Yes I know it doesn’t work the way a protein skimmer does, that is just an example of some of the things I’ve done with HOBs before.
I should probably start another thread(s) for all of these questions, but what exactly does a protein skimmer do, and what kind of nutrients do I have to add to saltwater? I currently add calcium because I have many inverts but I know that is not quite the same
for fish only you can do this as cheaply as you want, as said rodi can be very portable, mine is in a cupboard till I need it, or buy distilled water, I would recommend a cheap light, you don’t need one for the fish but I think the tank looks better under a light, up to you though.
you don’t need a skimmer, changing water will work just fine, as for your question on what will you need to add, nothing, just the salt, the water changes will renew anything taken out of the water, with no corals the rule about the tank has to be very stable is not as true, the corals pull elements out of the water, so they need replacing, with just fish you will only need to keep an eye on you nitrates and phosphate, and the benefit of a no light or a low powered light just for viewing setup is algae will not be as much of a battle as a coral light would bring.
once up and running, it’ll be very cheap to run, a bucket of salt will last you a year, a couple boxes of tests, some carbon, filter floss and maybe some chemipure blue or purigen too, a tub of each of those will also last a year, then you just need to buy food, I would recommend you stick to frozen food, adds much less phosphates etc to the tank.
The good thing about nano tanks, if something does go wrong, a full or 50% water change is a 30 minute job.
