Reef tank simplicity. “The Less is more approach”

[AquaArtist]

Let’s talk about successful reef tanks ran on as minimal equipment as possible.

If you can master this approach it makes for a better reefer.

Learning to read your inhabitants and the aquarium gets you in tune with nature.

Don’t get me wrong all the refined equipment makes reefing better and more predictable but this is not about that.
The goal of this thread is to inspire the new and maybe jaded experienced about reel keeping and getting back to the basics of what generates success.

Showing and discussing successful reef tanks ran on little as possible is a great way to remind us that all the really cool and very useful equipment is just bonus to the hobby.

Powerful lighting, large water changes, simple filtration, no sump , lack of protein skimmer, very little testing, no controllers. And good work ethic.

 

[Ludders]

I have tried all sorts of tech over the years from chaeto reactors, fluidized media reactors with all sorts of media and decided that the less I had the easier things were to manage.

I was only talking this morning about how I had great results from my chaeto reactor, but found I was then adding iron and having to clean it twice a month. Once I had the chaeto die off and I picked up some more and then ended up with bryopsis which was probably introduced from where I got the chaeto from.

My conclusion was to take it all out and get to basics. Now I do run a skimmer, but would say I am definitely an advocate of the less is more approach.

I haven't really had any major problems all year apart from the odd swing because I forgot to switch the ATO off once during a water change, but nothing died.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

The corals I deal with are some of the most exotic, difficult and delicate. The system I have is simple too couple wave makers, a good protein skimmer, dry Rock, do water changes very little every four or five days five gallons of water change to 100 gallon volume. The key is , I started using oysters in the last 6 months, Pacific oysters and it's made everything simple. Now all I got to do is clean the skimmer once a week, do a water change, and fill the feeder (every 5 days) to feed the corals every 2 hours a third of a gram of food 24/7

There's even growth on the coral on the last picture. Unheard of

 

[revhtree]

Great topic!

Most all of our reefs 15 years ago were pretty minimal as far as equipment goes and we did just fine!

 

[Ludders]

Great topic!

Most all of our reefs 15 years ago were pretty minimal as far as equipment goes and we did just fine!

Do you still keep things relatively simple David?

 

[WV Reefer]

Let’s talk about successful reef tanks ran on as minimal equipment as possible.

If you can master this approach it makes for a better reefer.

Learning to read your inhabitants and the aquarium gets you in tune with nature.

Don’t get me wrong all the refined equipment makes reefing better and more predictable but this is not about that.
The goal of this thread is to inspire the new and maybe jaded experienced about reel keeping and getting back to the basics of what generates success.

Showing and discussing successful reef tanks ran on little as possible is a great way to remind us that all the really cool and very useful equipment is just bonus to the hobby.

Powerful lighting, large water changes, simple filtration, no sump , lack of protein skimmer, very little testing, no controllers. And good work ethic.

That is how I run all of my tanks..... no sump, no filtration, no skimmers.

 

[Cell]

To be honest, a lot of the "essential" equipment is only essential for convenience. Frequent water changes can eliminate the need for a lot of equipment.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Thing is, in our modern world where 'costly and complicated' is thought to equal success, people that run simple setups are considered, well, sort of like this jolly good fellow:

Painful as it is, I have to admit that I am, always have been and always will be a 'Caveman Reefer'

 

[BZOFIQ]

I tend to use "the extras" for redundancies and to notify me of failures.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

I am no expert, but I was going to set up a 10 gallon soon, and its only equipment will be a 160 GPH internal filter, a heater, and lights - nothing else other than about 10 lbs live rock and weekly 15% water changes (and accompanying detritus removal). I will need to dose fertilizers for the macroalgae that will dominate the sessile community in the tank, but that's about as complicated as the tank itself will go (though since I intend to breed the fish I will eventually keep in here, there will be quite a bit of technology elsewhere for feeding and rearing the fry)

 

[Cell]

There really is something to be said about high tech tanks and single points of failure.

 

[j.falk]

@WV Reefer turned me on to this type of thinking when I saw her tanks. I love her simple effective setups!

 

[WV Reefer]

@WV Reefer turned me on to this type of thinking when I saw her tanks. I love her simple effective setups!

Thanks for the shout out!

 

[Dolphins18]

Tried with nothing but a fuge. No floss no carbon etc. parameters were all in check but the water stayed pretty cloudy. A small canister with floss cleared it up.
I keep a reactor with gfo on the tank but only run it if it’s necessary. This was my first time trying without a skimmer and Im pretty impressed, though I get skimmate that builds up on the glass of the sump where there is a lot of bubbling going on.

 

[X-37B]

This is simple for me and requires <10 minutes a day to run.
It may not seem simple to some but works for me with no automation.
Bare bottom
50% live rock
2 urchins
2 brittle stars
About 60 snails
10 hermit crabs
4 emerald crabs left and trying to remove as they are coral killers in my system
5 shrimp
13 fish
5 in tank Tunze powerheads running around 9k gph.
Export:
7" filter sock
Skimmer
Minimal carbon dosing by hand once a day
Small carbon reactor
About 200gph through sump
Ato
Carx for alk and ca only
No controller or ph probe needed
Was running 8T5's for 14 months since startup now MH
No scheduled water change system.
Dose by hand
Trace/daily
Strontium/ weekly
Po4 .02-.04
No3 1-2 always<5
Alk 7.5-8
Ca 450
Mg 1350
I set it up from day one this way and it has been very easy to run.
Now pushing 15 months since startup.