o2manyfish
Valuable Member
I'm going to go with the 'Dream Plan' that I just won the mega lotto and the wife and I grab the dogs hop on our private plane and start island hopping thru the South Pacific. Now within the Dream Plan there are no mechanical failures on the tank. So what's running/working today is running in 5 years.
My record previously was walking away from the tank for 10 weeks an only having a slight issue when a 20lb CO2 tank ran out after 6 weeks. I have already upgraded to a 50lb tank.
I have a commerial RO/DI system which produces up to 4k a day. The commercial membranes last long enough so that 5 years of use the water coming out will still be pretty clean. I have a service that comes out every 6 months and swaps out a 50lb tank of DI Resin, I'm sure my acccountant will keep paying their bill.
The RO Waste water goes into my skimmer collection cup and then drains out to a sewer line. And I already have a neck cleaner that runs 4x a day.
So theoretically about 3-4 months after I take off on my world wide beach tour the CO2 runs out on the system. Within a a few days after that the alk bottoms out and alot of SPS say adios.
Now 2 of the tanks which are part of my 1500g system are outdoor frag tanks. The corals in those tanks being pummelled with Direct sunlight are way more tolerant of Alk shifts than the corals lit by led.
I would imagine without alk within a few months the SPS colonies start to fade out and away.
The LPS corals, able to feed and flourish off fish poops and the natural fauna in the tank do well. The mushrooms, GSP, Gorgs, Anthelia, all do well and over 5 years take over the tank.
The 150 fish I have in the 750 display tank are not going to fare as well. WIthout me feeding them there will be a quick die off of the anthias, chromis, and maybe the genicanthus angels. The Dwarf angels, tangs, damsels, blennies, gobies (even the mandarin) and clowns will feed off of what the tank produces in terms of pods and fauna. Prior to keeping Anthias I used to keep my reef tanks for 15+ years and only feed the tank 1-2x a year. A healthy mature reef can sustain lots of life.
When I return home 5 years later, the tank is a black box. The anthelia, GSP and shrooms have just covered the walls of the dislay tank and cover up any light getting in or out.
From a top down view the tank is amazing. The fish are bright and colorful and the entire tank is now a rainbow of color. The Gorgs and leathers are monstruous. Fields of mushrooms, zoas and GSP run for feet at a time. And sparsed in between are some of the LPS that survived.
And amoungst all that is a colony of Bali Slimer, that just didn't quit. A Sanjoe Milka Stylaphora that managed to continue to grow somehow. And the chunk of Red Monti Cap.
5 years. Now it's going to take 5 days just to clean off 50sq feet of acrylic walls to see back into the tank.
Dave B
My record previously was walking away from the tank for 10 weeks an only having a slight issue when a 20lb CO2 tank ran out after 6 weeks. I have already upgraded to a 50lb tank.
I have a commerial RO/DI system which produces up to 4k a day. The commercial membranes last long enough so that 5 years of use the water coming out will still be pretty clean. I have a service that comes out every 6 months and swaps out a 50lb tank of DI Resin, I'm sure my acccountant will keep paying their bill.
The RO Waste water goes into my skimmer collection cup and then drains out to a sewer line. And I already have a neck cleaner that runs 4x a day.
So theoretically about 3-4 months after I take off on my world wide beach tour the CO2 runs out on the system. Within a a few days after that the alk bottoms out and alot of SPS say adios.
Now 2 of the tanks which are part of my 1500g system are outdoor frag tanks. The corals in those tanks being pummelled with Direct sunlight are way more tolerant of Alk shifts than the corals lit by led.
I would imagine without alk within a few months the SPS colonies start to fade out and away.
The LPS corals, able to feed and flourish off fish poops and the natural fauna in the tank do well. The mushrooms, GSP, Gorgs, Anthelia, all do well and over 5 years take over the tank.
The 150 fish I have in the 750 display tank are not going to fare as well. WIthout me feeding them there will be a quick die off of the anthias, chromis, and maybe the genicanthus angels. The Dwarf angels, tangs, damsels, blennies, gobies (even the mandarin) and clowns will feed off of what the tank produces in terms of pods and fauna. Prior to keeping Anthias I used to keep my reef tanks for 15+ years and only feed the tank 1-2x a year. A healthy mature reef can sustain lots of life.
When I return home 5 years later, the tank is a black box. The anthelia, GSP and shrooms have just covered the walls of the dislay tank and cover up any light getting in or out.
From a top down view the tank is amazing. The fish are bright and colorful and the entire tank is now a rainbow of color. The Gorgs and leathers are monstruous. Fields of mushrooms, zoas and GSP run for feet at a time. And sparsed in between are some of the LPS that survived.
And amoungst all that is a colony of Bali Slimer, that just didn't quit. A Sanjoe Milka Stylaphora that managed to continue to grow somehow. And the chunk of Red Monti Cap.
5 years. Now it's going to take 5 days just to clean off 50sq feet of acrylic walls to see back into the tank.
Dave B
