advice on skimmerless setup for im30l

[Nommarune]

Setting up a new tank and I want to go skimmerless on this. im 30l. looking for advise on the sump area. right now cycling with bio balls fiber filtration and 2 carbon bags. I am going to set up a refug with cheato in the secondary area on the right. beyond that i am not sure what else to run. I also would like to get the tank stabilized for the extended water changes vs once a week. thanks in advance !

 

[Peace River]

Have you considered a small algae scrubber like one from Santa Monica?

 

[Spare time]

Fiji cube makes some hob refugiums that might be easier to maintain or light.

Regardless, just avoid cheap generic low power leds. They just don't do the trick if you want to really power the refugium.

 

[Nommarune]

Have you considered a small algae scrubber like one from Santa Monica?

I thought about an algae scrubber but wasnt sure if it would be needed. I even thought about getting a mangrove sprout

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

I ran one without a skimmer for just over a year. Also swapped out the filter socks with floss, and then replaced the floss every week. Also did weekly water changes.

 

[Nommarune]

I ran one without a skimmer for just over a year. Also swapped out the filter socks with floss, and then replaced the floss every week. Also did weekly water changes.

That's what I have currently is the carbon packs bio balls filter floss.

 

[Peace River]

I thought about an algae scrubber but wasnt sure if it would be needed. I even thought about getting a mangrove sprout

Needed? no, but it would potentially improve the water quality by filtering the water since you don't plan on using a skimmer and would also give you some more flexibility from having to do water changes quite so often. The mangrove sprout would be neat, but it won't filter the water nearly as well as an algae scrubber.

 

[Nommarune]

So you would do cheato and an algae scrubber? I'll look into that then. Thank you for the advice

 

[Spare time]

Just rinse the filter pads out once a day. That is the easiest way to keep any tank clean