Skimmerless system, thoughts?

reefnewbie54321 · 04/14/2006, 07:45 PM

I am atempting to start a ric/zoo garden that will also include various shrooms maybe a few lps and green stars maybe a few other softies aswell.

I was very intrigued when someone in the LPS forum showed me a picturew of there tank that was skimmerless. Is it true that soft corals grow better in non-nutrient starved tanks? The 2 TOTM that were ric/zoo tanks both used very minumul skimming.

I was wondering how many of you run a skimmerless system and what are the specs of your setup and why do you not run a skimmer?

The tank is going to be around 90 gallons with a 50 gallon refugium, i think thsi would provide just enough nutrient export to keep my corals and fish happy

what are your thoughts

P.S. I will also be running a DSB to keep nitrates down.

andiruleu · 04/14/2006, 08:00 PM

hmm it kinda makes sense... cuz skimmers can take out good stuff out of the water too which can be nutrients for your corals...

reefnewbie54321 · 04/14/2006, 08:02 PM

I also plan on target feeding alot of my corals with home cultured pytho, zoo plankton, and mysid shrimp (sun coral). I imagine a skimmer would skim alot of my pods and pytho right out.

MAreefer · 04/14/2006, 08:26 PM

Nobody? I wouldnt mind seeing some more input ... I personaly like skimmerless systems but have never run one

SMS76 · 09/01/2006, 04:24 PM

^^^^

nigel · 09/01/2006, 04:40 PM

Skimmerless works very well for soft corals. Remember your water changes and address any problem such as algae etc right away before it gets out of hand. Any caulerpa growing in the aquarium should not be allowed to take over; very difficut to control if you don't pull out on a regular basis.
I made the caulerpa mistake it took months to get the tank back under control.

mattnano · 09/01/2006, 05:22 PM

I run my tank with no skimmer and no fuge and everything is growing. I heavly rely on two things, Xenia and weekly 10% h2o changes. Even my monti (SPS) is grwoing, although I didnt have much luck with acropora. MY system is not very old (4 1/5 months) but it is doing great and even my most sensitive inhabitants ( crocea clam, anenome, SPS monitpora are all happy and growing. As long as you keep up with your 10% weekly changes a skimmer is not needed.

Ritten · 09/01/2006, 05:57 PM

I run a 54 gallon softy without a skimmer. I have run a skimmer on this tank, but it broke. I have not replaced it and I see no change. I have a leather, zoos, zenia, star polyps and clove polyps. I run carbon 24/7. I feed light. I do a 10% water change each and every week.

sinned · 09/01/2006, 05:58 PM

Hello-
I have an established 44g LPS dominated SKIMMERLESS, REACTORLESS and SUMPLESS tanks. The tank details are below.

My tank is a 44g by Lee-mar, starphire glass, euro-braced (36 X 15 X18).....skimmerless, reactorless and sumpless. 175MH 20k w/2 T-5 actinic 65w.....
Fed 5-6 times a week with homemade food, consisting of shrimp, Golden Pearls, mysis shrimp, nori, Formula 1 + 2, etc. Dosing weekly with a capful calcium, strontium, iodine, and magnesium. I do about 10% water changes with Catalina salt water
every month or so. It has been established for over 5 years.

Dennis

coraladdict · 09/01/2006, 08:10 PM

That's very nice!

Harbour · 09/01/2006, 09:35 PM

Do a search on "Skimmerless Tanks". There are a ton of people that do it and have great tanks. At one time there was someone on here that had a 4000 gallon skimmerless tank.

I went skimmerless about 6 years ago on my 55 and it looks as good as it did with the skimmer. I'm also sumpless etc... Lights, and powerheads and water changes (straight tap water, not as often as I should) are about it!

Harbour

SuperNerd · 09/01/2006, 09:55 PM

I got rid of my skimmer too. Just rely on algae in the fuge, LR filled with live sponge, and xenia in the main.

FWIW my sps have good growth.

coraladdict · 09/02/2006, 07:26 AM

I remember seeing my elegance go from a shrink size to a puff size a few days after a had to send the skimmer's pump for repair.Then when I restarted the skimmer ( three weeks later) ,l it started to shrink again and eventually died.So skimmers are really taking out some good stuff.The best would probably skim part time only preferably at night or use another way of exporting po4...

ACBlinky · 09/02/2006, 10:00 AM

My 21g is skimmerless and sumpless. It's still a new tank, just six months old, but doing very well so far. I have a SSB of live Bahamas Oolite, 20lbs of LR and a little Caulerpa verticillata. The Caulerpa has never threatened to take over - it seems to grow well for a while, then a portion will melt away overnight, then regrow. Parameters are steady (NO3 & PO4 are undetectable), the water is clear and the corals (softies and an open brain) are doing very well. Every tank is different, and some just seem to run best without skimming.

marinelife · 09/02/2006, 10:17 AM

I am skimmerless because I added a skimmer to my tank and the tank went to crap, change skimmer same thing, removed it and the tank is finally getting better

STEELERFAN747 · 09/02/2006, 12:59 PM

Well, My tank has been running for about 1 year now. I have a crappy skimmer that never works and my system is doing great. (excellent coral growth. I have xenia in the tank and alot of live rock (about 200 lbs) I have however not been able to lower my nitrates below 40 ppm. I know alot of people that swear by skimmers and I plan on getting a good one, in my opinion it should be fine I just need to replenish the good nutrients that the skimmer will remove. (remmember the same type of effect can be said of a uv light killing good bacteria)

SuperNerd · 09/02/2006, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by STEELERFAN747
Well, My tank has been running for about 1 year now. I have a crappy skimmer that never works and my system is doing great. (excellent coral growth. I have xenia in the tank and alot of live rock (about 200 lbs) I have however not been able to lower my nitrates below 40 ppm. I know alot of people that swear by skimmers and I plan on getting a good one, in my opinion it should be fine I just need to replenish the good nutrients that the skimmer will remove. (remmember the same type of effect can be said of a uv light killing good bacteria)

Try macroalgae export and sand.

My nitrates, ammonia, phosphates don't even register on test kits now.

04/14/2006, 07:45 PM	#1
reefnewbie54321 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 1,263	Skimmerless system, thoughts? I am atempting to start a ric/zoo garden that will also include various shrooms maybe a few lps and green stars maybe a few other softies aswell. I was very intrigued when someone in the LPS forum showed me a picturew of there tank that was skimmerless. Is it true that soft corals grow better in non-nutrient starved tanks? The 2 TOTM that were ric/zoo tanks both used very minumul skimming. I was wondering how many of you run a skimmerless system and what are the specs of your setup and why do you not run a skimmer? The tank is going to be around 90 gallons with a 50 gallon refugium, i think thsi would provide just enough nutrient export to keep my corals and fish happy what are your thoughts P.S. I will also be running a DSB to keep nitrates down.

09/01/2006, 08:10 PM	#10
coraladdict Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Canada Posts: 646	That's very nice! __________________ Experience is a terrible thing to waste Current Tank Info: 120g ,mixed reef , Deltec 600 MCE , 2 VorTechs with BB,Tunze osmolator,Diy Nelson reac.Pacific Sun Hyperion 2

09/01/2006, 09:35 PM	#11
Harbour Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 311	Do a search on "Skimmerless Tanks". There are a ton of people that do it and have great tanks. At one time there was someone on here that had a 4000 gallon skimmerless tank. I went skimmerless about 6 years ago on my 55 and it looks as good as it did with the skimmer. I'm also sumpless etc... Lights, and powerheads and water changes (straight tap water, not as often as I should) are about it! Harbour __________________ Harbour Mr. Aqua 12 Gallon Long Peninsula Orbit Marine LED Salinity 1.26 Temp 78

09/01/2006, 09:55 PM	#12
SuperNerd Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: SoCal/Left Side- USA Posts: 4,572	I got rid of my skimmer too. Just rely on algae in the fuge, LR filled with live sponge, and xenia in the main. FWIW my sps have good growth. __________________ I said fraggit! Current Tank Info: M-728 Combat Engineer (based on M60 hull). M-3 Lee Medium (British version with squatter).

09/02/2006, 07:26 AM	#13
coraladdict Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Canada Posts: 646	I remember seeing my elegance go from a shrink size to a puff size a few days after a had to send the skimmer's pump for repair.Then when I restarted the skimmer ( three weeks later) ,l it started to shrink again and eventually died.So skimmers are really taking out some good stuff.The best would probably skim part time only preferably at night or use another way of exporting po4... __________________ Experience is a terrible thing to waste Current Tank Info: 120g ,mixed reef , Deltec 600 MCE , 2 VorTechs with BB,Tunze osmolator,Diy Nelson reac.Pacific Sun Hyperion 2

04/14/2006, 08:00 PM	#2
andiruleu Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 631	hmm it kinda makes sense... cuz skimmers can take out good stuff out of the water too which can be nutrients for your corals...

04/14/2006, 08:02 PM	#3
reefnewbie54321 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 1,263	I also plan on target feeding alot of my corals with home cultured pytho, zoo plankton, and mysid shrimp (sun coral). I imagine a skimmer would skim alot of my pods and pytho right out.

04/14/2006, 08:26 PM	#4
MAreefer Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 51	Nobody? I wouldnt mind seeing some more input ... I personaly like skimmerless systems but have never run one

09/01/2006, 04:24 PM	#5
SMS76 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Huntsville AL Posts: 1,814	^^^^

09/01/2006, 04:40 PM	#6
nigel Registered Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: cambridge, ontario Posts: 154	Skimmerless works very well for soft corals. Remember your water changes and address any problem such as algae etc right away before it gets out of hand. Any caulerpa growing in the aquarium should not be allowed to take over; very difficut to control if you don't pull out on a regular basis. I made the caulerpa mistake it took months to get the tank back under control.

09/01/2006, 05:22 PM	#7
mattnano Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 184	I run my tank with no skimmer and no fuge and everything is growing. I heavly rely on two things, Xenia and weekly 10% h2o changes. Even my monti (SPS) is grwoing, although I didnt have much luck with acropora. MY system is not very old (4 1/5 months) but it is doing great and even my most sensitive inhabitants ( crocea clam, anenome, SPS monitpora are all happy and growing. As long as you keep up with your 10% weekly changes a skimmer is not needed.

09/01/2006, 05:57 PM	#8
Ritten Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 2,164	I run a 54 gallon softy without a skimmer. I have run a skimmer on this tank, but it broke. I have not replaced it and I see no change. I have a leather, zoos, zenia, star polyps and clove polyps. I run carbon 24/7. I feed light. I do a 10% water change each and every week.

09/01/2006, 05:58 PM	#9
sinned Moved On Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: West Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,844	Hello- I have an established 44g LPS dominated SKIMMERLESS, REACTORLESS and SUMPLESS tanks. The tank details are below. My tank is a 44g by Lee-mar, starphire glass, euro-braced (36 X 15 X18).....skimmerless, reactorless and sumpless. 175MH 20k w/2 T-5 actinic 65w..... Fed 5-6 times a week with homemade food, consisting of shrimp, Golden Pearls, mysis shrimp, nori, Formula 1 + 2, etc. Dosing weekly with a capful calcium, strontium, iodine, and magnesium. I do about 10% water changes with Catalina salt water every month or so. It has been established for over 5 years. Dennis

09/02/2006, 10:00 AM	#14
ACBlinky Premium Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Peterborough, ON, Canada Posts: 4,954 Blog Entries: 20	My 21g is skimmerless and sumpless. It's still a new tank, just six months old, but doing very well so far. I have a SSB of live Bahamas Oolite, 20lbs of LR and a little Caulerpa verticillata. The Caulerpa has never threatened to take over - it seems to grow well for a while, then a portion will melt away overnight, then regrow. Parameters are steady (NO3 & PO4 are undetectable), the water is clear and the corals (softies and an open brain) are doing very well. Every tank is different, and some just seem to run best without skimming. __________________ "The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea." - Isak Dinesen Current Tank Info: 150g mixed reef, 30g sump/refugium, LED lighting, 100lbs LR, coral beauty, flame angel, blue & yellow tangs, gobies, damsels, 6-line wrasse, lawnmower blenny, dottyback, clown pair, rabbitfish, shrimp, crabs, CUC.

09/02/2006, 10:17 AM	#15
marinelife Registered Member Join Date: May 2000 Location: Union, Ohio, USA Posts: 6,590	I am skimmerless because I added a skimmer to my tank and the tank went to crap, change skimmer same thing, removed it and the tank is finally getting better __________________ I'm a SaltGeek are You? All LED since 2010. Current Tank Info: 375 Gallon Reef with siporax, all LED lighting, and Red Dragon 3 and Abyzz A200 on 2 closed loops.

09/02/2006, 12:59 PM	#16
STEELERFAN747 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami Fl. Posts: 1,252	Well, My tank has been running for about 1 year now. I have a crappy skimmer that never works and my system is doing great. (excellent coral growth. I have xenia in the tank and alot of live rock (about 200 lbs) I have however not been able to lower my nitrates below 40 ppm. I know alot of people that swear by skimmers and I plan on getting a good one, in my opinion it should be fine I just need to replenish the good nutrients that the skimmer will remove. (remmember the same type of effect can be said of a uv light killing good bacteria) __________________ First they said "practice makes perfect", then they told me "nobody's perfect", so I just stopped practicing. Current Tank Info: 46g, 22" rimless starphire ReefSavvy cube, Speedwave DC 790 return pump, Custom acrylic sump/fuge, set of Tunze 6055 PH's with multi controller 7095, Cadlights PLS-100 skimmer, Apex controller, Tunze osmolator & Maxspect Razor 120w led light fixture