I was curious if anyone has had success keeping large tanks using only the natural/ low maintenance method. By natural I mean not utilizing skimmers and other types of equipment. Basically, just live rock, live sand, algae, and maybe water changes.

The second part of this question is if, when utilizing the natural method, it is possible to maintain a collection of non-photosynthetic corals (mostly Tubastrea) in the tank. I know you would have to be a lot more limited with fish stocking and feeding regimens, but I also figured that with out a skimmer the tank would produce alot more natural types of food, or in general, a more "dirty" or nutritious environment. Again, these are just questions and ideas, and would appreciate your input.

Thanks!

i know it is possible one of the guys at my lfs who is really good with this stuff and went to school to be a marine biologist has had a 150 i think or 200 just basic live rock sand and algae i'm not real sure about the non photosynthetic corals, i'm sure you could keep them if you kept you fish count down.

Thanks for the reply! You sure are lucky to have such a valuable resource: a LFS that knows what it's doing.

Thanks

My 125 is skimmer-less. It just has a 15 gallon refugium with chaeto and a DSB, plus water movement. I keep a relatively light bioload and it works great.

Here is the thing with large tanks. Maintenance. A lot of it. Everything is bigger.

After a few months of daily upkeep I built/bought/engineered my way to automation. And you can do that without equipment. Each piece of equipment I added to the tank took one more thing off my mind and off my "to-do-list" Today I completed my ATO system.

Now if it were not for fish (feeding frozen foods) I would not need to even touch my tank for a whole month. (monthly water changes)

I to equipment.

With that said. I say do your weekly water changes and you can do it. don't forget water changes on big tanks are big. I change 30 gallons.

I've been told large tanks cost between $25-$50 Per gallon for a complete setup. I'm under 1500 right now. Buying used and price searching and DIY can save you some serious cash.

I would recommend a very large sump. I've got a 60g sump just waiting until I have the cash to set up my 150. It will be a lot of work

You are talking about a high bioload coral, and if you want them open all the time, spawning and overall thriving in your system, you will be going through lots of cubes of frozen food. LOTS.

2 things on your side: You don't need light, thus you won't have algae problems, and these corals are relatively hardy - you don't need sps quality water, although the cleaner the water, the faster they respond to food.

Without a skimmer you will need to do large water changes, or lots of small water changes. On a large tank, that can be costly, even more costly than a high end skimmer in the long run. Not that a skimmer will eliminate the need for wc's, but it will help a lot.

Check out Mariusz' 145g tubastrea tank, he goes through 40 cubes of frozen food a day, and uses a deltec skimmer, denitrator, vodka, and liquid phosphate remover. Far from what you would consider natural, but look at the result:



Good luck!