youngandstupid Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 I have had a 26 gallon bow set up for about a month now and I am currently running it without a filter. I have 42 lbs of live rock, and I don't plan on having any fish in the tank except an algae blennie. The only other bio-builder will be a blue spiny lobster (potential mistake). My first question is, should I get an AC 500 or 300 for mechanical filtration and run carbon, or should I just run the tank filterless? And my other question is: Has anyone had any experience with blue spiny lobsters and clams? The little guy is only an inch now but I know they get up to a foot long. I am worried that he is going to grow up and eat my clams. Thanks for any help you can give. I will be posting picks as soon as I get a camera and figure out how to post them. Link to comment
youngandstupid Posted January 5, 2005 Author Share Posted January 5, 2005 Please, help me out, I know someone out there has the answers to these questions. Link to comment
ReefMonkeee Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 turn in the ac500 into a fuge or just get a fuge or make a sump or get a sump??? Get a skimmer to? Link to comment
skeletor Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Originally posted by youngandstupid Has anyone had any experience with blue spiny lobsters and clams? The little guy is only an inch now but I know they get up to a foot long. I am worried that he is going to grow up and eat my clams. yes, he will grow up to eat your clams, and just about anything else that doesn't move fast enough in your tank. They also grow really fast, mine went from 1" to about 5" in less than a year. One of the coolest animals you can have, beautiful colors.. Mine would get a piece of shrimp every night after lights out and he would carry it around for a couple of hours chewing down on it until there was nothing left. -skeletor- Link to comment
Withers Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 I'd say scratch the mechanical filtration idea, and scrap the idea of any refugiums. I'd just have a ton of flow in the tank and overskim the hell out of it. The more nutrient poor you can make the tank, the better off you will be. P.S. your live rock IS your filtration. Link to comment
screeftennis Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 The Spiny Lobster is gone now, thanks for the info skeletor, I traded him in for credit at my LFS. VicSkimmmer-I have about 500 gallons per hour running through the tank right now, and I was wondering since I only have the algae blennie in the tank right do you still think that I need a skimmer. I have read about people running their tanks skimmerless, but they could have had refugiums, I am not sure. Right now the specs on the tank are Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are all at zero, SG-1.025, Calcium a little high at 480, and Alk a little low at 7. Tips for correcting this would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks for the help Link to comment
Meercat_Maric Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Im running a 25 high and its been up for about 2 months now. Its got an AC500 fuge that has LS and Chaeto in the collection basket. I have also installed two sponges for mechanical filtration in the untake portion of the fuge. The system is running at peak conditions and I have not had any problems. I also have a good stock of Fiji premium whihc adds to the biological filtration and icnreases my bio load capabilities. you dont need a skimmer with a nano if you beef up on your LR and run a filter (wheather it be mechanical or biological). Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Meerkat... while running without a skimmer may have worked for you, mechanical or biological filtration cannot outdo a skimmer. Usually its best to run one if you have a SPS setup, as they like pristing conditions, which skimmers undeniably do help to provide. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.