Contemplating a Skimmerless Tank

[Carrera75]

Originally Posted by Der_Iron_Chef

yvr...nice! I see it's full of LPS and Soft corals, as is mine. My system is 13 months old and I've been skimmerless for two, like I said before. My corals have looked much better since I took the skimmer out.

The only thing I add is Kent Turbo Calcium and Kent Superbuffer dKH. I feed nightly and use RO store bought water.

I'll try to get a pic sometime soon, too

Thanks man, when the pic I posted was taken the corals were not fully open-expanded yet. I am pretty sure that a reef tank without all the high tech expensive equpment can be done as long as water changes are done weekly and the fish are fed very litte among other simple things. A few Canreef members have come over to my apt to pick up corals and they can't believe that my tank only has a heater and 1 Koralia poewr head as equipment. Lately , I have been thinking about using RO water to help get rid of the Diatmos (excess of silcate). Other than the Diatoms, my tank has been algae free. I'll try to take some more pics later of all the corals.

I would really like to see pics of your skimerless tank!

[michika]

I'd love to see a photo too!

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I'm way too nervous, with all these amazing tanks, to post my own FTS! But...I decided to plunk my skimmer back in and see what happened, after about 4 months skimmerless:

1 hour later...


3 hours later...


Wow. Nasty. I think I might leave it in for a while

Or maybe forever.

...and maybe I should clean my wall...hah.

[Carrera75]

Originally Posted by Der_Iron_Chef

I'm way too nervous, with all these amazing tanks, to post my own FTS! But...I decided to plunk my skimmer back in and see what happened, after about 4 months skimmerless:

1 hour later...


3 hours later...


Wow. Nasty. I think I might leave it in for a while

Or maybe forever.

...and maybe I should clean my wall...hah.

Hi there

Well, my tank has been skimerless for a year now. I have had very very few problems with my tank. Never had any algae problems and all my corals-fish are doing very well. Here are some pics that I took yesterday.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I agree, your tank looks awesome!! To be honest, I saw several of my corals decline over a period of 3-4 weeks, and I couldn't pinpoint the reason. I think it was simply too nutrient-rich an environment. In particular, my open brain, frogspawn and torch corals were retracted more than usual. When I skimmed for a day, they were fully open, etc.

[fragalot]

I saw lots of tanks run without skimmer But honestly i wouldnt run a tank without skimmer.
IMO
Without skimmer: Less feeding=slow growth, less live stock, more live rock, sandbed and macroalgea, more water changes, Have to keep hardy corals. This list can go all day
Worth it? I dont think so.

[Carrera75]

Originally Posted by fragalot

I saw lots of tanks run without skimmer But honestly i wouldnt run a tank without skimmer.
IMO
Without skimmer: Less feeding=slow growth, less live stock, more live rock, sandbed and macroalgea, more water changes, Have to keep hardy corals. This list can go all day
Worth it? I dont think so.

well buddy, my tank has been running for a year skimerless. My tank has never had any algae problems. All I have in the tank is 1 Koralia powerhead and heater, yes ...that's all I have. I do biweekly water changes and so far everything has been doing very very well.

There are some guys that have very expensive hig-tech equipment and they still have algae problems. Am not saying that what I do will work for everyone but why change what I have been so far when my tank looks healtier and nicer than some other tanks that have very expensive skimmer, phosban reactor, calcium reactor and the list goes on.

Cheers