Does anybody go skimmerless, and sumpless?

[Xphixer2]

Hi everybody, I had a problem with a crappy leaking sump, and let my alk go out of whack, then my culerpa died so I pulled the sump, now my HOT skimmer is not working too well since I re-modified it to return to hanging on the back of the tank, so.. it's not running today.. which is bad cause I have the red-slime algae covering the live rock. The water parameters are back in line, the only thing I haven't tested for is phos. anyway does anybody have success (read: corals multiplying, doing well, good color, etc...) while running without a sump?
Thanks, Rich

 

[Xphixer2]

^?

 

[wuelfman]

i ran my reef for a long time with nothing under it about 2+ years
i had no probs at all keeping anything
if you have red slime your water parameters are not ok i would look at correcting it
phosphates are not the only thing to have red slime flare up
if you feed heavy and have a poor skimmer that will cause red slime
what skimmer are you running?

 

[Xphixer2]

I am running a precision marine hang on tank skimmer powered by a RIO800RVT

http://www.precisionmarine.com/Venturi_Skimmers/HOT-1/hot-1.html.
I plan to change the RIO to another pump when I can. I only have 2 fish and dont feed too much, once a day, a bit of silversides,krill,brine,squid,formII flake.
I was hoping for more responses that didn't have sumps. I know top skimming is the most effective way to skim but I will have to buy a new sump first.
Thanks, Rich

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 20 gallon that has neither a sump nor a skimmer. I do have a little hang on filter to break the waters' surface and I occasionally run carbon in it. I feed every other day. 2 to 4 inches of Southdown, and some live rock.

 

[Xphixer2]

Thanks for the replies..

 

[dieselboy]

I used to run my SPS tank that way for a very long time, although I used to balance that with good lights, religious water changes, vigorous surface/tank water movement (O2 saturation), and a relatively low fishload with minimal feeding.

 

[Laurie]

All threee of my tanks are sumpless though I am thinking of adding a refugium to my 200 gal. I wanted to go skimmerless on that tank but haven't quite gotten there yet since it is new and I am still having red slime problems. Perhaps in a month or 2 I will wean it off completely. It is very underskimmed though, with only a Berlin HOT.

I am running a 37 gal. seahorse tank skimmerless. It has an awesome sandbed with tons of worms, pods, stars, etc. No problems at all and I feed very heavily twice a day. We also have a 29 gal. which might as well not have a skimmer since I haven't had to empty the cup in about 2 months.
I might just pull the plug this weekend.

I think the trick is to wean the tank off the skimmer gradually in order for the sandbed to really develop and take over. Caulerpa and filter feeders help a lot, too.

 

[esmithiii]

There is alot of debate about this. My opinion is that skimmerless tanks are usually best left to very experienced reefkeepers. Don't think that just because some have succeeded that it is easy. I think that if you took a poll, the majority of the people on this board use skimmers and feel that they are a key factor in their success. I know that the difference in the overall health of my tank changed drastically when I started using a skimmer. It is also a good safety net.

Going skimmerless seems to be very popular on this board as of late. I would love to hear from those reefkeepers that are foregoing skimmers in six months and again in a year. I am not doubting that it can be done, but would want to hear many experiences before doing it myself.

Ernie

 

[Xphixer2]

Thanks, I started my skimmer up again, even though it puts a lot of bubbles in the tank which stick to the red slime that seems to be everywhere. I am considering some earthromyacin treatment (very light). ..
Rich

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I have been skimmerless for a mere six months. I would not place myself in the advanced catagory, but i do have about 5 years or so with a skimmer. So far, I have had the traditional algae outbreaks and now it is fairly stable. I am running 4" LS (kits from IPSF, IA, and PA) about 60-80 lbs LR. I have an elegance, fungia, and Acropora horrida, some sponge and what appear to be button polyps coming out of the rock. For fish I have an algae blenny, a PBT, and juvenile emperor angel. The tank is 100 gallons. And before the flame throwers come out I will have a 1000 gallon tank in a couple of years. The PBT is about 2 1/2" and the angel is about 2". If the fish get uncomfortable before then I will but the sump(250 gal) for the big tank and house them in it.

 

[afss]

I ran sumpless skimerless for well over a year. The only reason I added a sump was so that i didn't have to be as ontop of water level in the main tank. I have also added a countercurend airstone skimmer. I don't think that it is really doing much in the way of skimming, I got it used for 20 dollars. I originally wanted it to try skimming, but I have been unable to get it to take much out, so I am happy with it being a good source of airation/gas exchange.

When I ran skimmerless I only fed the tank 2 times a week, and had only 5 fish in the 29 gallon. I had one outbreak of red slime early on, which i treated with red slime remover, and all was fine after that.
Scott
_________________
Ears Nose & Throat Forum

 

[afss]

I have heard of people having problems with it, and people have told me it is not reef safe. This may be true, and i found all of this out after I had used it.
For my experience with it I had no problems with any of the fish or corals in the tank. The water turned a yellowish color and stayed that way for a few days. It works quickly, my red slime dipaeard 80-90 % over night. The one thing the place I got it from told me was to not overdose, and calc your water volume based on actuall water, ie. you have to take away the volume or rocks and sand etc.
Scott
_________________
BMW M3

 

[bowser]

My tank has never had a sump, and I've been running it skimmerless for about 8 months now. The only reason I stopped using the skimmer is because I really wasn't getting much out of the cup. But, I do regular water changes, once a week of about 15%.
I had a problem with red slime (while skimmer was in use) and I used the remover too. It didn't hurt any of my corals or other inverts and the slime was gone the next day. Of course other things were done to KEEP it away like I added another powerhead for circulation, and I stopped all additives except for calcium.
Just a quick question, did you recently change your lighting over to power compacts?

 

[esmithiii]

I have used the slime remover in my 55 early on and it works! The issue is that it can kill good bacteria in the tank as well as the cyanobacteria. This can upset your nitrate cycle, and cause an ammonia spike. Use it cautiously.

Ernie

 

[Xphixer2]

I had heard that as a general antibiotic it will kill beneficial bacteria as well. I was hoping to kill just enough of the red but not the "good" bacteria. I have had my VHO bulbs (4x100watt: 2 blu and 2 white) for about 6 months now. I have had the set up (VHO) for about 1.5 yrs. I guess it may be a combination of many things: overfeeding, bad skimming, culerpa dieing, alk dropping, ph fluctuating, inverts dieing, coral death, etc...... I wish there was a way to gauge the bulb life, (spectrometer.. ?) I think I will eventually set up the sump again, I don't think I am skimming as well as I could with just a PM hang on skimmer. I will see how it goes after a few more water changes, more flow, a little erthomyacin, and some luck. thanks, Rich

 

[esmithiii]

I don't want too get flamed here, but I don't think that bulb life has nearly so much to do with algae growth as everyone makes it sound. I would look at overfeeding/underskimming.

 

[bowser]

Esmithiii is right about overfeeding, excess nutrients are one of the problems, so is light spectrum, which is one of the reasons to look at not only the bulbs and their age, but also what additives are being added to the tank. Too many additives can actually change the spectrum of the light going through the water column. Also, red slime loves low flow areas. Whether it's under skimming or perhaps maintaince issues, either way those excess nutrients are showing up to add to the problem too.....

 

[esmithiii]

FWIW I had a terrible cyano problem in my sump about 6 months ago. I added a powerhead and it cleared up. Also, I ab having a bout with it in my new 180 in low flow areas.

E

 

[ReefMole]

Rich,

-Hi from a fellow 'Portlander'! Although I'm by far no expert having only been in the saltwater hobby a few weeks, I've done a bunch of research before setting up my tank and have a few ideas you might want to consider. You mentioned that you didn't test for Phosphates...from everything I've read Phosphates and Silicates aid in the growth of the red slime you're fighting. Do you use untreated tap water (possible source of Silica and Phos) or RO/DI? Before you add any miracle slime cures you might want to test for Phos or just go ahead and buy 'PhosGuard' or another phos/silica removing sponge and see if it helps rid you of the slime problem. Another thing I've read is that the slime likes low water flow...do you have a powerhead to aid in water circulation? I had a diatom bloom appear 2 days ago, and after adding the phos/silica remover it seems to be going away already.

Lastly, since you're looking at buying a new sump you might want to look into the possibility of going sumpless and just getting a different hang-on skimmer that has the option of a prefilter box. That way you'd have surface skimming, prefiltering (you could add carbon or phos packs), and wouldn't have to worry as much about leaking. I ended up going with the Remora
( http://www.proteinskimmer.com/accessories.htm )
but I've heard that the CPR Backpack is also a good choice.

-Just something to consider and my 2 cents (which is probably worth far less).