Biggest tank without a sump?
 

Just wondering what everyone thinks the biggest tank without a sump could be run properly? Take into account a hang on back refuge. and stuff.

I would think that "the bigger the better" would apply even more to a sumpless system.

ya but then you run into problems with skimming with a hangon - unless you would classify a external skimmer as a means to skim but then i think your defeating the purpuse of this question. And Secondly WHY ??? would you even want to do that ??? lol i have a hard enough time with my 44g b/c it has no sump

Kyle

The skimming could be handled by more then 1 skimmer, low fish load and/or a hangon refugium.

I'm not a big fan of sumps, if my sump had to sit in my cabinet under my tank I wouldn't have one :lol:

Well my main reason is i want to keep some corals i cant keep in my other tank due to a regal angel(zoas). The tank is going to be in my bedroom and I cant take the noise of an overflow. I was thinking around 35-50g with a low fish load. Im used to my huge tank so have gotten used to doing it big.

My 90 gallon reef was sumpless for almost a year with no problems. I had about 140 pounds of live rock, DSB, and a aqua C remora pro hang on skimmer for filtration. I also did small weekely water changes. I just added a 30 gallon refugium about 3 months ago, and I didnt notice any changes (only the fact that my manderin will have more stuff to eat). Just remember that somethings may work for others but will not necessarily work for you. My cousin had a 70 gallon sumpless tank and for some reason any fish he put in there would die, but corals would live.

Here's a picture of my 55g tank, It went for a year with only 1 tunze 6060, a heater and the lights.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...08tank0055.jpg

Funny you mentioned that,I had the same problem for about 2 yrs before I had a sump.Couldn't figure out what it was at the time.I was also running skimmerless on that tank,now Im thinking lack of o2 had something to do with it.

my tank is a 65g no sump, remora skimmer and lots live rocks.
tang,few gobies,chromis,fire fish, I just keep softies. lps with pC lighting!
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/643...4mediumru0.jpg

None of the reefs we've kept over the years have had sumps. That includes a2.5g, 7g, 10g, 28g, 33g, 37g, 44g, 67g, 75g, 180g, and our current 120g. The only tanks that ever had skimmers (HOB) were the 75g and 180g, but that was years ago. We stopped using skimmers because they overflowed from time to time :neutral:

The key to sumpless success, in our case, is having a low bioload, lots of LR, lots of non-invasive macroalgae in the tank, and a BB so we can siphon out all the crud on a weekly basis.

What type of macro do you keep in the tank?

Had a 100g heavily stocked FOWLR with some hardy corals (toadstools, leathers, etc) for over a year without a sump or skimmer, just a AC500 HOB diy refugium, an Eheim Pro II 2026 & 40w UV sterilizer. No problems with that tank with no sump.

However, now all my sw reef tanks have sumps or above tank refugiums.:)

Anthony

You can do a very nice tank without a sump up to probably 150gal. Keep in mind that your bio-load has to be low, lots of live rock, and good skimming and water movement are always a plus.

I have a 72gal sumpless that has been very successful for about a year now. I even keep SPS corals and clams!!! It just depends on what you want to do, and what you are willing to sacrifice.

I only have 2 clowns, 2 chromis and a yellow tang in there. I also have over 100lbs of liverock and a remora-pro for a skimmer.

Well its good to hear all these comments, i was concerened with a 30-50g. I had bad algea in my first tank years ago which was 77 sumpless. But with more knowledge now I'm sure ill have no problem with this size.

The only MA I can ID is chaeto. The rest of the MA came on my rocks as hitchhikers. Both are red, but are very different from any of the red algae I've seen in any ID pages.

One problem I have with MA in the main tank is that by mid-afternoon, there are lots of micro bubbles (O2) caused by photosynthesis. The bubbles don't seem to bother the corals, but they tick me off to no end :neutral: