110 gallon reef tank with no sump or skimmer ?

saltyshanker · 04/17/2018, 10:15 AM

Would it be possible to do a 110 saltwater tank with a HOB AquaClear Power Filter - 110 V ? instead of a sump and skimmer ? im on a budget at the moment and will get a sump and skimmer in the future will this be an alright alternative at the moment ?

mcgyvr · 04/17/2018, 10:19 AM

Yes you can most certainly run a system without a sump or skimmer...
Anyone that says different is wrong

Sumps, skimmers, reactors, fuges,etc... are all optional equipment

I would actually recommend you just use powerheads and skip the HOB filter.. Mechanical filtration (especially something like that) isn't very beneficial at all as it does little for the chemical aspects that are far more important..
The bacteria that grows in/on all the surfaces in an aquarium is what does the bulk of the work..
In general you want about 20-30x display tank volume in flow from powerheads in a tank.. So a 100G system would be best served with a single or multiple powerheads totaling about 3000GPH of flow..

A system with at least 1lb of porous rock per gallon of water and powerheads totaling 20-30x plus light and heat if needed is all you need (of course saltwater too

)

saltyshanker · 04/17/2018, 10:23 AM

thanks so much for the info ! i keep hearing people telling horror stories of not having sumps or skimmers so this is a reassurance . do they just overexagerate ?

ssky · 04/17/2018, 10:30 AM

This hobby can be enjoyed with a really simple basic setup or the most complicated with a jungle of wires and equipment totaling thousands of dollars. I like simple setups. Have had tanks without ump, or any other filtration. Like mcgyr said all you need is power head, heater, live rock and saltwater. You can skip saltwater if money is the issue. :0)

mcgyvr · 04/17/2018, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltyshanker

thanks so much for the info ! i keep hearing people telling horror stories of not having sumps or skimmers so this is a reassurance . do they just overexagerate ?

yes.. they either overexaggerate or just don't know any better..
There are quite a few people in this hobby that just go by what they read and there is a crap ton of bad information floating around (not all bad some just lacking context/clarification,etc...)..

Good on you for actually questioning what you have heard.. Keep that up and you should do just fine..

Jesterrace · 04/17/2018, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltyshanker

Would it be possible to do a 110 saltwater tank with a HOB AquaClear Power Filter - 110 V ? instead of a sump and skimmer ? im on a budget at the moment and will get a sump and skimmer in the future will this be an alright alternative at the moment ?

You could but the issue is that if you plan on adding a sump in the future, you would want a pre-drilled tank, otherwise it would be a massive pain to add it later. I suppose you could get a predrilled 110 and then just keep the water level below the overflow line for the time being and run it that way. With a 110 you would need dual 110 filters to get anything close to resembling sufficient flow for that size of tank even for a few weeks or months.

saltyshanker · 04/17/2018, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssky

This hobby can be enjoyed with a really simple basic setup or the most complicated with a jungle of wires and equipment totaling thousands of dollars. I like simple setups. Have had tanks without ump, or any other filtration. Like mcgyr said all you need is power head, heater, live rock and saltwater. You can skip saltwater if money is the issue. :0)

thanks

saltyshanker · 04/17/2018, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesterrace

You could but the issue is that if you plan on adding a sump in the future, you would want a pre-drilled tank, otherwise it would be a massive pain to add it later. I suppose you could get a predrilled 110 and then just keep the water level below the overflow line for the time being and run it that way. With a 110 you would need dual 110 filters to get anything close to resembling sufficient flow for that size of tank even for a few weeks or months.

thanks again i was worried a bit , but now that i know ill do fine without a sump or skimmer im really excited to get this up and running in a few weeks !

saltyshanker · 04/17/2018, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

yes.. they either overexaggerate or just don't know any better..
There are quite a few people in this hobby that just go by what they read and there is a crap ton of bad information floating around (not all bad some just lacking context/clarification,etc...)..

Good on you for actually questioning what you have heard.. Keep that up and you should do just fine..

thanks again i was worried a bit , but now that i know ill do fine without a sump or skimmer im really excited to get this up and running in a few weeks !

nereefpat · 04/17/2018, 03:33 PM

I ran a 90 gallon sumpless for almost a decade. Kept lots of LPS and soft corals at the time. In its prime, that tank looked better than my current 125.

PitViper · 04/17/2018, 04:26 PM

I’m running a 10 gallon with plans to use to the 40 gallon that I have. I’m running a canister and using the in flow from the canister as my flow for my tank. It’s been doing good so far. So I’m happy. And will prob go with an fx 4 whennindonthe 40 gallon.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Joe0813 · 04/17/2018, 04:33 PM

the awesome thing of running a system with a sump is it hides all the equipment that you dont want in the tank. i personally will never run a tank without one just because i dont like the cords and clutter. I have seen some awesome tanks that had no sump or skimmer so it can be done

Anemone · 04/17/2018, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltyshanker

thanks so much for the info ! i keep hearing people telling horror stories of not having sumps or skimmers so this is a reassurance . do they just overexagerate ?

No, they don't exaggerate. A skimmer, especially, can be a big safety valve for new members of the hobby. The problem is, we (all of us, even veteranos) tend to overfeed and overstock. That leads to excess nutrients, which combined with the high lighting levels commonly used in reef tanks often causes incredible algae blooms (ie, horror stories).

That being said, after 24 years in the hobby, I just started my first tank with a sump. For about 8 years in the middle, I ran my anemone tank without a skimmer (and it had no sump).

So, yes, you can have a very successful saltwater tank without either a sump or a skimmer. Just stay on top of your maintenance.

Kevin

dattong · 04/17/2018, 06:11 PM

When I was in the transition moving from an old tank to a new tank, my skimmer pump stopped working so I ran skimmerless for a year. I'm telling you the water quality was day and night different. Protein skimmer adds so much clarity to the water and I bet your fish and corals are going to love you for giving them a good protein skimmer.

04/17/2018, 10:15 AM	#1
saltyshanker Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Michigan Posts: 10	110 gallon reef tank with no sump or skimmer ? Would it be possible to do a 110 saltwater tank with a HOB AquaClear Power Filter - 110 V ? instead of a sump and skimmer ? im on a budget at the moment and will get a sump and skimmer in the future will this be an alright alternative at the moment ?

04/17/2018, 10:19 AM	#2
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	Yes you can most certainly run a system without a sump or skimmer... Anyone that says different is wrong Sumps, skimmers, reactors, fuges,etc... are all optional equipment I would actually recommend you just use powerheads and skip the HOB filter.. Mechanical filtration (especially something like that) isn't very beneficial at all as it does little for the chemical aspects that are far more important.. The bacteria that grows in/on all the surfaces in an aquarium is what does the bulk of the work.. In general you want about 20-30x display tank volume in flow from powerheads in a tank.. So a 100G system would be best served with a single or multiple powerheads totaling about 3000GPH of flow.. A system with at least 1lb of porous rock per gallon of water and powerheads totaling 20-30x plus light and heat if needed is all you need (of course saltwater too ) __________________ Who me?

04/17/2018, 03:33 PM	#10
nereefpat Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Central Nebraska Posts: 3,190	I ran a 90 gallon sumpless for almost a decade. Kept lots of LPS and soft corals at the time. In its prime, that tank looked better than my current 125. __________________ Pat Current Tank Info: 125 in-wall , 40b sump. 6 bulb T5. ASM G2 skimmer. LPS and leathers

04/17/2018, 04:33 PM	#12
Joe0813 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Boston strong Posts: 2,766	the awesome thing of running a system with a sump is it hides all the equipment that you dont want in the tank. i personally will never run a tank without one just because i dont like the cords and clutter. I have seen some awesome tanks that had no sump or skimmer so it can be done __________________ Joe and Jenny Current Tank Info: 180 reef

04/17/2018, 10:23 AM	#3
saltyshanker Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Michigan Posts: 10	thanks so much for the info ! i keep hearing people telling horror stories of not having sumps or skimmers so this is a reassurance . do they just overexagerate ?

04/17/2018, 10:30 AM	#4
ssky Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 115	This hobby can be enjoyed with a really simple basic setup or the most complicated with a jungle of wires and equipment totaling thousands of dollars. I like simple setups. Have had tanks without ump, or any other filtration. Like mcgyr said all you need is power head, heater, live rock and saltwater. You can skip saltwater if money is the issue. :0)

04/17/2018, 04:26 PM	#11
PitViper Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 169	I’m running a 10 gallon with plans to use to the 40 gallon that I have. I’m running a canister and using the in flow from the canister as my flow for my tank. It’s been doing good so far. So I’m happy. And will prob go with an fx 4 whennindonthe 40 gallon. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

04/17/2018, 06:11 PM	#14
dattong Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 690	When I was in the transition moving from an old tank to a new tank, my skimmer pump stopped working so I ran skimmerless for a year. I'm telling you the water quality was day and night different. Protein skimmer adds so much clarity to the water and I bet your fish and corals are going to love you for giving them a good protein skimmer.