3 year old skimmerless 40G.

Aquabucket · 11/08/2008, 05:39 PM

On Dec 7th my 40G. skimmerless, sumpless LPS and softie tank will be 3 years old. Here are a few pics:

Filtration is mainly biological. The only mechanical filter is an HOB with carbon in it and nothing else.

Here is the original start up thread.

I will be posting some more pics tomorrow.

TomRep · 11/08/2008, 06:08 PM

Beautiful tank! keep up the good work.
tom

trippkid · 11/08/2008, 06:12 PM

Looks awesome, keep doing what you're doing. It definitely seems to work for you. Are you doing water changes or just topping off? Thanks for sharing, again pretty sweet reef. Have a good weekend.
Matt

ARIANNA · 11/08/2008, 06:13 PM

That's just awsome. Its amazing what you can do when you don't follow conventional wisdom. How often and what % water changes do you do? Fred

crvz · 11/08/2008, 06:14 PM

Wonderful setup, thanks for sharing the pictures. Proof that all kinds of filtration can be successfully employed. Kudos!

Aquabucket · 11/08/2008, 06:22 PM

Thanks for the kind words! I just did a 9 gallon water change last week. The last wc before that was in June. After the tank hit the year and a half mark I cut down on the water changes. Before that I did them once a month or more.

Top offs are done everyday with distilled water. I also dose 2 part every day or every other day. Magnesium, strontium and trace elements are also added once and awhile. The tank also goes dark for 3 days every 2 months or so.

The key is most of the corals I stocked the tank with can adapt well to this type of set-up. Macro algae is hidden behind the rockwork and helps to keep phosphate/nitrate levels low. The tank has never tested over 3ppm nitrates and typically reads 0. I have never tested for phosphate.

Tangweed · 11/08/2008, 06:53 PM

That's an awesome looking tank and you make it look very easy to keep. Great job

spleify · 11/08/2008, 07:03 PM

Gorgeous tank!!

tkeracer619 · 11/08/2008, 07:22 PM

Awesome tank! How many fish do you have?

Don-Coraleone · 11/08/2008, 07:31 PM

very beautiful. unbelievable colors.

Electrobes · 11/08/2008, 08:22 PM

I have always loved your setup Aquabucket, TBH I am just sorry I didn't vote in the TOTM... I would have voted for yours in the category. Great job!

Jadams · 11/08/2008, 10:12 PM

Very nice!

vietcu · 11/08/2008, 10:59 PM

Are the glass always that clean? or how often do you have to scrape it? And how do you get to the back glass if you do have to scrape it of algae? Nice looking tank by the way.

SLODEN53 · 11/09/2008, 12:09 AM

Awwww, it such a pleasure to see your beautiful reef tank again!

Since I began reading your original thread about a year ago, I have had a 20 gallon and 50 gallon skimmerless reef tank and they both just flourished! And now we have a 125 gallon that has all of things that were in the 20 and 50 combined together along with a 30 gallon sump and a Berlin skimmer.

It has only been set up for about 2 weeks now, but we used allof the sand, rock and water that were in the two smaller tanks. It is doing very well with the exception of my pumping zenias (sp?). At first they were doing great, fully opened, waving around in the current and pumping regularly. But in the past several days, they have closed up, shrunk down and appear to be upset about something. This is the only thing in the 125 that has taken a turn for the worse. They look very much alive, just not as tall or open, waving about or pumping.

Any ideas as to what they might not be liking? I am doing all the same things that were done prior to adding the sump/refugium and skimmer.

Your pictures are as always, gorgeous!

Susie

OceanDweller · 11/09/2008, 12:37 AM

I also noticed your stocking levels are nice, not 10 fish swimming around in there. Thanks for helping me to inspire a skimmerless 50 cube thought I will be running a refugium.

MazdaSPD3 · 11/09/2008, 12:39 AM

Looks like just 1 chromis, so very very lightly stocked.

JustinReef · 11/09/2008, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MazdaSPD3
Looks like just 1 chromis, so very very lightly stocked.

There are at least 3 fish in the first pic

Looks AMAZING!

Dave VG · 11/09/2008, 07:32 AM

Wow jam packed. Very very nice Aquabucket!! Is there any warfare going on in there? Have you had to move corals around because of it? Do you have to run carbon? I have often thought about starting a softy tank. Hummm.

Capt_Cully · 11/09/2008, 07:55 AM

Simplicity at it's finest. Truly inspiring tank!!!

an411 · 11/09/2008, 09:45 AM

ver nice tank and coral colors amazing that you dont use a skimmer and just carbon and hob filter really does go to show that you don't need fancy equipment to maintain a healthy reef

hwttdz · 11/09/2008, 09:54 AM

My skimmer stopped working well a few weeks ago. So I just took it off. I spent big bucks on a new skimmer at that point in time, now I feel silly, because I haven't seen any real change since my skimmer stopped working (of course it wasn't a very nice skimmer), and because I see a tank can be successful without a skimmer.

Jeff · 11/09/2008, 10:01 AM

Great looking tank! I have a mainly softie/lps tank myself.

Aquabucket · 11/09/2008, 10:20 AM

Thanks for all the responses everyone! I know the tank is stocked with many corals that may not be so exotic but it still looks pretty good I think.

Before I post a couple of more pics I'll try to answer everyone's questions.

tkeracer619 ~ Right now I have 4 fish: 2 chromis, a damsel and a yellow watchman goby. The damsel and the goby were stocked when the tank was first set-up. I usually have 5 fish though and have raised 2 yellow tangs which were traded out to suitable homes when they reached a certain size. I am currently looking to add another small fish possibly a yellow fang blenny.

vietcu ~ Yes the glass stays pretty clean. There is room around the entire rock structure that enables me to keep it that way. The tank gets scraped down with a razor during every water change. Otherwise a mag float does the rest.

SLODEN53 ~ Nice to hear from you again Susie! Sorry to hear about your xenia troubles. I can't keep xenia alive very long in my tank and have no idea why. I do know that in nature it can grow wildly for awhile then can die off suddenly. Some say iodine can help, others say intense light keeps them pulsing.

Dave VG ~ I do run plenty of carbon to help with warfare. I think a big factor is just plain luck or the fact that the corals grew into each other rather than just plopped down as larger colonies.

I did have to remove a large bubble coral as it was beginning to take up a 1/4 of the tank. I also lost a red lobo when it got stung by a rhodactus mushshroom. When stinging does go on I just break up the fight and try to move things around a little or cut something back.

Thanks again for all the kind comments everyone! Here is another pic. I am going to try to take some close-ups later today.

jmking33 · 11/09/2008, 10:25 AM

Your corals are looking great! Excellant picture quality!

markhilken · 11/09/2008, 10:38 AM

What an inspiration. I can only imagine all the naysayers on this forum, trying to justify there thousands and thousands of dollars investment in equiptment. Proof is in the pictures.

11/08/2008, 05:39 PM	#1
Aquabucket Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Green Bay, Wi. Posts: 4,455	3 year old skimmerless 40G. On Dec 7th my 40G. skimmerless, sumpless LPS and softie tank will be 3 years old. Here are a few pics: Filtration is mainly biological. The only mechanical filter is an HOB with carbon in it and nothing else. Here is the original start up thread. I will be posting some more pics tomorrow. __________________ "Just a drop in the bucket"

11/08/2008, 06:08 PM	#2
TomRep Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Fleetwood, PA 19522 Posts: 1,219	Beautiful tank! keep up the good work. tom __________________ "I got me a big wave, ride me a big wave, got me a big..WAVE!" Ed Vedder It's a reef thing, you wouldn't understand! Current Tank Info: 50 breeder w/o sump mixed reef, sps dominant. NEP T5 fixture with no stock bulbs, Bermuda Rogue HOB skimmer, canister filter, DIY hang on fuge, 2x modded MJ400's, Tunze Osmolator ATO, Randy's 2 part dosed with and Aquamedic twin

11/08/2008, 06:14 PM	#5
crvz Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: houstonia Posts: 7,989	Wonderful setup, thanks for sharing the pictures. Proof that all kinds of filtration can be successfully employed. Kudos! __________________ -Chris- You don't win friends with salad. "Look! They're trying to learn for free!" ... "Use your phony guns as clubs!" Current Tank Info: rectangluar? wet?

11/08/2008, 06:22 PM	#6
Aquabucket Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Green Bay, Wi. Posts: 4,455	Thanks for the kind words! I just did a 9 gallon water change last week. The last wc before that was in June. After the tank hit the year and a half mark I cut down on the water changes. Before that I did them once a month or more. Top offs are done everyday with distilled water. I also dose 2 part every day or every other day. Magnesium, strontium and trace elements are also added once and awhile. The tank also goes dark for 3 days every 2 months or so. The key is most of the corals I stocked the tank with can adapt well to this type of set-up. Macro algae is hidden behind the rockwork and helps to keep phosphate/nitrate levels low. The tank has never tested over 3ppm nitrates and typically reads 0. I have never tested for phosphate. __________________ "Just a drop in the bucket" Last edited by Aquabucket; 11/08/2008 at 06:56 PM.

11/08/2008, 07:03 PM	#8
spleify Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 9,579	Gorgeous tank!! __________________ Make it a Great Day!!!! Current Tank Info: 60 gal SPS cube, with 25 gal refugium, 400W MH, DIY Lumenarc III, DIY skimmer, DIY stand and canopy. 40 breeder LPS with 40 gallon sump, DIY stand, 250W MH

11/08/2008, 06:12 PM	#3
trippkid Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Lewisberry, PA Posts: 913	Looks awesome, keep doing what you're doing. It definitely seems to work for you. Are you doing water changes or just topping off? Thanks for sharing, again pretty sweet reef. Have a good weekend. Matt

11/08/2008, 06:13 PM	#4
ARIANNA Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: NE,PA USA Posts: 134	That's just awsome. Its amazing what you can do when you don't follow conventional wisdom. How often and what % water changes do you do? Fred

11/08/2008, 06:53 PM	#7
Tangweed Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Mohnton, PA Posts: 1,002	That's an awesome looking tank and you make it look very easy to keep. Great job

11/08/2008, 07:22 PM	#9
tkeracer619 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Westminster, CO Posts: 17,289	Awesome tank! How many fish do you have? __________________ Hobby Experience: 9200ish gallons, 26 skimmers, and a handful of Kent Scrapers. Current Tank: Vortech Powered 600G SPS Tank w/ 100gal frag tank & 100g Sump. RK2-RK10 Skimmer. ReefAngel. Radium 20k.

11/08/2008, 07:31 PM	#10
Don-Coraleone Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: east coast Posts: 1,478	very beautiful. unbelievable colors.

11/08/2008, 08:22 PM	#11
Electrobes Montipora type guy Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Fort Myers, FL Posts: 2,945	I have always loved your setup Aquabucket, TBH I am just sorry I didn't vote in the TOTM... I would have voted for yours in the category. Great job! __________________ Christian Current Tank Info: 100G Half Cylinder

11/08/2008, 10:12 PM	#12
Jadams Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 4,475	Very nice! __________________ Jeremy

11/08/2008, 10:59 PM	#13
vietcu Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Akron, Ohio Posts: 1,280	Are the glass always that clean? or how often do you have to scrape it? And how do you get to the back glass if you do have to scrape it of algae? Nice looking tank by the way.

11/09/2008, 12:09 AM	#14
SLODEN53 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: West Texas, USA Posts: 30	Awwww, it such a pleasure to see your beautiful reef tank again! Since I began reading your original thread about a year ago, I have had a 20 gallon and 50 gallon skimmerless reef tank and they both just flourished! And now we have a 125 gallon that has all of things that were in the 20 and 50 combined together along with a 30 gallon sump and a Berlin skimmer. It has only been set up for about 2 weeks now, but we used allof the sand, rock and water that were in the two smaller tanks. It is doing very well with the exception of my pumping zenias (sp?). At first they were doing great, fully opened, waving around in the current and pumping regularly. But in the past several days, they have closed up, shrunk down and appear to be upset about something. This is the only thing in the 125 that has taken a turn for the worse. They look very much alive, just not as tall or open, waving about or pumping. Any ideas as to what they might not be liking? I am doing all the same things that were done prior to adding the sump/refugium and skimmer. Your pictures are as always, gorgeous! Susie __________________ Susie "You learn something new everyday"! Current Tank Info: 125 gal with all soft corals

11/09/2008, 12:37 AM	#15
OceanDweller Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Longview Texas Posts: 294	I also noticed your stocking levels are nice, not 10 fish swimming around in there. Thanks for helping me to inspire a skimmerless 50 cube thought I will be running a refugium. __________________ Brad

11/09/2008, 12:39 AM	#16
MazdaSPD3 \| Budget Reefer \| Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: \| CA 90042 \| Posts: 436	Looks like just 1 chromis, so very very lightly stocked. __________________ Vince Current Tank Info: \| 49g Cube \| 26g Sump \| 250w HQI MH \| CPR BakPak2R \| 2x Phosban Reactors \| 2x Vortech MP40w \| JBJ Arctica 1/10 Chiller \|

11/09/2008, 07:32 AM	#18
Dave VG Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Northeast, Pa Posts: 3,129	Wow jam packed. Very very nice Aquabucket!! Is there any warfare going on in there? Have you had to move corals around because of it? Do you have to run carbon? I have often thought about starting a softy tank. Hummm. __________________ Dave Current Tank Info: 40B Display, 40B sump/fuge

11/09/2008, 07:55 AM	#19
Capt_Cully Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Syracuse, NY Posts: 13,574	Simplicity at it's finest. Truly inspiring tank!!! __________________ People say cars are a bad investment. Those people don't have reef tanks. Current Tank Info: 120, Radion Gen 2 Pro x 2

11/09/2008, 09:45 AM	#20
an411 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Derby CT Posts: 2,861	ver nice tank and coral colors amazing that you dont use a skimmer and just carbon and hob filter really does go to show that you don't need fancy equipment to maintain a healthy reef

11/09/2008, 09:54 AM	#21
hwttdz Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: NY, NY Posts: 105	My skimmer stopped working well a few weeks ago. So I just took it off. I spent big bucks on a new skimmer at that point in time, now I feel silly, because I haven't seen any real change since my skimmer stopped working (of course it wasn't a very nice skimmer), and because I see a tank can be successful without a skimmer.

11/09/2008, 10:01 AM	#22
Jeff Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Chicago Posts: 11,907	Great looking tank! I have a mainly softie/lps tank myself. __________________ Always remember.... any time you reef, you also reef with every reefer that reefer has reefed with. Mitch 2/18/10 IWNFT343F Current Tank Info: Innovative Marine 20

11/09/2008, 10:20 AM	#23
Aquabucket Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Green Bay, Wi. Posts: 4,455	Thanks for all the responses everyone! I know the tank is stocked with many corals that may not be so exotic but it still looks pretty good I think. Before I post a couple of more pics I'll try to answer everyone's questions. tkeracer619 ~ Right now I have 4 fish: 2 chromis, a damsel and a yellow watchman goby. The damsel and the goby were stocked when the tank was first set-up. I usually have 5 fish though and have raised 2 yellow tangs which were traded out to suitable homes when they reached a certain size. I am currently looking to add another small fish possibly a yellow fang blenny. vietcu ~ Yes the glass stays pretty clean. There is room around the entire rock structure that enables me to keep it that way. The tank gets scraped down with a razor during every water change. Otherwise a mag float does the rest. SLODEN53 ~ Nice to hear from you again Susie! Sorry to hear about your xenia troubles. I can't keep xenia alive very long in my tank and have no idea why. I do know that in nature it can grow wildly for awhile then can die off suddenly. Some say iodine can help, others say intense light keeps them pulsing. Dave VG ~ I do run plenty of carbon to help with warfare. I think a big factor is just plain luck or the fact that the corals grew into each other rather than just plopped down as larger colonies. I did have to remove a large bubble coral as it was beginning to take up a 1/4 of the tank. I also lost a red lobo when it got stung by a rhodactus mushshroom. When stinging does go on I just break up the fight and try to move things around a little or cut something back. Thanks again for all the kind comments everyone! Here is another pic. I am going to try to take some close-ups later today. __________________ "Just a drop in the bucket"

11/09/2008, 10:25 AM	#24
jmking33 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: orlando,FL Posts: 1,652	Your corals are looking great! Excellant picture quality! __________________ It is what it is! Current Tank Info: 160 gallon rimless w/ a fishroom located behind it

11/09/2008, 10:38 AM	#25
markhilken Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Lehigh Valley. Pennsylvania Posts: 110	What an inspiration. I can only imagine all the naysayers on this forum, trying to justify there thousands and thousands of dollars investment in equiptment. Proof is in the pictures.