Reefers out there that go bare bones, no sump,skimmer, canister, carbon or fuge.....just rock and flow....

[Karen00]

The tidal filter was fantastic! It was just a regular hang on the back filter but it pulls water from the surface rather than down low in the tank. It helped me avoid the gross slime that built up.

Ya I looked this up earlier and now I have to get one of these!!!! The ones I saw on seachem's site pulled from two places, the usual deep tank pull and a skimmer-like pull at the water line and there's independent control of each!! OMG, so awesome!!!! It's on the "to buy" list. Haha.

 

[F i s h y]

My mixed lagoon. Lights, heater, wave makers, return pump. 30 gallon fuge.

 

[blasterman]

Skimmers are great for high import and high export. But...im not running high import and export. My thick zoa garden does it for me. If I went high import export my zoa garden would over grow the tank in 5 months.

There's another reason I don't do water changes. If you want a ticket punch to success with nutrient stability you have got to get nutrients under control earlier without relying on water changes - period. Skimmer, chaeto, bag of biopellets in your sump, etc. So, not doing water changes forces me to stay disciplined.

Also, you guys need to learn to use a box of baking soda and the online reef calculator for dosing alk. Pre packaged bottled buffers are one of the dumbest ripoffs humanity has ever invented. Use the online reef calculator and it tells you how many teaspoons of baking soda are required to get from A to B. Done. Soooooooo much easier and cheaper than paying for baking soda already dissolved in water.

 

[JCM]

Skimmers are great for high import and high export. But...im not running high import and export. My thick zoa garden does it for me. If I went high import export my zoa garden would over grow the tank in 5 months.

There's another reason I don't do water changes. If you want a ticket punch to success with nutrient stability you have got to get nutrients under control earlier without relying on water changes - period. Skimmer, chaeto, bag of biopellets in your sump, etc. So, not doing water changes forces me to stay disciplined.

Also, you guys need to learn to use a box of baking soda and the online reef calculator for dosing alk. Pre packaged bottled buffers are one of the dumbest ripoffs humanity has ever invented. Use the online reef calculator and it tells you how many teaspoons of baking soda are required to get from A to B. Done. Soooooooo much easier and cheaper than paying for baking soda already dissolved in water.

It's even easier to put 2 tablespoons of Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime in my ATO. No need to dose anything!

 

[blasterman]

It's even easier to put 2 tablespoons of Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime in my ATO. No need to dose anything!

Wish I could (envious look)

Due to a 20gal tank I'm locked into about one TSP per day of dry kalk before I start seeing precip buildup. That doesn't even dent my daily alk needs. :-(

 

[schooncw]

Yes with an extremely low bioload few fish or just a frag tank alot of rock and just flow would be no problem. Although I I follow my own KISS program, no controllers, manual dosing, etc... all I have is a ton of rock and the sump has a skimmer, a couple bags of carbon and phosgaurd, bioballs and more rock and rock rubble and I dose nopox. All this because I have a heavy bioload feeding my fish 10 to 12 various types of Hikari frozen cubes and a chunk of Rods all daily. Oh also I don't do water changes and in my current tank it's been a little over 4.5 years now. But I agree with ya that lots of live rock is a big key factor either way you go. Here's a pic of my tank for reference. There's 15 fish in there 6 of them triggers.

what is your nitrate and phosphate?

 

[ZoWhat]

Heck.... I go soooo bare bones, I don't even use saltwater. Fish look kinda weird laying on dry sand inside a tank though

 

[CanuckReefer]

Heck.... I go soooo bare bones, I don't even use saltwater. Fish look kinda weird laying on dry sand inside a tank though

Took your advice and now look! You've got some splain'n to do....

 

[Timfish]

Thishas been running with just a couple small powerheads since 2008. It took a serious hit with the recent freeze, tank dropped to ~60°, but here's a couple older videos. Besides loosing a 25 year old Sailfin also lost a 16 year old blond naso and a blue Linckia that had been purchased in 2009. A diadem urchin and pencil urchin that were full size in 2008 survived. FWIW Lee Chin Eng observed decades ago that corals filter the water (Exotic Marine Fish pg 86.10, Axelrod, Emmens & Burgess 1981). Over the decades research has only confirmed Mr. Eng showing corals are pulling particulate organic and inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus from the water and releasing Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) compounds into the water that promote autotrophic microbial processes (oxygen enriching) microbial processes. (In contrast, algae has been shown release DOC compounds that promote heterotrophic (oxygen depleting) microbial processes and promote pathogens in coral microbiomes.) Fortunately what is gaining wider acknowledgement is corals love the urea and ammonia excreted by fish and much prefer it to the nitrates people dump in their tanks.

 

[BanjoBandito]

When I was running my PICO jar all I had was a 50 gph powerhead in it turned as low as it could go. I just did weekly 80-100% WCs.

 

[ZoWhat]

Took your advice and now look! You've got some splain'n to do....

That's the new look for 2022. Rimless tank, Neptune Sky Lights and fish bones on dry sand. Maintenence is a breeze

 

[Oldsman]

Definitely enjoying this thread , really shows the possibilities of running a thriving reef tank without all the tech. Paying attention to the subtle changes pays off . I'm still learning every day w our biocube 32 ..

 

[ZoWhat]

Sorry kid.... "Elvis has left the Building"


.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I have a 10g AIO with just a return pump, an LED light, a small heater and some filter floss. I throw in a little bag of carbon if the toadstool is shedding. Corals are mostly softies with a couple sps and lps, and it's full enough that they are shading each other out. Inhabitants are a Yasha Goby, Candy Cane Pistol Shrimp, Pom Pom Crab, Porcelain Crab, a few small snails and at least a million bristle worms (pretty sure). Probably slightly different care since it's a nano, but I change filter floss every few days and do large water changes (25% or so) a couple times a month or just when it looks like it needs it. I never test anything other than temperature and salinity. Stuff grows like crazy. You'd think this tank and my 50g were owned by different people.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Definitely enjoying this thread , really shows the possibilities of running a thriving reef tank without all the tech. Paying attention to the subtle changes pays off . I'm still learning every day w our biocube 32 ..

That is what I am finding out more year over year, I dump the cannister, things improve, ( and I was cleaning it religiously), dump the skimmer, nitrates go from zero to a better level of 5 or so over the last month, and its steady. Corals are opening up more, Nem keeps growing larger. I don't test too often either, maybe every 2 weeks, maybe I should go weekly now just to be certain..... Has also forced my eyes more toward husbandry of looking for anything that seems a bit 'off '. Tons of great ideas noted by myself last few days that I will definitely consider...hope for more to come!

 

[CanuckReefer]

I have a 10g AIO with just a return pump, an LED light, a small heater and some filter floss. I throw in a little bag of carbon if the toadstool is shedding. Corals are mostly softies with a couple sps and lps, and it's full enough that they are shading each other out. Inhabitants are a Yasha Goby, Candy Cane Pistol Shrimp, Pom Pom Crab, Porcelain Crab, a few small snails and at least a million bristle worms (pretty sure). Probably slightly different care since it's a nano, but I change filter floss every few days and do large water changes (25% or so) a couple times a month or just when it looks like it needs it. I never test anything other than temperature and salinity. Stuff grows like crazy. You'd think this tank and my 50g were owned by different people.

I might do this too with a bit of carbon in the Hob if the Leather looks to be shedding. Good idea....I'm like you with the floss ,change it out twice a week, it's cheap and easy to do.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Thishas been running with just a couple small powerheads since 2008. It took a serious hit with the recent freeze, tank dropped to ~60°, but here's a couple older videos. Besides loosing a 25 year old Sailfin also lost a 16 year old blond naso and a blue Linckia that had been purchased in 2009. A diadem urchin and pencil urchin that were full size in 2008 survived. FWIW Lee Chin Eng observed decades ago that corals filter the water (Exotic Marine Fish pg 86.10, Axelrod, Emmens & Burgess 1981). Over the decades research has only confirmed Mr. Eng showing corals are pulling particulate organic and inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus from the water and releasing Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) compounds into the water that promote autotrophic microbial processes (oxygen enriching) microbial processes. (In contrast, algae has been shown release DOC compounds that promote heterotrophic (oxygen depleting) microbial processes and promote pathogens in coral microbiomes.) Fortunately what is gaining wider acknowledgement is corals love the urea and ammonia excreted by fish and much prefer it to the nitrates people dump in their tanks.

I 'like the way you talk ' here lol. Cool videos. You are blowing my mind with a 25 year old Sailfin? My Yellow Tang is 18, and I keep looking at it and saying hang in there! Also the Linckia since 2009??? This leads me to believe they would thrive in a tank like mine NOW, for years I tried and gave up finally. Sorry for these losses with the recent freeze. That must have been stressful.
Had a pencil urchin for 8 years that suddenly went rogue on my corals, and had to donate him to LFS. Probably not enough food for it with both a pincushion, and short spine black over time, amongst other CUC. I also think the CUC has alot to do with some of my successes over the years. We love to keep it varied. Two urchins, strawberry Conch, sand sift star, brittle star, a half dozen each Astrea and Trochus snails, same Blue and Red Leg Hermits, Coral Banded Shrimp, and a Tiger Sea Cucumber that I have had for approaching 12 years?
Flow, stir the sand bed, the right lighting, and plenty of seasoned rock....

 

[Nano sapiens]

I personally believe that a lot of new reefers would benefit greatly from starting up a reef aquarium with just the essential items that we know a reef aquarium truly needs. From that starting point, it's much easier to determine if/when something might need to be adjusted and/or added vs. adding all the gadgets/additives/media/etc. in the very beginning and then trying to determine how to manage all of it (especially when something is 'off').

Unfortunately, from what I've observed over the years most do not adopt this way of thinking as there is a lot of peer pressure to have all the 'latest and greatest' and retail encouragement to start off as complicated as the person's budget will allow ;Facepalm

 

[CanuckReefer]

I personally believe that a lot of new reefers would benefit greatly from starting up a reef aquarium with just the essential items that we know a reef aquarium truly needs. From that starting point, it's much easier to determine if/when something might need to be adjusted and/or added vs. adding all the gadgets/additives/media/etc. in the very beginning and then trying to determine how to manage all of it (especially when something is 'off').

Unfortunately, from what I've observed over the years most do not adopt this way of thinking as there is a lot of peer pressure to have all the 'latest and greatest' and retail encouragement to start off as complicated as the person's budget will allow ;Facepalm

Preach it.... couldn't agree more. When I first started 25 years ago, they sold me all kinds of stuff, can't even imagine now walking into a LFS wanting a startup....the cost involved based on their recommendations would probably make my jaw drop.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Preach it.... couldn't agree more. When I first started 25 years ago, they sold me all kinds of stuff, can't even imagine now walking into a LFS wanting a startup....the cost involved based on their recommendations would probably make my jaw drop.

Worse for me, I started reefing 35 years ago...