Coral only cube

[krash7172]

I've searched a bit but couldn't find anyone really doing what I want to try. I want the sound and look of a very simple coral tank in my work office without fish and the daily feeding schedule (I travel). "Coral only" isn't really accurate. Live rock, sand, nominal cleaning crew and frags from my home reef tank are what I'd like to add. I have a biocube 32 that I'm thinking about using. I understand that much of the maintenance, w/c's, etc will still be important but I am more concerned with the feeding schedule due to my travel. I know many people do coral tanks with little or no fish but I am really focused on making a system that needs only 1x feeding weekly at the most and I don't want terribly fancy or hard to keep corals.

So can you do a basic "coral only" cube with weekly feedings? Advice?

 

[James M]

IMO you could do 1x a week feedings. Instead of fish have you thought about inverts, Like sexy shrimp ??

 

[krash7172]

Ya, shrimps or other inverts would be great. I think corals benefit from the waste of others. What about anemones?

 

[Nick blinkin]

I agree with shrimp and some zoas maybe long polyp gsp, maybe but i wouldn’t do an anemone, my issue is mine ate a ton. He needed almost daily feedings to be happy

 

[Hemmdog]

Once it’s fully mature you could even have a dragonette, they just eat pods.

 

[krash7172]

Zoas, gsp and mushrooms are thriving in my reef tank. I'm still fairly noob and thats what I would start with.

 

[James M]

You wouldn’t be able to add anemones until the 6+ months old mark because the tank has stable water conditions and really good lighting. I would advise against a dragonet,they require lots of Care. Constantly needs pods and fuge to supply the dragonet with food.

 

[Hemmdog]

You wouldn’t be able to add anemones until the 6+ months old mark because the tank has stable water conditions and really good lighting. I would advise against a dragonet,they require lots of Care. Constantly needs pods and fuge to supply the dragonet with food.

I have a 32 biocube with no fuge with a mandarin that I never feed. He’s huge and happy.
Zero maintence on that tank. Water change once every 3 months. 5 nitrate 0.05 phos. It’s so easy. Hence why I recommended it

 

[James M]

I have a 32 biocube with no fuge with a mandarin that I never feed. He’s huge and happy.
Zero maintence on that tank. Water change once every 3 months. 5 nitrate 0.05 phos. It’s so easy. Hence why I recommended it

No fuge and you never feed it, That’s not adding up. Dosing pods ?
They aren’t fish that are recommended for beginners and no where near easy to care for

 

[Hemmdog]

No fuge and you never feed it, That’s not adding up. Dosing pods ?

No that tank just has tons of pods, I’m really not sure. I feed phyto feast once every two weeks to keep the pod population up. Reef roids for my corals in there. That’s it

 

[krash7172]

All good input. Thanks. I'm prob going to stick to basic corals and inverts.

 

[Hemmdog]

No that tank just has tons of pods, I’m really not sure. I feed phyto feast once every two weeks to keep the pod population up. Reef roids for my corals in there. That’s it

Very well fed and happy little mandarin.

 

[krash7172]

To get back on topic, would a coral only cube benefit from a protein filter or is regular water change enough?

 

[Hemmdog]

To get back on topic, would a coral only cube benefit from a protein filter or is regular water change enough?

WC should be fine for awhile, once things grow in you may need one to help keep things cleaner.