self-contained Nano-System?

[sycamore]

[cross-posted on reefcentral.com]

 

Hi all,

 

Newbie here, but trying to learn as much as possible. Sometimes trial and error is the best way. I'm looking to make my setup as low-maintenance as possible (i.e. little-to-no feeding, little nutrient export, minimal water changes, no skimmer or wet/dry). The ideal situation would be close to one of those closed-system salt-water Ecospheres . And I guess a tank full of water void of any life would fit the criteria too, but would be less interesting.

 

In these Ecospheres , you just add light, which feeds the algae. Tiny shrimp eat the algae and produce nitrogen-based waste products + CO2. These are used by bacteria and the shrimp. While the algae and bacteria reproduce, I don't think the shrimp do much reproducing; and after anywhere from 2-7 years, the system finally crashes.

 

I would think that the Nano-System (no TM yet but maybe soon) would need lots of live rock & sand. It would have lots of micro & macro algae that could be eaten by crabs & snails (and possibly herviborous fish like gobies). Photosynthetic corals would be nice, too. Of course, the rate of nitrogen waste production of the animals and decaying matter would need to be balanced with the capacity of the mature tank's bacteria and algae to uptake these wastes.

 

I wouldn't expect the animal forms to do any reproducing, so they'd eventually be replaced. Water changes would be based on nitrate levels, and trace elements + Calcium would be added on a weekly or biweekly basis.

 

Here's my setup, which has been running for a week now:

 

EQUIPMENT

7 Gallon All-Glass© MiniBow™ Aquarium

Penguin© Mini BioWheel™ Filter

Power Compact Fluorescent Retrofit

32W Smart Bulb (Actinic + Daylight)

50W Heater

 

FLORA & FAUNA

6 lbs of Fiji Live Rock, 4lbs of Tabana Totoka (Fiji Branched Rock), 15 lbs of Live Sand

Caulpera racemosa, Tang heaven, Halimeda and coralline algaes, and lots of diatoms

2 Fighting Conchs, 2 turbo snails

Mushroom polyps, open brain anemone

Sally Lightfoot crab

 

 

In case you think I'm insane for throwing all this together so quickly, I have a roomate with a 55 gallon setup, just in case of emergencies.

 

Everything's running pretty smoothly, nothing big has died, and here are my chemistries as of yesterday:

 

pH Ca+ NH3 NO2 NO3

8.2 425 0.25 0.5 5

 

 

I'm hoping the biofilter kicks up some more soon to get rid of the NO2. I also have a few more macroalgae coming, which should help with the NO3.

 

Has anyone tried this yet? Am I a utopian idealist? I'd love to hear from other folks who have tried this.

[Dave ESPI]

I think there are a few post HERE you need to look at.....

 

there is a crapload about this concept and we recently discussed those "biospheres" hit the search button and look around.

 

FWIW, your tank can be maintained in homestatic ballance, BUT you really need to lightly stock it and by all means, NO FISH.

 

hth.

 

Welcome to nano.

[Pikelet]

Keep it very simple and don't forget that those self contained balls don't last longer than a couple of years at best. Happy experimenting.

[sycamore]

Thanks for the input.

 

No plans for fish anytime soon. Maybe just a few more mushrooms, and another Sally Lightfoot or Emerald crab.

 

I did a search using the terms "ecosystem", "low-maintenance", "biosphere", and "closed-system"--not too much came up. Could you point me in the right direction? Thanks!