Do reef tanks really need a filter...?

[Ashish Patel]

Depends on your budget.. I've used $40 hang on skimmers and if they didn't product enough bubbles i just ran a air pump to the intake to create more bubbles and worked like a charm. What kind of price range you thinking?

 

[Malifry97]

How are you going to keep salinity stable - How are you going to deal with topoff?

Top off in morning and evening and throughout the day (I or someone else is home everyday)

Yes, You will NEED a filter. Filters help with oxygenation, nutrient export, and cleaning the water. A lot of people resort to hob filters. Each to their own. I would never use a hob filter for a reef tank. Ato and dosers each have their places in a filter. If you insist in a hob skimmer, I recommend aquamaxx

ok thanks...oxygenation is taken care of by wave makers though.

 

[Malifry97]

Depends on your budget.. I've used $40 hang on skimmers and if they didn't product enough bubbles i just ran a air pump to the intake to create more bubbles and worked like a charm. What kind of price range you thinking?

120$ or less preferably.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

120$ or less preferably.

Have you considered turning it into an aio? Some acrylic and silicon and you could easily make it into an aio tank. A filter in the back to hide all the equipment.

 

[Malifry97]

Have you considered turning it into an aio? Some acrylic and silicon and you could easily make it into an aio tank. A filter in the back to hide all the equipment.

I haven’t even thought of that! I might try that!

 

[45ZoaGarden]

I haven’t even thought of that! I might try that!

You would lose some display space but it would cost much less than a sump and overflow. And all the water is staying in the aquarium so you don’t have to worry about a leak in a sump or any plumbing leaking

 

[Malifry97]

You would lose some display space but it would cost much less than a sump and overflow. And all the water is staying in the aquarium so you don’t have to worry about a leak in a sump or any plumbing leaking

Yeah!

 

[Ashish Patel]

How large is your tank? For a smaller tank I prefer Danner Skilter filter, Mainy because i used it from 2000 to 2005 on a heaviy stocked 55 gallon tank. It never had good reviews but at the time it was $45 and those air bubble in tank skimmers never worked well for me

 

[Quietman]

No...but it's all a trade-off. Some tanks run very little if any filtration and rely on water changes (these are usually smaller nano and pico tanks). They are also limited in how much bio-load they can handle and how fast it can be added. You may have less clear water, but that could mean you have happier corals or filter feeders. You don't have to have a sump but that would mean either AIO, intank or HOB. Nothing wrong with any of those, unless you start wanting a refugium.

We've all seen very impressive tanks with little to no filtration but all the long term ones balance that simplicity with every thing else.

 

[New&no clue]

In my 75 all I have is a bag of carbon and a filter sock... I also have skimmer, but I don't count that as filtration because 9 out of 10 days it is overflowing. My tank seems fine. In my sump I also have rock and bio balls.

 

[WVNed]

If you put 5 fish in a small tank you will need a filter.

 

[Quietman]

In my 75 all I have is a bag of carbon and a filter sock... I also have skimmer, but I don't count that as filtration because 9 out of 10 days it is overflowing. My tank seems fine. In my sump I also have rock and bio balls.

So the skimmer is overfiltering? or maybe it's a recirculating filter?

 

[Quietman]

Example would be my quarantine tank. I had an HOB filter, bare bottom with just a couple pieces of rock. 10 gallon tank, just ran some carbon and polyfilter and a bit of media from my display tank.

Kept one small yellow watchman goby in there (long story, I found him a good home) anyway, I had to do 50% water changes weekly to keep nitrates under control and still, I had GHA like you wouldn't believe. Also had coralline algae, great looking corals and a very healthy goby.

 

[Mical]

Note: I’m planning to twice weekly run a HOB with filter floss (for a few hours) to polish the water.

After reading a few of your comments like the one above (please take no offense) this is not like freshwater aquariums with some "wiggle room". Let me ask you - do you have test kits for all your parameters? You need to test specific gravity (salinity) nitrate, nitrites, phosphates and that's just the beginning. You need to read up more on reef tanks or just keeping saltwater fish, I'm just trying to save you the heartbreak and financial consequences that doing this wrong can have.

 

[Malifry97]

How large is your tank? For a smaller tank I prefer Danner Skilter filter, Mainy because i used it from 2000 to 2005 on a heaviy stocked 55 gallon tank. It never had good reviews but at the time it was $45 and those air bubble in tank skimmers never worked well for me

My tanks is a 36 gallon tank, I may try this down the road!

 

[Malifry97]

After reading a few of your comments like the one above (please take no offense) this is not like freshwater aquariums with some "wiggle room". Let me ask you - do you have test kits for all your parameters? You need to test specific gravity (salinity) nitrate, nitrites, phosphates and that's just the beginning. You need to read up more on reef tanks or just keeping saltwater fish, I'm just trying to save you the heartbreak and financial consequences that doing this wrong can have.

I have done research for upwards of 8 months...and yes, I have test kits for all of it...had my tank crash once and learned from my mistakes

 

[Mical]

I have done research for upwards of 8 months...and yes, I have test kits for all of it...had my tank crash once and learned from my mistakes

Ok , just wanted you to be prepared. We all make mistakes and I like to pass on any info that can save others from making the same.

 

[Malifry97]

I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THIS CLEAR: eventually down the road I’d like to get a sump....(maybe 4 months). Figured that would be useful

 

[Malifry97]

Ok , just wanted you to be prepared. We all make mistakes and I like to pass on any info that can save others from making the same.

Yes! Thank you, also I didn’t take any offense

 

[Mical]

I WOULD LIEK TO MAKE THIS CLEAR: eventually down the road I’d like to get a sump....(maybe 4 months). Figured that would be useful

You my friend will LOVE having a sump. The options a sump gives you is endless and there's no ugly boxes hanging in your tank.