Mallette's Sumpless 55G

[BrettMallette]

Been lurking around Reef2Reef for a while and i figure now is as good a time as any to start documenting my tank on here. So first things first ive been in the hobby for about 10 years possibly 15. Fish only systems up until about 6 years ago.

My current tank is an upgrade from a 30g which was established and running for 3 years before moving it and then 2 years after moving before uprgrade. So this setup has been running since August 2nd 2016.

Tank Specs:

55G Glass Aquarium

Not running a sump of any kind so tank isn't drilled nor do i have any kind of overflow running.

Fluval Sea intank skimmer. Which has been working fairly well so far. If i decide to add a sump down the road i have a Reef Octopus of some kind sitting in my basement. But until then the Fluval will do the trick.

1×Hydra 26 HD (In acclimation mode from November 24th til December 15th 2016) Will post schedule in future post.

1× Jebao PP-8 in max else mode as well as night mode activated.

Not running Carbon or GFO of any form currently when i do run Carbon I use a Aquaclear 70 with Nyos Carbon in a filter bag with filter floss.

All rock is established rock from my 30g as well as an additional 20 pounds which i seeded in my sump before upgrading.

2×Cobalt 100w heaters

1×Maxijet 900(to add upflow below the PP-8)

Have a mix of fish as well as coral will post a list of both in the next couple days as i get pics to post

Clean up Crew:
1×Royal Urchin(4+years old)
Nassarius snails
Astrea Snails
Mix of Blue legged and Scarlet hermit crabs

And i do believe that sums up my setup. Will post pics on my day off tomorrow. But heres a pic of my Tridacna Noae

And a pic of my Dendro opening

Pictures taken with Samsung S7 in pro mode WB 10k ISO 50 all else on auto.

 

[Diesel]

Interesting!

 

[BrettMallette]

Lol thanks @Diesel i think... Any questions feel free would post a FTS but tank lights are out and im not the greatest photographer so takes a while...

 

[Diesel]

Pictures from the full tank will be nice.
Explain also how you maintain a no sump tank, as there are many members that would be interested in that as well.

 

[BrettMallette]

Ah will do! Been a long day meant to incorporate my routine into the original post as well as tank parameters and the ups and downs ive come across so far. Ill make an attempt to post again tonight after food but most likely in the AM with lots of pics plus a full stocking list of coral and fish.

 

[Shep]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Tank looks good, can't wait to see more pics

 

[BrettMallette]

@Shep thanks for the welcome. And will post more pics over the course of the day today. For now heres a FTS from November 26th less than 48 hours after changing my lighting over.

 

[Brew12]

Been lurking around Reef2Reef for a while and i figure now is as good a time as any to start documenting my tank on here. So first things first ive been in the hobby for about 10 years possibly 15. Fish only systems up until about 6 years ago.

My current tank is an upgrade from a 30g which was established and running for 3 years before moving it and then 2 years after moving before uprgrade. So this setup has been running since August 2nd 2016.

Tank Specs:

55G Glass Aquarium

Not running a sump of any kind so tank isn't drilled nor do i have any kind of overflow running.

Fluval Sea intank skimmer. Which has been working fairly well so far. If i decide to add a sump down the road i have a Reef Octopus of some kind sitting in my basement. But until then the Fluval will do the trick.

1×Hydra 26 HD (In acclimation mode from November 24th til December 15th 2016) Will post schedule in future post.

1× Jebao PP-8 in max else mode as well as night mode activated.

Not running Carbon or GFO of any form currently when i do run Carbon I use a Aquaclear 70 with Nyos Carbon in a filter bag with filter floss.

All rock is established rock from my 30g as well as an additional 20 pounds which i seeded in my sump before upgrading.

2×Cobalt 100w heaters

1×Maxijet 900(to add upflow below the PP-8)

Have a mix of fish as well as coral will post a list of both in the next couple days as i get pics to post

Clean up Crew:
1×Royal Urchin(4+years old)
Nassarius snails
Astrea Snails
Mix of Blue legged and Scarlet hermit crabs

And i do believe that sums up my setup. Will post pics on my day off tomorrow. But heres a pic of my Tridacna Noae

And a pic of my Dendro opening

Pictures taken with Samsung S7 in pro mode WB 10k ISO 50 all else on auto.

I love it! This shows just how much more important proper husbandry is than fancy gadgets! I am in awe of people who can maintain these systems!

 

[BrettMallette]

Heres my current stocking list all fish went in at the same time on August 15th 2016. As this tank is bare bottom i had to make sure there wouldn't be a cycle after adding 8 fish all at once to limit aggression.

1× Clarkii Clown(8+ years old)
2× Yellow-tailed Blue Damsels (6+ years old)
1× Cirrhilabrus Solarenis (3+ years old)
1× Cirrhilabrus Rubriventralis (2 years old)
1× Blue Green Chromis (added to tank on day to for an ammonia source)
1× Black Bar Chromis (2 years old)
1× Acanthurus Japonicus (5+ years old)

When i say years old thats in my care or someone i knows care. The Powder Brown is my baby so as he grows and begins to show signs of stress he gets a bigger tank.

 

[BrettMallette]

Okay so a little about my maintenance routine. I admit im a little on the lazy side when it comes to water changes. I test weekly for the holy three Magnesium Calcium and Alkalinity. All measured using Red Sea test kits and their parameters are as follows from tonight:
Calcium 480ppm
Alkalinity 9.0 dKh
Magnesium 1450ppm

A couple of months back I suffered a high Alkalinity event(by high i mean normal tank reading 9-9.5 and was at 15) so have been battling back from that due to being busy with work. So note to self and others test test test!

For nitrate and phosphate i use API test kits i know not the most accurate but with no sump im not striving for ULNS so some of each is fine by me. So long as it isnt hindering coral coloration or growth. There is no noticeable algae present aside from coralline and a couple spots of bubble algae. Also i do not test for either unless something seems off. So last time i tested either was a month plus ago. Each of them read as follows:
Phosphate
Nitrate

By no means should people not test for nitrate or phosphate but i find over testing in my case on nitrates phosphates and PH tend to make me go into an adjustment frenzy. Which causes more instability than just simply doing a water change when theres some unwanted algae growth or diatoms.

As for waterchanges i rarely do them as stated above. My last change was 5g two weeks ago just to remove some dead majanos that were on my Teardrops shell. And some detritus that had accumulated on the bottom. Which seems to have been fixed by the addition of a posse of hermit crabs(15 to be exact) about a week ago just to clean up the rock and bottom glass.

I also feed my fish and corals heavy to keep some of the aggression down since they are all on the aggressive side of things.

And thanks @Brew12 will try and keep the thread updated as i add things and as things change. I tend to take pics daily so dont be surprised by daily updates with pics.

Next post will be about what i feed my corals and fish as well as what i dose my system since i dont do frequent waterchanges.

And heres a FTS from tonight
Hope everyones have a wonderful night

 

[BrettMallette]

Just noticed didnt add my phosphate and nitrate levels from a month or so ago
Nitrate 1ppm
Phosphate <.5ppm

 

[Diesel]

Those are some healthy looking corals.

 

[BrettMallette]

Thanks @Diesel some have seen better days. Due to high Alk at one point. But most are regaining their color and have stopped STN'ing. Plus with this new light seem to be gaining colors i didnt know they had. I cant wait to see my Rainbow Montipora color up. Its never had its true colors but they are slowly coming in.

 

[Brew12]

I am incredibly impressed. Will definitely be following along and look forward to the updates!

 

[BrettMallette]

A few quick pics this morning while my lights are still ramping. Cant wait for the acclimation period to be done my coral are already looking so much happier than they were a month ago.

Sorry about the cloudiness just fed some rotifers.

Blue and red Candy Cane

Hollywood Stunner

A cpl sps i dont really know what the front one is the onein the back is my Rainbow monti

My Urchin as well as a couple frags which seem to b getting overshadowed by my Teardrop Clam

Meteor Shower Cyphastrea

Some Side ****... im not very good at taking side shots sadly... still getting used to my phone.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Looks great!

 

[BrettMallette]

Thanks @revhtree ! Appreciate as much feedback as possible. Been in the hobby for a while but i find myself still learning something new every day.

Heres a few more pics. Sorry bout all the posts i dont do much but stare at my tank on days off. And we are in the middle of a snow storm so definitely not doing anything but tank related things today.

 

[BrettMallette]

A couple pics from tonight my Rainbow Monti seems to have gained some more orange to its polyps over the course of the day and the digitata in front is turning a nice turquoise with a whitish purple base. Plus my zoas just pop under the leds.

 

[john.m.cole3]

That's really cool! Very nice collection of corals you have there.

 

[BrettMallette]

So today is normally water change day. But i definitely forgot 15 gallons of RO/DI water in the car and its frozen solid. So today will be a water testing day. And ill go over a lil of my feeding routine as well.

So my normal feedings are as follows.

Fish get fed 2-3 times a day with a one day/.5 day of fasting on fridays. They get a mix of:
Cobalt CA mysis/spirulina flakes
Fauna Marin base color pellets
Frozen Mysis
Frozen Rotifers
Nori Sheets

Usually a blend of everything. But some days they just get pellets. If tank has detritus settled on the bottom then i feed less til they have stirred it up

As for Coral i feed 2-3 times a week. And i vary my mix from the following:
Reef Roids
Polyp Booster
Fauna Marin Ultra Seafan
Fauna Marin LPS pellets
Seachem phyto and zooplankton
Fauna Marin Zoa/ricordia

My coral seem to enjoy the roids and ultra seafan the most. Where the fish love munchin on the zoa ricordia food for some reason. I also rarely target feed. When i do its just my blastomussa, lobophyllia and alveopora.


Once im done water testing will post some more pics. Hopefully some decent fish pics this time around.