SPS without a skimmer?

[Juvv]

hey guys, im currently running no skimmer on my tank, since its too noisy to have in my room while i sleep

due to reasons out of my control i cant move the tank anywhere else, so i was wondering, anyone out there keep sps without a skimmer?
or could someone point me to a thread?


Cheers

[Bayliner]

Can you run the skimmer during the day when your not in the room ?

[tdapple]

Supposedly, I have no experience with it...Ecosystem claims you don't need a skimmer when you run their fuges with mircle mud...again I have no experience with it, but could be something to investigate

[Putawaywet]

I'm running an EcoWheel which doesn't have a skimmer per se... doing just fine with numerous SPS.

Brett

[orion76]

If brown is your favorite color you have the ideal setup

[kev apsley]

Originally posted by orion76
If brown is your favorite color you have the ideal setup

yup! you will need to skim otherwise you will have a nutrient factory on your hands

[fishdoc11]

There are at least a couple of experienced reefers on this board that run sps tanks without skimmers, reefer mac is one. Also o2many fish runs a system that is way underskimmed. That being said IMO it is much easier to run an sps tank with a skimmer.
Chris

[zanemoseley]

I"d run the skimmer during the day, feed lightly, and do at least 10% WC's weekly.

[kev apsley]

Originally posted by fishdoc11
There are at least a couple of experienced reefers on this board that run sps tanks without skimmers, reefer mac is one. Also o2many fish runs a system that is way underskimmed. That being said IMO it is much easier to run an sps tank with a skimmer.
Chris

agreed! what is the saying? "if you don't know what it is that your not skimming for, then you need to be skimming"

[copps]

It could be done, and if I were to do it I'd use otyher means of nutrient export...

1. Have as little fish as possible.
2. Run carbon 24/7 and switch it out often.
3. Use filter socks or other means of mechanical filtration and change often before the waste can break down.
4. Go barebottom, or keep a small amount of substrate and keep it clean.
5. Run a refugium if possible.

Put the skimmer on a timer if you can as has been mentioned...

For most of us you couldn't pay us $10,000 to dump our skimmate back in our tank...

Copps

[Juvv]

thanks for the replies, its basically the replies i thought i would get lol.
i had a remora pro skimmer with an ocean runner 2000 setup on it, it was jsut way too noisy so i decided to run it during the day and turn it off at night. Unfortunately it didnt really work too well, it never skimmed much out at all, and i think it might of been because it would have to like re "break in" after being off for hours at night.

see my tank is only 3ft, and no sump, so its going to be a challenge !
i had a few frags for a while in my tank, not one of them died, but yeah they went brown.

i only feed once every 2 days, flake only. Ive got some calupera (halimeda) in there aswell, and got a aquaclear 300 with calupera in it for a mini fuge. Also the 250W MH flows straight into the aquaclear so thats its source of light.

I dont think i can get mircale mud where im from

[kidk3]

No no no

I run a 180 w/o skimmer w/o fuge w/o filtration

I only have around 3'' of sand and about 130lbs of rock or so. My corals grow great and look great. I will however admit it does change the color of the corals.I have taken a many bland corals and they become colored up nice in my tank and others that just change to diff morphs from other sytems, but the only browns I have is one I bought since it was big and I was hoping it would color and it didn't

Lighting and flow.And for that matter I feed my tank microvert and phyto on occasion to no ill effect.I have plenty of fish and I dont run carbon either.These guys tauting all the knowledge have never tried a skimmerless or they would know as I do it can be done and corals look great

Jake

[reefdood]

What size is your tank? I have a 30 gallon with a 20 gallon sump. What I use, and it works real well and fairly quiet is I have a CPR backpack IN my sump. It is modded with a MJ1200, pulls about 1/2 cup skimmate daily on a no fish tank, and I sleep on the sofa next to the tank with no probs. Some may knock the backpack but look at the colors of my frags in my gallery. I don't hear the skimmer at all. Just a slight hum from my return pump.

[brahm]

i ran a 20l skimmerless lots of sps, 0 fish. worked great till the bacteria bloom.

[copps]

Originally posted by kidk3
These guys tauting all the knowledge have never tried a skimmerless or they would know as I do it can be done and corals look great

Jake

Don't jump to conclusions Jake. I ran a skimmerless nano that hosted many colorful sps and clams and was featured on another site here- 10 gallon nano link . The advice being given in this thread is basically "what is the best way to run a skimmerless sps system?", not "how much denial of common husbandry techniques can sps take?"

I have no doubt your system is doing well, but how many years has it been running and do you have any photos? Anyway we look at it, the nutrients are going somewhere in our systems, and the denial of dealing with those will eventually become a problem. We're not "tauting all the knowledge", we're just offering advice on how we would best handle Juvvs situation of not running a skimmer based on our past experiences.

I respect your opinions and your attempts Jake, and for one I was given some flack (as was danano the current tank of the month) years ago when keeping sps under "less than halides". However, we didn't do it because it could be done.

[BOTR]

I'm skimmerless. I run it BB with 50 micron filter socks. Tons of flow, but the key for me is that I despise fish. So yes you can run an SPS system without a skimmer, but if you want a fish tank buy a skimmer. Don't over feed and be carful with what you add to the tank, no skimmer requires some more attention to detail is all.

[Garsavior]

Accidently hit submit post Twice....read post below, sorry

[Garsavior]

Put that skimmer on a timer...run it during the day and off at night when your asleep having wet dreams (swimming in the aquarium of course) with your corals, haha. Or you could make a refugium loaded with plants which helps alot with absorbing what skimmers skim out.

[Putawaywet]

Originally posted by orion76
If brown is your favorite color you have the ideal setup

If that comment was directed at me I guess I need to go back and take another look at my tank. I didn't realize I had so much brown in there.

I've seen various species of SPS color up nicely without massive skimming. Will you be getting the most color possible without it, probably not depending on the species. Does skimming make life easier - sure. No argument from me on that one

Guess it all depends on what your priorities are. If your goal is a SPS packed tank bristling with show stopping color from end to end then yes, a skimmer is going to go a long way to acheiving that goal. But if you want something else, there are ways to work around it.

Brett

[jackson6745]

Get a real skimmer on a tank and it will only help color your SPS and keep algaes under control. There is no downside.

[turtlespd]

I have no skimmer on my 90g set up, only a refigiium for nutrient export. I also have a few fish two tangs, two wrasses and a few anthias. I have no problems with nutrients and i have great color. What i try to do is make sure i have a lot of flow and keep up on my water changes and im sure your sps will do fine.

Paul

[samm]

i have been skimmerless for 4 years and yes i have a deep sand bed and i'm lookin but I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND ONE BROWN CORAL IN MY TANK . hmm can you tell me what i'm doing wrong orion ?

[orion76]

Originally posted by Putawaywet
If that comment was directed at me I guess I need to go back and take another look at my tank. I didn't realize I had so much brown in there.

I've seen various species of SPS color up nicely without massive skimming. Will you be getting the most color possible without it, probably not depending on the species. Does skimming make life easier - sure. No argument from me on that one

Guess it all depends on what your priorities are. If your goal is a SPS packed tank bristling with show stopping color from end to end then yes, a skimmer is going to go a long way to acheiving that goal. But if you want something else, there are ways to work around it.

Brett

That was exactly my point, you can run a system without a skimmer no problem but you will not get optimal colors out of your acros if that's important to you.

[orion76]

Originally posted by samm
i have been skimmerless for 4 years and yes i have a deep sand bed and i'm lookin but I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND ONE BROWN CORAL IN MY TANK . hmm can you tell me what i'm doing wrong orion ?

I'd need to see pictures to be able to tell what you're doing wrong

But as previously stated in this thread, it takes a real expert to run a skimmerless SPS system so if you need to ask wether or not you need a skimmer then you probably need one, so my comment may not apply to your particular case

[fishfood2581]

why not get a quiet skimmer, quiet skimmers can defiantly be done