LPS Build idea... am I asking for trouble??

Gomi's Reef · Jul 23, 2018

I'm looking to start a tank build next year and those of you who are successful know... this means the planning is well underway.

I'm limited to a nano in terms of my apartment (3rd floor) and budget =(... So I thought I'd shoot for an LPS tank. I've recently been toying with a new idea (partly inspired by the BRSTV-ULM series)... A red sea reefer 170 with a kalk reactor, and ..... no skimmer... just a large juicy fuge in an adapted RSR170 sump.

Will the pH be a problem?? Fuge lit by night and kalk during the day I was thinking.

Is there a way to counteract this? easily? Safely?
How detrimental will the loss of gas exchange from the skimmer actually be?

Thanks for any input in advance

Jeff Hall · Jul 23, 2018

There are plenty of successful tanks without skimmers, so I don't think pH will be an issue. I would probably run the kalk and fuge light at night though, photosynthesis will keep pH up during day. I run fuge and KH buffer at night and pH is still higher during the day.

EW_Fish · Jul 23, 2018

So skimmers do help with gas exchange but so does running a rough surface. You can also run a air pump in a chamber if you would like maybe run it in a filter sock or something along those line.

This is a local skimmerless tank
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a...quariums-skimmerless-build-24-x20-x20.242518/

tiggs · Jul 23, 2018

I've been strictly in the nano realm for the last 8 years and I've never run a skimmer. Back then, there was no such thing as a nano skimmer that actually worked even slightly well. Nowadays, there are a few that are much better, but since back compartment real estate is at a minimum, I'd rather have controller probes, dosing lines, etc taking up the space. In fact, some of the most successful tanks under 30G (mainly AIOs) don't have skimmers. To make up for it, there are two things that are very important.

1. Lots of surface agitation
2. weekly water changes (personally, I stick to the 20% of total water volume per week schedule)

Lastly, nutrient export is an area where many nanos struggle when running without a skimmer, so that's something you'd need to take into consideration. For me, a big part of that is making sure my beneficial bacteria footprint is as robust as possible to push waste through the nitrogen cycle as quickly as possible. I use the full Prodibio Reef Kit (contains Biodigest and Bioptim) every 15 days, run Chemipure Blue, and started my tank with 15lbs of old school Fiji LR (been in captivity since 1998). This combination keeps my phosphates between 0.03-0.05 and my nitrates between 2-5ppm.

Aside from the Chemipure Blue, I try to do things as naturally as possible, so keeping a proper amount of detritivores and having a ton of flow to keep detritus suspended in the water column is huge. In fact, the biggest struggle I see with newer nano setups is lack of flow and the resulting buildup of detritus leading to high nutrients. Since the footprint is so small, people get frustrated trying to avoid sand storms and almost never have enough flow near the substrate or behind their rock work. My preference is to use a MP10, since it has a wider, less direct, less turbulent stream and a larger grain sand. Many of the pumps you see have a more direct, super turbulent stream and it makes it almost impossible to get adequate flow and avoid a sand storm in such a small tank.