Sumpless 72 BowFront Questions

[fletcherkane]

Hey all,
I am a 20 year veteran of fresh water, and I am attempting my first Saltwater tank.
I have converted a 72 Bow Front Aquarium into a FOWLR with the hopes of eventually upgrading the lighting and adding corals etc.

I have never had a tank with any sort of "sump", and decided I would try my 72 Bowfront "sumpless", which in hindsight, I might have been better off saving a bit o cash and installing when...
It's a little late in the game now, but I was wondering what kind of long term success I can expect in this type of system.

I have 100 pounds + of Live rock, 3-4 inch live sand bed, 2x Koralia 3's, 1 Penguin 1140 for supplemental flow behind the majority of the rock work.
I am also running a cannister filter that I have been religiously cleaning every 2 weeks. (Only carbon and floss in this)

Also, running a HOB Reef Octopus Skimmer...

15% water changes with RO/DI every two weeks as well.

So far all is well, other than the typical annoying Cyano outbreak...
My livestock is in my sig...

Now for the questions...
Is it possible to hook up so sort of DIY fuge without a sump, and would this be beneficial? So far my nitrates are consistently at zero, even with the cannister filter.

What other things can I do to insure long term success with this sort of set up?

Thanks in advance.
Here is a pic of the tank. Other than the exposed equipment, which some people really dislike, but I am used to from my freshwater days, I really like the look of the tank.


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3387/3257170872_e7e3def151.jpg

[Chris&Mel]

I have read threads were people have converted HOB aquaclear filters into fuge's...in fact I think if you google it the is directions on how to do it.

I too am running a sumpless reef tank....but am in the prosses of making one...you don't have to have a drilled tank to do this there are products that use siphon for an overflow. Some people say that they are not reliable but I believe if you are careful when setting up they will work fine for years.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCatalog/ctl3684/cp19172/si2219838/cl1/tom_skimmer_box_auto_stop_and_start?&query=overflow&queryType=0&offset=


I have met people that have been running reef tanks for years with out a sump thow

Nice looking tank

:)

[spw4949]

Many people have long term success w/o a sump. The key is a good skimmer(which u already have,I run the same on my 46 gallon bowfront), & keeping up on water changes. You could add a hang on back fuge with some chaeto & a DSB(deep sand bed) to ensure nitrate & excess nutrient reduction, it definately wouldn't hurt. It still isn't too late to do a sump, all you would have to do is add an overflow box 7& what not, not really that big a deal but totally your call. 1 thing I might change if I was you is I would ditch the floss in your canister, just run the carbon & keep changing it every 2 weeks like clockwork. How often are you doing water changes? I do weekly changes alternating between 10&20%. Hope this helps....