Equipment and stuff I don't have in my reef tank, and why...

[Sk8r]

1. a filter. I use only my live sand and rock. It breaks down all waste into nitrogen gas. My burrowing carnivorous snails [nassarius] get anything left over, and they do it without disrupting the several neat layers of my sandbed. If I had a FOWLR I would probably have a filter---but not necessarily. I would first see if my sandbed could handle it. [test for nitrate]. If I could run at 0 nitrate as I do with a FOWLR, I'd say I didn't need it.

2. a sand cleaning vacuum. I never, ever clean my sandbed. That's why I have burrowing creatures. Their activity is small-area, and does not disturb things. Overturning a sandbed means it's out of commission. I treat my sandbed as a large, very precious single organism, something to be protected from overfeeding and wounding.

3. a uv filter. I have never needed one. I have had film algae. I got a refugium going, which incidentally oxygenates my water and supplies copepods and other life. I like it better than UV filters, which are supposed to kill microorganisms. I want my microorganisms to thrive. There may be exceptions, but so far I've not met one.

4. nets. I use my hands, gently. I do, however, use latex gloves to protect my fingers. They CANNOT, however, protect your fingers from lions and rabbits. Use a bucket for those. I own a net, which I have only used once, as a fish trap.

5. fake plants and corals. They're probably not that bad, but they're only seen in the ocean as junk, plastic debris, and they can't do the job of rock, thank you, which has pores and serves as part of my nitrate disposal system. The manmade coral rock is kind of intriguing.

6. carbon. I use it only when needed. It blocks the water flow, and I'd rather not have nitrate building up in it, even if I change it every 5 days. I keep some for emergencies. Same rule as filters. If I kept a lot of 'hot' softie corals I would use it much more often. There is also some talk it may not be good for the fish: carbon absorbs things, and it may yank some trace elements that are useful. I don't run polyfilter all the time, either, same reason. It's for emergencies.

7. tap water. I have water conditioner, for an absolute emergency, but I know if I put our tapwater in my tank, even my healthy fuge won't protect it from the crud in it. I use only ro/di, including for setup.

8. sponges. If you've got powerheads, you've got a problem. But sponges build up nitrate, even if they're doing the useful job of preventing your nem from becoming nem soup. I try to isolate pump intakes and use isolation [you can build a rock cage] as a defense. I have prevented sump diving by using needlepoint canvas [plastic] as a screen on my downflow. If something larger than copepods should get into the Iwaki intake in the 4th sump chamber---it's a goner. So I stop it before it gets there.

9. a chiller---I live in the north. In some places, you DO want to look at this equipment. But if you have reliable central air and live in a moderate place where fans could help you if the AC went out, you're pretty safe. I lived with no central air, but a window unit, the last 7 years, and got along fine by putting fans in the sump. Dropped the temperature several critical degrees. See what fans will do for you, but budget for one if it looks as if you'll need it. And if you are in the situation where you have no AC but are thinking about a chiller, weigh the comparative cost of a rollabout airconditioner [vents heat via a dryer-style hose out the window] which will chill a 10x12 room quite nicely and keep YOU cool at the same time.