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My Filterless, Skimmerless 10G


jabeuy

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Current FTS:

 

KKTM5QT.jpg

 

Hey everyone, this is my first reef tank. First set it up early in June, so it's been up for about 2.5 months now.

 

It's a standard 10G, without any HOB filters or skimmer.

 

The only equipment in it is the heater, wavemaker and ATO. Although I've read threads about filterless reefs, I haven't seen too many here. Been doing weekly water changes from the beginning, but recently got to 0 nitrates so I'm gonna try bi-weekly.

 

In 2.5 months, I've changed my lights, changed ATOs and changed powerheads/wavemakers.

Finally hoping to let it coast for a little while...except maybe adding some shrimp or other interesting inverts.

 

Here's what I have as of now:

 

Livestock

- 2 ocellaris clowns

- 3 trochus snails

- 1 nassarius (had 4, but the other 3 disappeared)

- Pom Pom Xenia

- Orange mushroom, and some kind of ricordia mushroom

- 2 zoa frags

- duncan

- purple photosynthetic gorgonian (not sure which type)

- yellow hammer and multi color hammer

- candy apple blasto

- acan (not sure which)

- candy cane coral

- green torch

 

Hardware:

- Jebao WP10

- Jager 50W heater

- SmartATO

- Current USA Orbit Marine LEDs

 

 

Since I didn't start a thread from the beginning, here's a quick rundown of my tank from start to today:

 

06-09-2014: A few days after starting it RWDHPUg.jpg

 

 

06-26-2014: Got my first corals. Things were looking okak, so I then got some fish about a week after.

 

hhsTYMd.jpg

 

07-17-2014: Lost the 2 zoas in the previous pic, the big colony had lots of small aiptasia on it. I did a FW dip for both zoas (prob the wrong move), but forgot to warm up the water. Needless to say, they weren't happy and soon melted... But soon after got 3 new corals from a LFS :D

 

1HoS3Vq.jpg

 

07-30-2014: Went to a frag meet, ended up with a bunch more corals. Diatoms picking up.

 

bXm6GbG.jpg

 

N65bECn.jpg

 

08-15-2014: Got a WP10. Moved some things around. Diatoms are almost all gone it seems.

HLY45XV.jpg

 

hoKyjBr.jpg

 

pdhuUYK.jpg

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Looks like you are off to the right start with this and it is looking good so far keep it up. Welcome to NR btw good to see new builds from new people!

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Nano sapiens

Looks like you are off to a good start. Just curious, what inspired you to go the 'filterless' route?

 

Oh, and yes, filterless works just fine as my 12g has been running this way for 6+ years. How long the tank runs well depends on your maintenance procedures, parameter stability and attention to detail.

 

Tip: One thing I noticed right away was the large rock on the right blocking flow in the corner. Ideally, you want to create a 'Gyre' effect where the flow can circulate efficiently right around your live rock.with as little obstruction as possible. If I have something protruding like this, a sturdy scredriver, hammer and a few well placed blows will take care of it :)

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Thanks guys!

 

Going filterless was moreso about cutting costs rather than by inspiration haha. A buddy got me into reefing, but I didn't want to go all in yet. Sumps were intimidating, and skimmer and AIO systems were expensive.

Instead, got my feet wet with as minimal equipment as possible. That said, there's no going back now :)

 

Thanks for the tip nano sapiens. The corals I have on the right rock are glued on. Should I be taking them off first if I take a hammer to it? Haha

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Love the look and design of your aquarium. Seems like you are very conscience of aquarium aesthetics. It is well laid out and the positioning of the corals looks good with plenty of open space. Big fan of gorgonians, Adams, and blasts. Actually, I like all you coral choices. Keep up the great work and I will certainly be following along.

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Nano sapiens

Thanks guys!

 

Going filterless was moreso about cutting costs rather than by inspiration haha. A buddy got me into reefing, but I didn't want to go all in yet. Sumps were intimidating, and skimmer and AIO systems were expensive.

Instead, got my feet wet with as minimal equipment as possible. That said, there's no going back now :)

 

Thanks for the tip nano sapiens. The corals I have on the right rock are glued on. Should I be taking them off first if I take a hammer to it? Haha

 

If they are not in the way of the cuts, then 15 minutes out of water won't hurt them. Otherwise, removal would be best.

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Thanks for the love everybody!

 

Any suggestions for shrimp in a 10g?

Would both a cleaner and fire shrimp be too much?

 

What about sexy shrimp? Would they alsp help clean up detritus?

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I'm setting up a 10 gallon also! Mines still cycling though. :/ it's so hard to wait!

 

I'm getting a few sexy shrimp in mine. They don't really do much in the way of a clean up crew though.

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I'm setting up a 10 gallon also! Mines still cycling though. :/ it's so hard to wait!

 

I'm getting a few sexy shrimp in mine. They don't really do much in the way of a clean up crew though.

 

I'll probably stick with cleaner or fire then haha.

 

How long have you been cycling? All dry rock? I started with half live and half dry, and it cycled pretty fast.

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I'll probably stick with cleaner or fire then haha.

 

How long have you been cycling? All dry rock? I started with half live and half dry, and it cycled pretty fast.

I have about 15lbs dry rock and 1 lb live rock. 10lbs live sand. I also added half a raw shrimp to feed the bacteria. I've been cycling since Tuesday. I plan on waiting at least a month to see if I begin to get a diatom bloom.

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I'll probably stick with cleaner or fire then haha.

 

The fire and cleaner shrimp will work well and look great. The only issue with them is that they are greedy eaters. If you get any fish or coral that needs spot feeding and time to consume food, it most likely will be stolen by the fire and cleaner shrimp. Regardless, I really like shrimp and highly recommend them. I also owned 4 sexy shrimp and the movement they make with their tails is really cool to observe. They do not add any cleaning benefit to the environment but are fun to watch.

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The fire and cleaner shrimp will work well and look great. The only issue with them is that they are greedy eaters. If you get any fish or coral that needs spot feeding and time to consume food, it most likely will be stolen by the fire and cleaner shrimp. Regardless, I really like shrimp and highly recommend them. I also owned 4 sexy shrimp and the movement they make with their tails is really cool to observe. They do not add any cleaning benefit to the environment but are fun to watch.

 

Thanks for the insights. I'll be on the lookout for some shrimp at my local stores.

 

Some random clips put together of my tank:

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Great polyp extension. Everything looks very healthy and the aquarium is super clean. The wave action certainly has something to do with this. Nice video clips and thanks for sharing.

 

Yeah, definitely the waves. Polyps were extended before, but since adding in the WP10, everything just looks so much happier and fuller :)

 

The only thing is that b/c I don't have a sump, the ATO might become an issue. The "eye" on the ATO checks for a low water level that lasts > 3 seconds, so it might take longer to recognize evaporation since the waves go up and down. May have to rig up some sort of faux overflow box or wave guard for it.

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Look online for DYI overflow boxes or overflow pipes. For around $15 to $20 you can design a pvc pipe overflow which would work in your application. What I like about this overflow is that there is no massive box taking space from the aquarium. Just a thought.

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Look online for DYI overflow boxes or overflow pipes. For around $15 to $20 you can design a pvc pipe overflow which would work in your application. What I like about this overflow is that there is no massive box taking space from the aquarium. Just a thought.

 

Will do, thanks.

 

Had to lower the waves a bit so the water around the ATO is steadier. Need to figure something out, I like the big waves more ;)

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really like it so far.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Look online for DYI overflow boxes or overflow pipes. For around $15 to $20 you can design a pvc pipe overflow which would work in your application. What I like about this overflow is that there is no massive box taking space from the aquarium. Just a thought.

 

With regards to the waves/ATO/overflow box issue, I'm not really a DIY guy so I thought of something else.

 

Other than lowering the wave intensity (which is a possible temp solution until I upgrade tanks), how about putting the wavemaker on a timer?

 

I have one of those dial timers, I'm thinking of having the wavemaker stop for a little bit (dial allows for 30 min increments) every 4 hours. This settles down the water level for a small period of time, and gives the ATO a chance to check if it should top off.

Can anyone think of potential issues this might cause?

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Great looking tank, love the clean lines and simplicity you've achieved.

 

Thanks!

 

How long has this tank been up and running?

About 2.5 months now

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