gobyinpeace
Member
I know there will be plenty of you who are skeptical about me going skimmerless, but I have been doing some research and I think I can pull it off.
First and foremost are the frequent water changes. When I do my WCs I use an airline hose and old fashioned siphoning. It works great for vacuuming as you can take your time and remove all the poop and stuff with out removing large amounts of beneficial bacteria from the sand. I have been changing a gallon or so twice weekly on my 20 and the same amount on my 10.
I use a custom made eyedropper to target feed my fish so very little food makes it to the bottom or goes uneaten. The eyedropper is also used to propel unwanted particles from my LR.
I regularly use an old boom-box antennae (ball tipped for safety) to lightly stir up the DSB and tap on plants, macro algae, etc..., freeing up slime and clinging particles. The fish are very accustomed to my poking around.
All these particles quickly collect in my filter sponge, mix with oxygen and help feed my beneficial bacterial colony. I lightly rinse the sponge weekly in leftover tank water as the filter builds up with too much material from all my poking and prodding. I also change my activated carbon monthly while doing my WC. Carbon is still a great way to remove ammonia.
I am going to utilize macro algae and plants (that most would put in a refugium) in my tank. I have selected some very cool plant and algae seedlings from the Gulf that are doing very well. One seedling in particular washed up on the beach and it looked like a single green bird feather about 2" long. This seedling is splitting off into several feathers almost daily, looks beautiful, and is pulling unwanted nutrients from the tank. I really dig the color of the red macro algae. I also have small mangrove seedlings growing in there. All are great natural filters.
My plans for this tank (20G) are to add only a few corals, shrooms polyps, etc.., blending them in a way to have a special mix of color, choosing only hardy stuff nothing too fancy. I am going to start out by adding frags and will see where it takes me.
Protein skimmers in general are still manufactured for larger tanks. They are marketed to enable aquarists to do less WCs. The good skimmers out there are not designed for smaller tanks and may actually take out too much protein robbing your corals and such from their natural food.
I enjoy the tranquility of my tank and don't want noisy equipment. I am going to rely heavily on good old mother nature and diligent tank maintenance to remove the unwanted nutrients, and ammonia.
So far it seems to be working.
I have very little in undesired algae and new coralline algae growing instead. My water chemistry has been terrific.
Most of all I am enjoying myself and find it to be relaxing - like a kinetic Zen garden.
My 20G.
First and foremost are the frequent water changes. When I do my WCs I use an airline hose and old fashioned siphoning. It works great for vacuuming as you can take your time and remove all the poop and stuff with out removing large amounts of beneficial bacteria from the sand. I have been changing a gallon or so twice weekly on my 20 and the same amount on my 10.
I use a custom made eyedropper to target feed my fish so very little food makes it to the bottom or goes uneaten. The eyedropper is also used to propel unwanted particles from my LR.
I regularly use an old boom-box antennae (ball tipped for safety) to lightly stir up the DSB and tap on plants, macro algae, etc..., freeing up slime and clinging particles. The fish are very accustomed to my poking around.
All these particles quickly collect in my filter sponge, mix with oxygen and help feed my beneficial bacterial colony. I lightly rinse the sponge weekly in leftover tank water as the filter builds up with too much material from all my poking and prodding. I also change my activated carbon monthly while doing my WC. Carbon is still a great way to remove ammonia.
I am going to utilize macro algae and plants (that most would put in a refugium) in my tank. I have selected some very cool plant and algae seedlings from the Gulf that are doing very well. One seedling in particular washed up on the beach and it looked like a single green bird feather about 2" long. This seedling is splitting off into several feathers almost daily, looks beautiful, and is pulling unwanted nutrients from the tank. I really dig the color of the red macro algae. I also have small mangrove seedlings growing in there. All are great natural filters.
My plans for this tank (20G) are to add only a few corals, shrooms polyps, etc.., blending them in a way to have a special mix of color, choosing only hardy stuff nothing too fancy. I am going to start out by adding frags and will see where it takes me.
Protein skimmers in general are still manufactured for larger tanks. They are marketed to enable aquarists to do less WCs. The good skimmers out there are not designed for smaller tanks and may actually take out too much protein robbing your corals and such from their natural food.
I enjoy the tranquility of my tank and don't want noisy equipment. I am going to rely heavily on good old mother nature and diligent tank maintenance to remove the unwanted nutrients, and ammonia.
So far it seems to be working.
I have very little in undesired algae and new coralline algae growing instead. My water chemistry has been terrific.
Most of all I am enjoying myself and find it to be relaxing - like a kinetic Zen garden.
My 20G.
