large tank questions.

[noobwithatank]

im a fan of K.I.S.S when it comes to tanks.

i was wondering what everyones thoughts where on a 4x2x2 standard tank, with no skimmer, no sump, no fuge.

alot of live rock, and very few fish for a tank this size. would it be do able? as im more into coral.

[mattyice]

you could do it but it matters what type of corals you want to keep, if your going to want SPS, water changes are a must every two weeks and about 25-30% is what i would do, for LPS and softies maybe let it go three weeks to an month and do about a 25-30% water change, the only problem with having a tank like that is that your not going to have any major filtration and the water is not going to stay clear, on large tanks i think that filtration is a must, and even more would be having a sump and a skimmer, large tanks really cant be compared to a nano at the same thing, the amount of flow in the tank is going to have to be alot to make sure that all the waste doesnt settle to the bottom

 

overall i would say that keeping it that simple on a large tank is not a good idea

[noobwithatank]

you could do it but it matters what type of corals you want to keep, if your going to want SPS, water changes are a must every two weeks and about 25-30% is what i would do, for LPS and softies maybe let it go three weeks to an month and do about a 25-30% water change, the only problem with having a tank like that is that your not going to have any major filtration and the water is not going to stay clear, on large tanks i think that filtration is a must, and even more would be having a sump and a skimmer, large tanks really cant be compared to a nano at the same thing, the amount of flow in the tank is going to have to be alot to make sure that all the waste doesnt settle to the bottom

 

overall i would say that keeping it that simple on a large tank is not a good idea

 

 

it would mainlybe all softies with a few LSP. so in a larger tank the LR rule for filtration doesnt work? i thought as long as there was enough flow in a tank id be able to get away with it.

[mattyice]

the only problem is LR can only take down nutrients to nitrate, which nitrate still affects how colorful and how much your corals open, best bet is to try and keep macro algae in your tank to absorb the nitrates the best they can, then i would still try and do a 20-30% water change every two-three weeks

[msn711]

the only problem is LR can only take down nutrients to nitrate,

 

I'm pretty sure that's not true. If that were true, then there would be no reason to spend a lot of money on LR. HOT and canister filters take down nutrients to nitrate. LR actually breaks nitrate down to nitrogen.

 

Personally, I don't think a sump is absolutely necessary on any size tank...it just makes your life easier.

[andrewkw]

Personally, I don't think a sump is absolutely necessary on any size tank...it just makes your life easier.

 

Yes but why make the tank harder to take care of? It's a new tank start right. imo it would be more simple to have a sump then to not have one and have to worry about the issues caused by not having it.

[shaggydoo541]

Why no sump? Where are you going to put all your equip? I've got the dimension you have (120g) and simply run a sump with some chaeto in it and some carbon. Keep SPS, LPS, softies, you name it. I also have a fairly high bioload with 9 fish 4 of which are porky tangs.

[mattyice]

hmmm yeah see i keep my nitrates, ammonia, and nitrites down with just LR and a sand bed with some cheato (macro) and regular water changes, i dont use any canister filters and my LR does the rest, besides me having a filter floss pad to keep things out of the water

[AMSR]

I would not run any tank without a skimmer. They are too useful at removing organic waste.

 

You *can*, and many people do, run tanks with only a skimmer (no other filters, fuge, etc..) and it works well so long as you have enough LR.

[shaggydoo541]

You don't even need that much lr. I left most of my tank open with lots of swimming area for my tangs. And about 70% of my rock was base rock when I started my new tank.