skimmerless tank

[saltydog99202]

I am starting a nano tank and I was wondering do I need a skimmer? Can you do a nano tank without a skimmer and what are the downfalls with not running one? I have a nano fussion skimmer, I just hate all the micro bubbles in my tank!

 

[ac7av]

I have been running two 10 gallon mix reef tanks for a year and never noticed any problem not using a skimmer. I feed the coral one a day and fish once a day. Coral gets feed in the morning so it all opens up nice in the day and the fish at night. I have 1 – 2 inch of crib sea substrate, around 20 pounds of live rock, one zoomed power sweep power head to create random water action and the stuff always looks great. I just top the water off every few days and unless I see something unusual in the tank I don’t even check any other parameters of the water other then the salt.
http://media7.dropshots.com/photos/570488/20090225/191305.jpg
http://media8.dropshots.com/photos/570488/20090225/191345.jpg

 

[saltydog99202]

With your top off do you use rodi or treated tap? I have hear of people using tap water for top offs!

 

[saltydog99202]

Nice pics ac7av

 

[ac7av]

I personally use filtered tap water. Our well water in this area tests very well for use in aquarium and have not had any ill affects of doing so in my case. Your water is going to be different and if in doubt I would use the rodi water. I understand you can get this from most major grocery stores or even many local fish stores.

 

[ac7av]

Thanks I just took them for this post a few minutes ago. I think I scared the fish with the flash on the camera.

 

[noonesname124]

Nano with softies and some LPS? IMO you are OK with no skimmer. But if you can, you should just buy RO water from LFS. Tap is not going to kill your corals but they may not thrive.

 

[saltydog99202]

I have a 10 gal. w/ A mod aquaClear 110 refugium!

 

[ac7av]

Instead of trying to do away with the skimmer maybe there is someone that can help you with the bubble problem you don’t like. I’m sure someone has a hot system like that and has come up with a way to filter out the bubbles. Ill bet you could put a sponge or filter media in the return side to the tank to eliminate a lot of that. It doesn’t look like from the pictures that there is anything to stop the bubbles from getting into the tank. Since you have a small skimmer I would use it.

 

[saltydog99202]

I think a filter would house Nitrates(NO3) or Nitrites(N02) ! How often do you do a H20 change?

 

[saltydog99202]

I do have a bunch of Cheato on the spill outside! maybe that would help with theNo2&No3

 

[ac7av]

I wouldn’t think a strip across the outlet would do anything about increasing the trates at all. It would just help to defuse the air out of the water before it enters the tank. The cheato will take care of that stuff if it growing well. I just have mine stuffed in the side of the tank behind the rock and I remove a chunk when it fills the side of the tank. I have a minimalist approach to the tank thing, if it aint broke don’t fix it. To be honest I never change any water unless I am doing a full tank cleaning and that’s 2 to 3 times in the year. The cleaning crew I have in the tank seem to keep things looking okay since I have no external filtering at all everything stays in the tank in some form or another and any buildup in the rock and gravel need cleaned once in a while.

 

[slim_jim989]

i have a 12gal nano tank and personally ive not done a water change on it since i got it about 2 months agao. when i feed my fish and coral in the morning(coral i feed everyother day) i feed both my big tank and nano so i top off the nano with water from my bigger tank. i just the salt level everynow and then but i never notice anything bad so i call it good haha( might not be the smartest) but o well. and it has a small skimmer in the back but i doubt it actually works so its all good. if u search my threads i posted my nano tank pictures check them out and good luck.

 

[balogh03]

so i top off the nano with water from my bigger tank.

If you are just topping off because of evap, this should cause the salinity to rise every day...If you just topped off with fresh RO, the salinity would always stay the same.

Good luck ,

-augustus

 

[slim_jim989]

i check my salinity and it stays fine , and i did the whole top off with just ro water on my big tank cause of evap and it lowers my salinity after a while.

 

[ac7av]

I agree if you are toping off with water from your other tank the salt levels will rise in the tank. It would not matter if you’re toping off with ro water in the other tank or not. The only thing I could see that mite cause your levels to not rise is if you were getting a ton of salt creep seaware in the hood or sump. You can not continually be putting salt into the tank with out the levels rising.

 

[estanoche]

Just my .02, but since you have a nice fuge, you could probably get by without a skimmer.

I've got a good strong fuge and a remora skimmer on my 40 - and I have not pulled any skimmate from the skimmer in months (the skimmer is crap and I'm too lazy/cheap to buy a quality one)

No skimmer is just as good as having a crappy/non-functioning one. And if you are good with water changes, and have a stable environment you could get lucky

 

[saltydog99202]

My bio load is small for now, so I might take the skimmer out just to see if the levels go up!

 

[ac7av]

Hay saltydog99202 what kind of sand do you have in that tank. I have been thinking of putting some new stuff in my 210 and I like that look of the small grain white stuff. What is it?

 

[saltydog99202]

It is Nature's Ocean Premium Marine Substrates(white sugar sand)