Eliminating Mechanical Filtration?

[MichaelReefer]

I have been looking more and more into this topic the last few weeks because I will be going out of town for a week (going to Kauai to propose to my lady) in a month and I am trying to make it as simple as possible for the person watching my tanks to take care of them. I have been reading of people just removing baffles and turning their sump into basically a giant Refugium by removing all mechanical filtration. I Currently have an external refugium that I DIYed and was curious if anyone has done this and how viable it is to remove socks and skimmer? Below is a picture of my Refugium that I made externally from the tank on a stand. Basically it just feeds off the return line then has an "overflow" that brings it back down to the sump. (excuse how crammed it is, very limited room in a reefer 250 stand lol)

 

[Paul B]

I have no sump, no dosers and no controllers and go away for a week or ten days all the time.
I have been doing this for the almost 50 years my tank has been running and I never lost anything.

Because I have no sump I also have no filter socks.
I do have a reverse undergravel filter that requires almost no maintenance. My skimmer has a tube into a sewer so I don't have to empty it.

I leave my tank sitter small film containers with frozen food in each one for as many days as I will be away and all they have to do is throw one in every day or every other day.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Pulling socks and shutting down skimmer is fine for a week, I have went months without them.. worst case your tank may look a little dirty but who knows it may look better than ever when you return

 

[MichaelReefer]

I have no sump, no dosers and no controllers and go away for a week or ten days all the time.
I have been doing this for the almost 50 years my tank has been running and I never lost anything.

Because I have no sump I also have no filter socks.
I do have a reverse undergravel filter that requires almost no maintenance. My skimmer has a tube into a sewer so I don't have to empty it.

I leave my tank sitter small film containers with frozen food in each one for as many days as I will be away and all they have to do is throw one in every day or every other day.

I'm just worried about causing a spike or something if I dont put them in for the week or permanently . And if i'm not home there is nothing I can do.

 

[Paul B]

If you get a spike in a week, there is something very wrong with your tank now. There should be no spikes from anything as in a healthy tank things will occur very slowly.

I can, and do go months without dosing or cleaning or even running my skimmer and nothing ever happened.

 

[Silent]

Not a big deal to pull socks. I would adjust the skimmer for a very dry skim so it will not overflow while you are gone. Just do a water change sucking out detritus when you get back.

 

[MichaelReefer]

If you get a spike in a week, there is something very wrong with your tank now. There should be no spikes from anything as in a healthy tank things will occur very slowly.

I can, and do go months without dosing or cleaning or even running my skimmer and nothing ever happened.

I was talking hypothetical of course. I've never left my tank for more than a few days. lol. Just want to make sure I handle it correctly while I'm gone.

What about long term, like when people turn their tank into giant refugiums? I guess this post is two topics. Both leaving them out for a week while I'm gone, and long term.

 

[Justunsmegareef]

There are plenty of tanks including my last Red Sea that didn’t run a simmer or any mechanical filtration. You’ll just have some tidying up when you get back.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I have no sump, no dosers and no controllers and go away for a week or ten days all the time.
I have been doing this for the almost 50 years my tank has been running and I never lost anything.

Because I have no sump I also have no filter socks.
I do have a reverse undergravel filter that requires almost no maintenance. My skimmer has a tube into a sewer so I don't have to empty it.

I leave my tank sitter small film containers with frozen food in each one for as many days as I will be away and all they have to do is throw one in every day or every other day.

Do you still calibrate your hydrometer, on your trips

 

[MichaelReefer]

So it seems that the consensus is the tank should be fine for a week with no socks?

 

[Bryknicks]

You will be perfectly fine with no filter socks for a week. I removed filters socks and mechanical filtration from my tank entirely about 10 months ago with no issues. If you are really that concerned, do a water change/sump cleanup before leaving for your trip.

 

[atoll]

Haven't run any form.of mechanical filtration since Adam was a lad unless you want to call a skimmer mechanical filtration which in a way it is. I decided to bin filter wool and socks and have never looked back. I also rarely do water changes and when I do am not really sure why.

 

[Vette67]

So it seems that the consensus is the tank should be fine for a week with no socks?

My tank has been fine for 20 years with no filter socks. You’ll be fine.

 

[Paul B]

Do you still calibrate your hydrometer, on your trips

Yes I do, when I go to the tropics,

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Yes I do, when I go to the tropics,

yesterday I was given this for free the guy used to own a reef shop in the early eighties and I forget when he closed down. But this is brand new never used no parts missing except I think the two clear hoses everything's there. And of course I plan to use

 

[lapin]

My tank sitter has the book of bob. Food from freezer to fridge for next day. Food fridge to tank. Look at socks to be sure of no over flow issues. I change them from felt to mesh before leaving. Look at skimmer dump container to be sure its not at overflow level. if full dump in sink. Look at at ato tank. if not between 2 marks text me. Thats all folks !!!

 

[YankeeTankee]

This is why ppl invest in filter rollers!

But as others have stated, no big deal to remove socks for a week.

If your cup cant handle a week or so worth of skimmate, you could add a skimmate collecter bin.