Question on sumpless and skimmerless cube, help please.

[Hoopz87]

Hey guys I have an aqueon hob and an eheim canister filter on my 29 gallon cube. In the hob I have bio-balls, poly, and purigen. im pretty much wondering if this is a practical setup, or is it highly recommended I get a skimmer? And would I need to get a hob skimmer being I don't have a sump or? I've recently had some trouble keeping my nitrates low and wondering how much a skimmer would help. Thanks Any advice would help. As for livestock
1 flame angel
1 dottyback
1 maroon clown
With some corals as well
Torch coral
Hammer coral
2 acans
1 favia
6 zoanthid colonies
1 maxima clam
1 featherduster
1 Christmas tree worm
1 chalice
1 montipora plating
1 montipora encrusting
2 richordea mushrooms

Inverts
Bullseye pistol shrimp
Turbo snails
Hermit crabs
Sand sifting starfish
1 brittle star

[0coool]

Start dosing vinegar this will help lower you nitrates and phosphates. A bacterial additive along with the vinegar would probably be a good idea if you tank isnt well established. Loose the HOB and keep the canister. Get yourself a quality skimmer like the eshopps 75 HOB or I believe reef octopus makes some good HOB's as well. Tanks can be run without skimming but you're looking at weekly water changes. No reason to have bioballs in a reef tank.

I'd say you are maxed out for fish too thats a pretty heavy bioload for a small tank.

Good luck!

[Hoopz87]

Originally Posted by 0coool

Start dosing vinegar this will help lower you nitrates and phosphates. A bacterial additive along with the vinegar would probably be a good idea if you tank isnt well established. Loose the HOB and keep the canister. Get yourself a quality skimmer like the eshopps 75 HOB or I believe reef octopus makes some good HOB's as well. Tanks can be run without skimming but you're looking at weekly water changes. No reason to have bioballs in a reef tank.

I'd say you are maxed out for fish too thats a pretty heavy bioload for a small tank.

Good luck!

Dosing vinegar, alright thanks I'm gonna look into that and do today, my tanks been up for about five months. I wasn't planning on adding more fish but didn't realize that would be a heavy bio load.

[Xavibear]

Consider rehoming the angel & the clown, they should both be in a larger tank.

I agree on losing the aqueon filter. Just use the canister for running gfo. If it has floss or sponge in it clean it frequently.

Vinegar dosing can help. What are your parameters?

[Sugar Magnolia]

I used to run my 40b skimmerless. I added a skimmer and the growth of my corals exploded.

[WhiteTang]

Originally Posted by Xavibear

Consider rehoming the angel & the clown, they should both be in a larger tank.

I agree on losing the aqueon filter. Just use the canister for running gfo. If it has floss or sponge in it clean it frequently.

Vinegar dosing can help. What are your parameters?

I keep seeing people telling other people that their tanks are too small to keep some fish. This guy has 29g tank and you just told him to relocate 2 fish. I am wondering what my options are for a 16g tank? I am still cycling my tank but I keep seeing people to complain about other peoples livestock. I can understand that a tang (hot issue) will not fit in a nano tank but you are telling this person to relocate a maroon clown and the angel.
I checked on liveaquaria and the minimum tank size for the maroon is 30g. Shouldnt the 29g be alright?

[sponger0]

Remove the filters. Both. They are only going to collect waste and cause nitrate nad phosphate issues. Do a water change of 2-5 gallons a week and that would be enough to keep the tank running good.

[sponger0]

Originally Posted by WhiteTang

I keep seeing people telling other people that their tanks are too small to keep some fish. This guy has 29g tank and you just told him to relocate 2 fish. I am wondering what my options are for a 16g tank? I am still cycling my tank but I keep seeing people to complain about other peoples livestock. I can understand that a tang (hot issue) will not fit in a nano tank but you are telling this person to relocate a maroon clown and the angel.
I checked on liveaquaria and the minimum tank size for the maroon is 30g. Shouldnt the 29g be alright?

That is the smallest. Maroons are the most aggressive of clowns. Once it gets full grown, and they do get big, the other fish will get killed.

You have very few options for a 16 gallon but there are a few. But no more than 2 fish would go. That would max out the bioload on a 16 gallon

[frogdog]

Originally Posted by WhiteTang

I keep seeing people telling other people that their tanks are too small to keep some fish....I am still cycling my tank but I keep seeing people to complain about other peoples livestock....

WhiteTang, having too many fish in a tank is a major and perennial problem with people new to SW and FW, for that matter. If there are too many or the wrong types of fish together, the future problems will be A) one or more fish won't thrive, which makes them more prone to disease, for example, and/or B) one or more fish will be bigger than the tank and/or C) the fish will fight and/or D) one or more fish will kill other fish. RC'ers aren't being mean-spirited when they say to rehome a fish or that the tank is overstocked. They say it to try to help the reefer save the lives of stock they have. So don't take the comments personally, and always err on the side of understocking.

[Hoopz87]

Originally Posted by sponger0

Remove the filters. Both. They are only going to collect waste and cause nitrate nad phosphate issues. Do a water change of 2-5 gallons a week and that would be enough to keep the tank running good.

Go filter less?! I've never heard of such a thing But then again I'm only 6 months into the hobby

[Hoopz87]

Originally Posted by Sugar Magnolia

I used to run my 40b skimmerless. I added a skimmer and the growth of my corals exploded.

This is the stuff I like to see, you think go without the hob and add a hob skimmer ? Awesome can't wait lol

[sponger0]

Originally Posted by Hoopz87

Go filter less?! I've never heard of such a thing But then again I'm only 6 months into the hobby

Filters are usually for freshwater. In saltwater, your live rock and sand are the filter.

[sponger0]

Originally Posted by Hoopz87

This is the stuff I like to see, you think go without the hob and add a hob skimmer ? Awesome can't wait lol

Absolutely. But dont get those cheap ones. Spend your money on a decent HOB skimmer such as Reef Ocotopus or eShopps.

[ReeferSutherlnd]

Originally Posted by Hoopz87

Go filter less?! I've never heard of such a thing But then again I'm only 6 months into the hobby

Yea I have heard of this, but the best is a sump with fuge.

[Xavibear]

Originally Posted by Hoopz87

Go filter less?! I've never heard of such a thing But then again I'm only 6 months into the hobby

I have a 36g. I only run a skimmer. Rock & sand handles most of the filtration.

[GT350pwns]

I'm not sure I would be comfortable running filterless. I've stripped down my Aquaclear to nothing but floss and carbon. Floss has to be changed every 2-3 days or it is near black when I pull it out, though. I'm sure it could become a nitrate factory if left too long. But, if you're disciplined with maintenance it won't be a problem and will help keep your water crystal clear. I would ditch the bioballs (same concept as the bioceramic crap for the Aquaclear filter. Doesn't add much, if anything to filtration and builds up nitrates).

I've ran without a skimmer so far (tank is ~4 mo old) and not had an issue, but my lighting can't support coral. Next upgrade is a skimmer and then lights! Looking at a Reef octopus BH1000. I've heard great things about them.

[Xavibear]

Also consider the Aquamaxx hob-1. Pulls lots of gunk.

[billdogg]

I ran my 60g cube with a dual biowheel hob and a canister filter for years((about 20 years) and had no problem keeping anything other than SPS corals. No sump. No skimmer. Water changes about every 6 weeks once it got established, probably around the 5 year mark. VHO lighting up until the last year when I upgraded to LED.

the biowheel (with original wheels btw) now is the only filtration on my QT. The canister was filled with coarse crushed coral and carbon. It is now used only occasionally, stuffed with pillow stuffing, when I need to clear up the water after big time maintenance.

To make a long story short, yes you can get by with what you have. There are as many ways do succeed in this hobby as there are successful reefers. Some ways are a but easier but many ways work.

I do think you should rehome both the angel and the clown. You will still be limited as to what you can keep but will find it easier without such aggressive little guys in there.

In addition you really should get rid of the sand sifting star. It WILL starve after it decimates your sandbed of any and all beneficial creatures in it

[Sgt Jonny Cat]

I'm pretty much a rookie here and heres what I have learned from the people on this forum...I was running a canister filter, and eshopps psk 100H hob skimmer, live rock and live sand. A week ago I removed the canister and am just running rock sand and skimmer. My tank seems to be doing quite well. In the next week or so I will be adding a CPR HOB refugium for chaeto to help with nutrient removal. I was nervous about ditching the canister, but I did it, and everything is kool.

good luck

[jc2016]

Good tip

[jc2016]

How much can u find a skimmer for