sumpless reef

[alteredego]

anyone heard of this or have one? any ideas? I want to run a 4.5' tall skimmer with O3 and maybe a 36w UV. I could use the room under the thank. BTW it's a 561g.
Planning on a complete ridge line of live rock with softies and lps and zoos w/ some fish.

[caferacermike]

KyleV has extrordinary good luck running the most simple reef I've ever seen. No sump, runs the skimmer when he remembers, barely adds supplements, large fish load, etc.... His tank is full of surprises.

[jc]

Could it be all run with inline components. Similar to the pentair line of filters. http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_filters_pentair_aquatics_rainbow-lifegard_inline.asp?CartId=
I don't know how you would attack the skimmer, maybe a recirc where the input and output are looped into the system.

[beareef19]

I ve run a 165 for 1-1/2 years now with only 2 mag 5s a heater a magnum 350 and a protien skimmer proped up on some rocks. I have got sps lps 8 fish softies zoas shrooms 2 orange caps as big as dinner plates. It has worked for me for this long it was only suppose to be a temperary Im just now starting to move everything out of it now . I do weekly water changes of abput 20 gal and empty the skimmer cup every other day. It can be done you just have to pay close attention to your water peramiters and dont feed to heavily. and keep good water flow and surface aggitation.


Barry

[Hotrod32487]

Not as big as most of y'alls but my 55 gallon sounds like KyleV's. I dont have a sump, i havent hooked up my skimmer since i upgraded to the 55 at Christmas, i use tap water, do water changes about every other month, used additives twice in a year and i have had very little trouble with anything. Just recently though ive started getting algae on my glass but i think thats just from not running my skimmer and over feeding a little. Ive never lost anything due to water quality, just bad acclimation. So it can definitely be done, but then again, my tank is no where near the size of yours

[junkstang]

I have an eclpise 29 with the factory filtration system. All I do is water changes evey 2 weeks of about 3 gal. and top of whenever needed.

[KyleV]

My set-up is a 100gallon SPS tank. I run a hob C Rema Pro with a mag 3. For flow I use (2) Seio 1100 1 Seio 820 and 1 Seio 620. Other than nightly B Ionic and RO top off and monthly water changes I don't have to due much . I have great growth and poylp extension prob due to (3) 250 watt DE Halides and water parameters couldn't be better.

It's been running for a little over a year ...hope this helps!

[erikharrison]

maybe you could build a corner overflow to house the skimmer/return? that would keep it in the tank, and help keep anything from an accidental overflow as the corner would absorb water in times of need.

[blueboy]

the 60G cube i recently built has a false wall in the back(maybe you could use one end) this gives me space for my skimmer(deltec MCE600) heater, a fuge,& top off. it leaves the display very clean looking, but avoids drilling, and the possibility of overflows! i use 2 tunze625s for flow. it's only been up a few months, but i'm very happy with it. this is my 4th reef, and my favorite.

[erick]

two of my tanks, a 50g and a 30g, run emperor 400/280 and protien skimmers, thats it. They have about 50lbs/30lbs of live rock respectively, and that takes care of most water quality issues. I rarely change the filters in the emperor, as they have copious amounts of copepods living in them, just replace the carbon every so often. Monthly water changes, 10%, and I use tap for top off and water changes. A little purple up now and then and I'm good. On my 110g, it runs a trickle filter, and protien skimmer, but nothing else other than live rock in the tank, no macro or anything, and it does well also.

[alteredego]

I like the idea of taking one end and building a wall to house all of the equipment. Kinda like a sump in the tank. This might work out perfect because out of a 10 foot tank I only see a 6 foot portion of it. Thanks for the comments.