How simple do you reef?

[AWillroth]

I'm curious how many other "minimalist" nano-reefers there are. By that, I mean how simple is your setup and routine? I only use a hob for filtration, a cheap wal mart powerhead and do water changes once a week. No skimmer, no testing, no dosing. I have no delusions of being able to keep sps, but I have a healthy lps/zoa/mushroom reef going strong 8 months in. Does anyone run an even simpler setup?

[BoxKing]

I think it depends on the size of your tank setup, and the actual tank design you chose from the get go. For instance, you may run more filter media if you have an AIO tank that allows you to upgrade/fabricate, or make use of more filtering channels; otherwise, you will have to make a sump system, or use a simple HOB.

 

The key within your post is your weekly water changes, and by not loading inhabitants in your tank that would not thrive under certain condition that you set. Your setup IMO, only would require: proper lighting, simple filtration, water changes once every 1-2 weeks.

 

Simpler is sometime better, but doesnt work for everyone.. props to your simple system!

[JaceR]

In my humble opinion I think a majority of the great reefs I see on the internet are more simple then some of these high tech set ups

[brandon429]

sure do reef simple. no other pico lives as long as the reefbowl, one vase one airstone one heater one light.

[Nano sapiens]

Yes. Pump (with rotating return), heater, thermometer, gravity-fed DIY ATOs and lights. No mechanical or chemical filtration, just 5%/2x per week WCs and regular detritus removal.

 

No need to exclude SPS (Montis, especially) as long as calcium, alkalinity and magnesium remain stable and within acceptable ranges.

[jservedio]

I have two tanks - one bare bones simple and the other with all the goodies and while the one with all teh goodies is basically just an acro tank, I feel like neither one is doing better.

 

My 2g pico is nothing but a piece of rock, a heater, some floss, and a return pump. No testing, no dosing, no nothing. I change about 20% of the water every week - sometimes more, frequently less. It has no trouble keeping monti caps and monti digis alive (6 months of good growth on my digi in it).

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a bare bones tank as long as you keep up with the water changes. In fact, it is much easier to keep a simple tank since when something goes wrong, the ONLY solution available is a water change.

[AWillroth]

Yeah, I wasn't excluding all sps. I have a spongodes montipora that's doing well. I just meant I know this type of setup won't work for acros or anything. Glad to see others share my keep it simple motto. I also have a 2 gallon pico that's just a heater and a pump.

 

Here is my tank a couple days ago. I've since moved around and glued down some of the frags.

[BulkRate]

As simple as I can (small 9 gallon tank, no immediate upgrade plans) - started down the path of controller-based lighting, MP10 powerheads and the like... nowadays have it pared down to a single PAR38 fixture on a simple timer, a single Korallia240 powerhead & a 50W Cobalt Aquatics neotherm heater. EVERY part on the tank can be replaced locally within a couple hours (minus the light which is on my "buy with found money" list). Peace of mind reigns nowadays - I had no idea how stressed out the exotic part requirements was making me until I ditched it (likely because I wasn't doing it right). Would the above work for every tank out there? Likely not... but it's been an epiphany for me and is going a long way towards making my tank enjoyable once again.

 

Maintenance is now just 2x ~1 gallon water changes per week, filter pad replacement at same time and bi-monthly changes of mixed carbon/seagel/purgen canister in the corner filter (I'd estimate maybe 30-45 minutes a week of actual work as opposed to general puttering, which doesn't count, right?). Top off with Aquavitro 8.4-laced RO to forestall the alkalinty swings that nearly crashed the tank as I procrastinate about replacing the sandbed (<- not my proudest moment in reefing).

 

EVERYTHING in my tank got better over a span of a couple of months once I started doing this consistently.

[Timfish]

This is a 240 gallon sumpless, filterless and skimmerless system. Circulation is 2 older Korallia 2s and 2 Aquaclear 70 ph. Maintnance since 2008 is every 10 - 12 days top off with +/- 15 gallons of tapwater and then do a 20 gallon water change with tap water with a 1/4 cup of aragamight added to one bucket. Lighting is two 250 watt HQI 12,000K MH fixtures.

 

 

[brandon429]

amazing above

 

some of the work in the biotope forum of this site is the most advanced simplistic reefing known. can't be simpler than the sealed no circ systems.

[NanoReef_Man]

This is a 240 gallon sumpless, filterless and skimmerless system. Circulation is 2 older Korallia 2s and 2 Aquaclear 70 ph. Maintnance since 2008 is every 10 - 12 days top off with +/- 15 gallons of tapwater and then do a 20 gallon water change with tap water with a 1/4 cup of aragamight added to one bucket. Lighting is two 250 watt HQI 12,000K MH fixtures.

 

Beautiful tank, Timfish...

The fish and the corals are much more healthier and natural in this kind of set-up!!!

[JoeDigiorgio]

I'm running two 37gal columns for almost 2 years now (upgraded from 15gal columns in January). Most of my fish and corals have been with me over a year and a half with a bunch of sps frags added recently as an experiment.

 

One tan is a full blown reef with zoanthids, montis and bubble tips and the other is basically a display fuge with gorgs, caulerpa, rock anemones, zoanthids and other macroalgaes/mangroves. Neither tank has any form of conventional filtration. The reef tank has a Jebao WP10 (soon to be an RW15 this week) and a viaaqua titanium heater set to 80*, and the caribbean biotope has 2 koralias (soon to be the WP10 from the reef) and that is it. Both tanks get a 5-10gal water change and good scraping every week and are lit with AI Nanos.

 

Flow, lighting and water changes make a happy fish tank.

[ssteven1]

I love simple aquariums. I run all my aquariums very simply. My 15 gallon is over 2 years old. It has a 24 inch t5 light. a aquaclear 50 HOB, heater and two powerheads. My 5 gallon just runs a HOB and a heater and is a few months shy of 2 years.

[Eclipse]

My 10 gallon is basically just a HOB filter, heater, thermometer, and a Par 38, with weekly water changes.... That's about it.

[badwhiskey]

I have an issue with my skimmer and microbubbles...(I'm the tunze post) I have been studying this style of Simple reefing...how do you get rid of the film on top of your tanks? Even agitating the water with wave makers isn't there still film? I want to remove the skimmer and just use powerheads

[Cameron6796]

If you haven't talked to Illuix you need to. He ran a tank with a little sand and a canister filter with no rock just corals

[JoeDigiorgio]

I have an issue with my skimmer and microbubbles...(I'm the tunze post) I have been studying this style of Simple reefing...how do you get rid of the film on top of your tanks? Even agitating the water with wave makers isn't there still film? I want to remove the skimmer and just use powerheads

 

Yes. I make my own fish food and always include a few fish oil capsules in the mix so I actually get quite a film. It builds for a few days, then water change day comes around and I drape a paper towel over the top before siphoning any water. Once the towel is soaked I pull it and toss it into the dirty water bucket then siphon out my usual 5gal for the water change. Film stays totally gone for a couple of days then slowly comes back until about a week has passed and I do it all over again.

 

FWIW when I ran a HOB back in the day I still got that film, so I've been servicing my tanks this way for years, simple set up or not. Some sort of overflow filtration (AIO or sump) seems to be the only way to eliminate this.

[harleychic]

+1 with what Eclipse said. Currently have 4 nanos. One 6 gallon edge that houses a giant harlequin shrimp for 2 years, one 3 1/2 gallon that has been running forever, one 10 gallon NPS tube anemone/sun coral tank up for 3 years, and one 10 gallon mixed reef that is about to turn a year old, LPS, zoas, shrooms, and SPS including acros. All are run with HOB filters, LR, heaters and powerheads, that's it. 10%+ weekly water changes always. I manually top off daily with RO/DI. I set up my first reef 12 years ago and got the best advice from my LFS, "Do your research, and do very frequent water changes, and you'll be fine". Words to live by.

[gogo]

i've been running filterless for a quite a while now... my 2.6 gallon vase runs on air, heater and a par 30. my new 6 gallon vase runs the same with a par 38 i used to use an automatic water changer daily on my smaller vase, but stopped because my daily maintenance included a water change so i just turned it off. i use live phyto and live rotifers daily...

i think the secret to success is a live sandbed, not a deep one, (everybody seems to be scared of worms in their tanks, i encourage them) and water changes, frequent ones....

i also 'flush' my vases..... i blast detritus out into the water column, then siphon half the water out and filter it through my 56micron plankton seive, then pour the water back in. i do this on a needed basis.. the detritus ends up feeding my rotis and copepods, which i restock my dt with. this works for me, and has done for over a year now.

[Tamberav]

On small tanks it is easier to keep it simple because W/C's are easier. When I had a 20g and 12g, I did W/C's and carbon/floss. If something goes wrong in a small tank, a 50% W/C or even a 100% W/C is fairly simple.

 

I personally wouldn't bother to run a skimmer on a pico or something. Just do a W/C!

[spazizz]

Very Simple

WP-10

Sand

LR

Corals

 

100% bi monthly water change.

No testing.

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

Just to drive home how strongly I feel about simple reeling, I've already planned and designed my future custom build for once we buy a house. Shouldn't be more than 2 years from now.

 

Length is not determined yet but will be the same length as whatever wall it end up being built for, hopefully in the 6-10' range. Height will be 18" and depth will be 3'. One half of the back wall will basically be a ghost overflow into a 5-6" deep compartment that'll just be a turf scrubber to a very small, slow return pump. This will process the film from the surface of the water. Filtration will otherwise be driven by live rock, caulerpa prolifera, halimeda and an incredibly deep sandbed in the back center of the tank.

 

The filtration will be the only minimalist part. Lighting will be totally decked out, flow will be disgustingly high throughout the majority of the tank, apex monitored parameters and a dosing pump. No skimming.

 

Stocking will be very natural as well. Lots of shoals of very small fish, nothing larger than an anthias. Firefish, green chromis, cardinalfish, garden eels and it will be the largest successful pipefish/seahorse tank anyone has ever seen.

[SquishyFishy]

I just started a new thread about setup ideas for my Aqueon 4 and I like what I'm hearing here.

 

I was just thinking I'd put filter floss in my rear fuge compartment and maybe a minute bit of dry rock, some water from my big tank and let her rip.

 

Like hearing about this! I just want some shrimp/crab and maybe a nem or maxi mini or rock flower nem.

 

Timfish's tank is astounding!

[GoingPostal]

Both my tanks are run very simply and always have been, at most I've had a hob skimmer on a past tank, no ato's, no filters, no controllers, no sumps. Just rock and flow and weekly water changes.

[Cool Beans]

Stock, out of the box JBJ Nano 12g DX. . .no bags of chemi anything, no skimmer. . .I do have the lights on a cheapy timer, and I do have 1 filter sponge set to hold some filter floss. Once a week I blast the rocks with a turkey baster then rinse the floss the next day. I don't clean the sponge and it has a nice colony of pods in it. I change the water every 1 - 3 weeks. I do ocassionally test for calcium since my LPS and Birds Nest are growing/splitting like weeds, and find I need to dose maybe once a week on top of water changes. Tank is about 6 months old. This is an office tank, it can't be something I can worry about on the clock, lol.