for. Currently just have 2 clowns in there and 2 shrimp + 1 crab (temporary).

Latest tank shot from today - again its only been running for 2 months!:

 

[Garf]

I'd like to see R2R start a 'Minimalist Reefer' forum for those of us who want to keep it simple and maybe be a bit 'old school' in the way we do things.

I'm a member of the Reef Squad here and in talking with a few other Reef Squad members, I've found they have some very similar feelings. So I invite anybody who wants to 'keep it simple' to join me here with this thread. W ether you are new to the hobby, new to aio tanks or experienced and just want to get back to simple basics, feel free to post and discuss ideas here.

Here is a bit about how I got to this point in my aquarium keeping career.

Over 20+ years I've kept a variety of bigger tanks (75g to 180g) and at one point had over 700g of saltwater in the house. I also worked for an aquarium led lighting company for a few years. But I felt it was time to give the hobby a rest.

However, I live near saltwater estuaries and beaches as well as snorkel in the Florida Keys several times every year. And I enjoy doing some collecting. So, I sold most of my equipment and livestock. I only kept a few small tanks (5g to 40g).

After about 6 months I discovered the AIO (All In One) tank idea. So I started a 40g breeder AIO tank that would be mostly local stock of coral, anemones, sea stars, a sea cucumber, a mantis shrimp, some rock boring urchins and CUC (just 2 clownfish I inherited from a friend who was shutting down a tank). The tank is just a 40g breeder with an AIO insert that uses a filter sock and a return pump. There is room for more hardware or mini refugium, but I don't use it.

It worked so well and required so little effort to maintain, I started a 40g cube with another AIO insert. This time it would be all sps & lps corals, some anemones, a couple stars, a coral banded shrimp and some CUC, NO FISH. It's been 18 months now and everything is doing just fine.

I find the amount of high tech hardware, other equipment and the glut of chemicals and additives to be a waste of time and money.

I spend 5 minutes each morning dosing Ca and alk. BTW, I use Dow Flake (snow melt salt) for Ca and swimming pool soda ash for alk. I use Randy Holms-Farley's recommendations for mixing. And I do testing once a week, but my parameters change very little over time.

I got a 60 gallon cube with a sump (aerated with an air pump) with heaters and a bag of sand that I regenerate weekly, does that count? 1.5% daily waterchanges (jugs) and supersaturated kalk (probably the wrong definition but hey ho). Currently adding trace A and K, after stopping it for a while, no reason apart from the wife wants to keep adding it to her tank and it's cheap.

 

[saltnut]

Good morning
Here is my reef casa studio 12 set up 10/2022. Equipment a heater, light, return pump, and an ATO. Individual switch power strip. KISS is how I flow.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I love this thread, thank you for starting it @Ron Reefman !

I just started a new Waterbox 15 AIO two months ago, and wanting to keep it as simple as possible as well. I currently use:
- Filter floss
- Small bag of GFO and Carbon
- 1 doser that is dosing All For Reef (I tried not having to dose, and just do water changes, but the amount of corals and their growth made this impossible)
- Basic equipment: Prime HD 16 LED lights, titanium heater, thermometer, stock return pump, nano wavemaker

Almost everything I stock for coral is easy to care for. Currently just have 2 clowns in there and 2 shrimp + 1 crab (temporary).

Latest tank shot from today - again its only been running for 2 months!:

That's a really nice looking tank. Congratulations.

I see you are in Canada. Both of my parents were from Canada, but I was born in Detroit, Michigan and now live in SW Florida.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

@revhtree Morning! We have been talking on this post, and think it's a good idea to make this it's own forum. It would help us point newer reefers to members that know how to run a simple system. I know it would have helped me when I first started.

Thanks
Steve

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

This is what I’m doing with one of my classroom aquariums. 180g mixed reef/mixed zone system.

Here’s my build thread

It’s still a young tank (4mos), so it’s still in the process of coming together. I’m not only going simple, I’m trying to be hands-off as well. Negligent reef keeping, if you will. I also set it up and maintain it with Chicago tap water out of the pipes of a 100+ year old school (aka HIGH TDS!!!!), no water changes, no quarantine, and using maricultured live rock, so not doing anything to mitigate pests and parasites.

 

[Ron Reefman]

This is what I’m doing with one of my classroom aquariums. 180g mixed reef/mixed zone system.

Here’s my build thread

It’s still a young tank (4mos), so it’s still in the process of coming together. I’m not only going simple, I’m trying to be hands-off as well. Negligent reef keeping, if you will. I also set it up and maintain it with Chicago tap water out of the pipes of a 100+ year old school (aka HIGH TDS!!!!), no water changes, no quarantine, and using maricultured live rock, so not doing anything to mitigate pests and parasites.

Wow! That's really Minimalist Reefeing! Keep us posted on how it goes.

 

[Macbalacano]

That's a really nice looking tank. Congratulations.

I see you are in Canada. Both of my parents were from Canada, but I was born in Detroit, Michigan and now live in SW Florida.

Thanks for your kind words! I love Canada but definitely envious of Florida weather and being so close to the ocean!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Being in SW Florida is good for beaches and estuaries. But the Keys are were we snorkel and they are still a 5 hour drive. And we do that 2 to 4 times a year.

Just for fun, here's a sunset photo I took about 3 weeks ago. It's the Sanibel Island Lighthouse shot from Bunche Beach which is about 3.5 miles away!

 

[camilenoel]

Thanks for the invite over here Ron! I’m enjoying reading through everyones set ups and thoughts. I just started up a 14g cube using extra stuff I had lying around and actually set it up pretty much identical to my 20 gal FOWLR that’s been up for 3 years now. Just a Fluval aquaclear (50 on the 14g and 70 on the 20g) with bio block and chemipure blue. The 14 will be my first foray into reefing but the fish do well in the 20 with just that and a biweekly 20% water change.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Thanks for the invite over here Ron! I’m enjoying reading through everyones set ups and thoughts. I just started up a 14g cube using extra stuff I had lying around and actually set it up pretty much identical to my 20 gal FOWLR that’s been up for 3 years now. Just a Fluval aquaclear (50 on the 14g and 70 on the 20g) with bio block and chemipure blue. The 14 will be my first foray into reefing but the fish do well in the 20 with just that and a biweekly 20% water change.

Glad to have you aboard. That tank should work.

My 40g aio is all sps &lps corals and 6 anemones and CUC... no fish. And all I have is a filter sock and a layer of filter media before water gets to the return pump. It's been running over a year now and everything is doing just fine.