ATTN: Skimmerless Reefers!
- Thread starter ogredawg
- Start date
X
xnikki118x
Guest
I've had my 29-gallon since 2003 and I've never had a skimmer. I do water changes often and only keep a few softies and three fish. I have about 50 pounds of live rock, two inches of live sand, and a 10-gallon sump/fuge.
I recently inherited a used skimmer from a friend though, and he's going to set it up for me. I'm certain that the first few times I clean the skimmer out I'll be so grossed out by what was in my tank that I'll never go skimmerless again lol.
I recently inherited a used skimmer from a friend though, and he's going to set it up for me. I'm certain that the first few times I clean the skimmer out I'll be so grossed out by what was in my tank that I'll never go skimmerless again lol.
anubisxero
Member
Originally Posted by xnikki118x
I've had my 29-gallon since 2003 and I've never had a skimmer. I do water changes often and only keep a few softies and three fish. I have about 50 pounds of live rock, two inches of live sand, and a 10-gallon sump/fuge.
I recently inherited a used skimmer from a friend though, and he's going to set it up for me. I'm certain that the first few times I clean the skimmer out I'll be so grossed out by what was in my tank that I'll never go skimmerless again lol.
I took some serious nasty tea brown/green stuff today. I'm amazed at the crud my skimmer pulls out everytime I dump the buildup. lol
I've had my 29-gallon since 2003 and I've never had a skimmer. I do water changes often and only keep a few softies and three fish. I have about 50 pounds of live rock, two inches of live sand, and a 10-gallon sump/fuge.
I recently inherited a used skimmer from a friend though, and he's going to set it up for me. I'm certain that the first few times I clean the skimmer out I'll be so grossed out by what was in my tank that I'll never go skimmerless again lol.
I took some serious nasty tea brown/green stuff today. I'm amazed at the crud my skimmer pulls out everytime I dump the buildup. lol
J
jrthomas40
Guest
Originally Posted by ViPeR_930
I've had my frag tank skimmerless for about a month or maybe more and everything looks good. I have all my favorite corals in there, including many SPS corals. But I do use a 50 micron filter bag on the overflow and that definitely helps a lot. I would never try going skimmerless without the fine filter bag on my tank with all my valuable corals, especially with SPS. For filtration I just use that filter bag, carbon, live rock in the sump, and weekly 15% water changes. The bag gets cleaned every 3-4 days or so.
what is the dimensions of your frag tank???
never mind i seen it....how thick is the glass i am wanting to set up a coral frag/display tank that is probably about 45-60 gallons
I've had my frag tank skimmerless for about a month or maybe more and everything looks good. I have all my favorite corals in there, including many SPS corals. But I do use a 50 micron filter bag on the overflow and that definitely helps a lot. I would never try going skimmerless without the fine filter bag on my tank with all my valuable corals, especially with SPS. For filtration I just use that filter bag, carbon, live rock in the sump, and weekly 15% water changes. The bag gets cleaned every 3-4 days or so.
what is the dimensions of your frag tank???
never mind i seen it....how thick is the glass i am wanting to set up a coral frag/display tank that is probably about 45-60 gallons
cowfishrule
Active Member
i run my heavy stocked 40g skimmerless.
as long as i give regular water changes, i am having lots of success.
i had a css65 on it for 5 weeks, but it was too noisey for where my tank is.
as long as i give regular water changes, i am having lots of success.
i had a css65 on it for 5 weeks, but it was too noisey for where my tank is.
ogredawg
Member
I'm not saying skimmerless is bad or anything. It's just that you have to pay more attention on your tank. When I had a skimmer on my small tank I was only changing my water once a month (10%) and everything did fine for 6 months. When I went skimmerless, I stayed with once a month water change and not long after I started to have problems. I'm sure you can go many years without skimmer, as long as you do change your water all the time.
wax32
Active Member
I haven't run a skimmer on my 70 gallon tank since October... Here are a couple of posts from my journal:
11.15 ... Since the last entry I have been doing weekly 6 gallon water changes. I have simplified the tank: got rid of the chiller/closed loop, got rid of the skimmer, and reduced lighting to only 3 95w bulbs of VHO, 1 10000k and 2 Actinic. The tank is starting to look a lot better. I am not sure how well it will do long-term without the chiller but, I have decided that if I can't run the tank without the chiller I will just take it down and convert it into a dart frog viv. The chiller makes my room WAY too hot!
2.4.2007 Cleaned the front glass. Did a 6 gallon change yesterday. The tank is still doing well. My temps run anywhere from 69° to 75° depending on how warm the house gets. Everyone is doing well. My mushrooms are especialy loving the "dirty" water I have in the tank since I am no longer skimming. They are multiplying and growing larger. My zoanthids have had mixed reactions: some varieties are spreading, some are holding steady, and some are fading. But, I have always had issues with my zoanthids anyway, so I am not too worried. The green star polyps are going total ape
[hr]
, growing up the glass and covering the rocks they are on, I am glad that I have a particularly nice-looking variety. The blue devil is maturing and showing AWESOME adult male coloring. My domino is growing like a weed. The black-banded wrasse I added is doing well and is starting to eat pellets. Believe it or not, my spotted mandarin is still going strong after more than a year. Remember this zoanthid colony? Here they are almost a year later, spreading to almost cover the rock they started on and also the neighboring rocks, snail shells and sand.
11.15 ... Since the last entry I have been doing weekly 6 gallon water changes. I have simplified the tank: got rid of the chiller/closed loop, got rid of the skimmer, and reduced lighting to only 3 95w bulbs of VHO, 1 10000k and 2 Actinic. The tank is starting to look a lot better. I am not sure how well it will do long-term without the chiller but, I have decided that if I can't run the tank without the chiller I will just take it down and convert it into a dart frog viv. The chiller makes my room WAY too hot!
2.4.2007 Cleaned the front glass. Did a 6 gallon change yesterday. The tank is still doing well. My temps run anywhere from 69° to 75° depending on how warm the house gets. Everyone is doing well. My mushrooms are especialy loving the "dirty" water I have in the tank since I am no longer skimming. They are multiplying and growing larger. My zoanthids have had mixed reactions: some varieties are spreading, some are holding steady, and some are fading. But, I have always had issues with my zoanthids anyway, so I am not too worried. The green star polyps are going total ape
[hr]
, growing up the glass and covering the rocks they are on, I am glad that I have a particularly nice-looking variety. The blue devil is maturing and showing AWESOME adult male coloring. My domino is growing like a weed. The black-banded wrasse I added is doing well and is starting to eat pellets. Believe it or not, my spotted mandarin is still going strong after more than a year. Remember this zoanthid colony? Here they are almost a year later, spreading to almost cover the rock they started on and also the neighboring rocks, snail shells and sand.