CrazyEyes Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 I plan on running a completely fishless tank, I will however have a pair of skunk cleaners and various inverts. My main question is this, since there will be no fish the bioload will be real low but in return I may have to feed the tank. My only concern is keeping the po4 and no3 down to reasonable numbers. The tank has no skimmer but, I will be doing weekly 4 gallon water changes (30g system), will the water changes be enough for removing enough nutrients from the water to keep the levels in check. Link to comment
GMay Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 I posted the following on another thread with a similar qustion. "That is how I run my tanks. The only thing I use is live rock, filter floss, Chemipure Elite, Purigen and carbon. Change 10 to 15% water each week and replace floss twice weekly, and chemical media monthly. The only other thing is to make sure you have good water circulation." Link to comment
ajmckay Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hi there. I think you might be over thinking things. If you have a 30g tank with a few inverts the bio-load is going to be extremely low. I assume this will be a coral tank? If so you'll probably need to feed the corals the bio-load will be so low! Is there a reason you don't want to add a fish? I'm just saying because fish are a good way to get nutrients into the tank. If I were doing this tank, I would probably just treat it like any other tank - but watch things very closely for signs of too little nutrients. You'll have to do some research on the types of food you should be feeding but a good start would be live phytoplankton, maybe some live pods, and then a packaged food like reef roids or coral frenzy or something. Regarding the inverts, assuming you have various shrimp and crabs a sinking pellet food would probably work well as would small chunks of seafood or frozen preparations. Starting off I probably wouldn't run any chemical media because you probably won't have to... Filter floss/sponges IMO are good as long as you clean them a few times per week. Regarding water changes I would just observe carefully and test. Again assuming you'll keep stony corals you'll have to do water changes or dose additives to keep CA, KH, Mg, etc up but ultimately observation will be your best friend... Try to learn how the corals you will be keeping react to low/normal/high nutrient levels and that will help you develop your maintenance routine. Link to comment
CrazyEyes Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 Thanks for the replies. GMay - Yeah I change the filter floss every 2-3 days or whenever I see it getting a little dirty, it's cheap so its not a big deal changing it out even everyday. As far as circulation goes, the intake circulation is fine with two mp10s, overall turnover rate is between 3-4x but I can turn the pump up. ajmckay - I definitely overthink everything. Honestly, I've dealt with a few fish diseases in the past and am just over it for now, gonna take a shot a tank without fish. I'm definitely going to have to feed the tank to keep the corals happy. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Thanks for the replies. GMay - Yeah I change the filter floss every 2-3 days or whenever I see it getting a little dirty, it's cheap so its not a big deal changing it out even everyday. As far as circulation goes, the intake circulation is fine with two mp10s, overall turnover rate is between 3-4x but I can turn the pump up. ajmckay - I definitely overthink everything. Honestly, I've dealt with a few fish diseases in the past and am just over it for now, gonna take a shot a tank without fish. I'm definitely going to have to feed the tank to keep the corals happy. I hear you, nothing more frustrating than losing a bunch of expensive fish to disease! The solution is having a good quarantine procedure and some common medications on hand considering the kinds of fish you want to get. Link to comment
rone_kevin66 Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 The clows lost were beautiful witch is the worst. Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 It's all a question of balance... You'll need to feed the tank to keep the corals 'happy' and perform regular tank maintenance. A bit of experimentation and you can find the 'sweet spot'... Link to comment
CrazyEyes Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 My friend suggested that I feed the tank frequently until water changes and biological filtration cant keep then dial it back and find the sweet spot. Link to comment
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