Starting a marine tank with no sump?

Asteroidea

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Hi,

I’m currently looking in to starting a marine tank, and any advice would be much appreciated.

I’ve kept a planted fresh water tank for a few years now, and would like to convert it to keep a couple of marine fish with rock and macroalgae.

The tank I have is the Juwel rio 180l so just under 40 gallons.

I’m hoping to have only a couple of smaller fish and shrimp, small protein skimmer (possibly Tunze 9004), and the mechanical filter/heater that I already have (Juwel Bioflow).

Would I need any different filter media?
Would basic aquarium sand be sufficient for the substrate?

I’m hoping to cycle it with dry rock, which will eventually become live rock once bacteria is added/fed with ammonia?

My basic understanding is that the macro will help keep the phosphate and nitrate down, and this along with weekly water changes may be ok? I really don’t want a sump at this point, and my feeling is I wouldn’t really need one for this type of setup?

Many thanks for any input!
 

Tim McLellan

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Your plan is about the same as I went about things starting 6 months ago with my first ever marine tank. I got a 55 gallon and only had a HOB mechanical filter. I put dry rock and CaribSea live sand, then added Dr.Tim's bacteria to get it cycling. After a couple months I began adding fish, and other than some trouble with adding 3 green chromis' (eventually only 1 survived) all other fish have done just fine, along with the CUC of various shrimp, crabs and snails and an urchin. After getting some livestock I wanted to improve the water quality, so I added the Tunze 9004 and it made a fairly significant difference in nitrate levels and water clarity, so I would say it's great little filter for the price. Just over a week ago I added my very first coral, a pulsing Xenia and so far so good.

IMO you're on the right track and should have success with your approach.
 

Arego

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You do not need to have one. That said, plans change, upgrades, etc. Be mindful of it's dimensions and plan your hardware accordingly so you don't wake up and say I need more rock or no3 bricks to bring numbers down and you have no room to add them. Whether it mucks up the aquascape or even drastically cut your flow down because there is so much in a tiny space.. also upgrades to a larger skimmer, add a refugium or anything for that matter.

Just because a tank has live or dry rock in it doesn't mean it can handle what you throw in it. Be prepared to possibly need more "stuff" as time goes on. This is why sumps are popular, they're catch all's to keep the display free of wires and clutter as well from rocks, heaters, cords.. anything really.

What you plan on keeping will also determine sizing of any equipment.. be sure before you buy it all that there isn't something in the back of your head saying "should I go a few gallons bigger because I do really like this or that, and I don't plan on getting it now but maybe in 6 months.." It will happen if you're not careful, patient and mindful of what your expectations of the tank are.

You're asking the right questions you'll be running in no time.
 
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Tamberav

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Hi,

I’m currently looking in to starting a marine tank, and any advice would be much appreciated.

I’ve kept a planted fresh water tank for a few years now, and would like to convert it to keep a couple of marine fish with rock and macroalgae.

The tank I have is the Juwel rio 180l so just under 40 gallons.

I’m hoping to have only a couple of smaller fish and shrimp, small protein skimmer (possibly Tunze 9004), and the mechanical filter/heater that I already have (Juwel Bioflow).

Would I need any different filter media?
Would basic aquarium sand be sufficient for the substrate?

I’m hoping to cycle it with dry rock, which will eventually become live rock once bacteria is added/fed with ammonia?

My basic understanding is that the macro will help keep the phosphate and nitrate down, and this along with weekly water changes may be ok? I really don’t want a sump at this point, and my feeling is I wouldn’t really need one for this type of setup?

Many thanks for any input!

if you have live rock and flow then you can keep a reef tank. I would not use basic aquarium sand. You can buy dry argonite and wash it (it is dusty) cheap at petco if you are looking to save money. 10 lbs is $5 https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/caribsea-aragonite-aquarium-sand

You don't need a sump and many people have reef tanks without them. Some people have reef tanks in 2g flower vases ;)

If you want the water to be a bit more free of particles, then some people will use a HOB filter like an Aquaclear or Seachem.
 

WheatToast

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If you are keeping large quantities of macroalgae, you might not want to use a skimmer, since this would reduce the concentrations of nitrates and phosphates in your system.
 

KonradTO

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Hey,
No sump&newby folk here.
I actually struggle to keep nutrients detectable with macros and plankton diversity.. It's so exciting to move from freshwater to saltwater isn't it? So much more diversity!
 

MaxTremors

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Hi,

I’m currently looking in to starting a marine tank, and any advice would be much appreciated.

I’ve kept a planted fresh water tank for a few years now, and would like to convert it to keep a couple of marine fish with rock and macroalgae.

The tank I have is the Juwel rio 180l so just under 40 gallons.

I’m hoping to have only a couple of smaller fish and shrimp, small protein skimmer (possibly Tunze 9004), and the mechanical filter/heater that I already have (Juwel Bioflow).

Would I need any different filter media?
Would basic aquarium sand be sufficient for the substrate?

I’m hoping to cycle it with dry rock, which will eventually become live rock once bacteria is added/fed with ammonia?

My basic understanding is that the macro will help keep the phosphate and nitrate down, and this along with weekly water changes may be ok? I really don’t want a sump at this point, and my feeling is I wouldn’t really need one for this type of setup?

Many thanks for any input!
You don’t need a sump, you can absolutely have a reef tank with HOB components. I wouldn’t use regular aquarium gravel, you want to use aragonite/crushed coral sand. Also, despite what some companies and people claim, dry rock doesn’t become ‘live rock’ once it’s been colonized by bacteria, live rock has always referred to rock that is encrusted and colonized by both bacteria and micro fauna, inverts, and algae. Even if you’re not planning on having a full on reef tank, I would still recommend at least seeding your dry rock with a few pounds of quality, real live rock. Also, you may need new lighting (depending on what you already have), you’ll need fairly intense lighting to keep macroalgae, though if you have fairly decent FW lighting, it’ll probably suffice (whether or not it will look very good is a matter of personal preference). In terms of filter media, I would recommend some sort of mechanical filtration (filter sock, floss, sponge, etc - in a marine tank you need to replace or clean it out every few days), some chemical filtration (activated carbon, Chemipure, purigen, etc), and your rock should handle the biological filtration (if you’re going minimalist with the rock, you can put some marine pure cubes in your HOB filter).

But, to answer your question, yes you can convert a FW tank to marine without too much extra equipment, and no, you don’t need a sump.
 

WheatToast

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Idech

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I’ve just converted my 75 gallons to saltwater. No sump.

You can see what equipment I chose in this thread build :
 

WVNed

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As long as what you put in your tank is appropriate for what you have running it.

A few small fish
No sump
IMG_6813-M.jpg


Many big fish and predator tank
Really really big sump
2021092909362327-8584736822251313470-IMG_4017-M.jpg


You don't get extra credit for having or not having one. If your animals do well that is your reward.
 

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