Stop testing water

[Guttersnipe]

Hi reef2reef!
I just want to say my tank has never healthier since I simplified my system. I used to run carbon, gfo, filter socks, test for phosphate. I really hated changing out the socks, carbon and gfo. Testing phosphates wasn’t much fun either. I let my tank run with just dosing two part and testing for alk, cal, and mag. It’s been going like this for almost two years. My frags have all turned into colonies. My system is 90 gallons 3x2x2 lit by a 36 inch Ati 8 bulb powermodule. Flow is by two tunze 6105 each on there own sea sweep. I dose esv two part and esv mag maybe twice a year. I feed one cube of mysis a day. That’s my entire setup.

 

[Jinko]

Nice tank.

Agree to some extent, I don't test for nitrate or phosphate anymore.
Just ca, alk and mg

Once a tank is mature and stable they become fairly easy to maintain.

You don't have many fish though tbf [emoji16]

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Hi reef2reef!
I just want to say my tank has never healthier since I simplified my system. I used to run carbon, gfo, filter socks, test for phosphate. I really hated changing out the socks, carbon and gfo. Testing phosphates wasn’t much fun either. I let my tank run with just dosing two part and testing for alk, cal, and mag. It’s been going like this for almost two years. My frags have all turned into colonies. My system is 90 gallons 3x2x2 lit by a 36 inch Ati 8 bulb powermodule. Flow is by two tunze 6105 each on there own sea sweep. I dose esv two part and esv mag maybe twice a year. I feed one cube of mysis a day. That’s my entire setup.

I too follow a similar philosophy but you stated you “only dose 2 part and mag twice a year”.? Is that correct? How is that possible?

 

[Guttersnipe]

I have five fish, two starfish, a handful of shrimp, and about 12 snails.

 

[29bonsaireef]

I agree, the only times I've ever screwed up my tanks is while testing. Seeing numbers weren't where I'd expected, trying to change things.. and then run into issues. The corals and the tank will tell you what they need, if you pay attention.

Great setup btw, very hard to beat the growth/colors from T5s

 

[Guttersnipe]

I too follow a similar philosophy but you stated you “only dose 2 part and mag twice a year”.? Is that correct? How is that possible?

I dose two part daily with a dosing pump.
I dose mag only twice a year.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I dose two part daily with a dosing pump.
I dose mag only twice a year.

I thought you meant 2 part once a year. Amazing tank. So no chaeto or Fuge? Skimmer?

 

[Guttersnipe]

Oh. I forgot to include the bottom portion of my tank. I do have a sump running a vertex omega i180 protein skimmer and a kessil 380 over the fuge area with chaeto in it.
That is it. My entire setup.

 

[SeaDweller]

I think once a tank and the system reach maturity/stability then testing for a lot of stuff isn’t needed. I test alk twice a day religiously and I’ll test for Ca, Mg every now and then. I still test for NO3 and PO4 on occasion just to see where I’m at, but I let my tank speak to me.

 

[Sailfinguy21]

I only test alk and calcium and maybe nitrates.


Other then that ill dose alk once every other day and calcium once a week.. my nitrates are usually always under control from a seachem denitrate home made canister i built..

My 135g has 42 different corals and a clam.. sps lps leathers.. ive never had a coral die on me in over a year except two that got flipped over on the sand and i didnt see it.

I have no sump. No protien skimmer. Nothing but two emperor 400s for mechanical filtration. 1 425,1150 and 1500 koralia power head. I have a 4 bulb T5 fixture one of those plant grow fixtures.

Thats it.. my tank is budget friendly.. easy to maintain.. and my corals are growing quickly. Some frags i got only a week ago are already growing on the rocks.. A purple bonsai acropora ive had for a year thst was in QT for 2 months.. i put it in my 135 and in 1 week it grew past the puddy glue i stuck it on and its already on the rock.

I haa sailfin tang, yellow, tomini, foxface, 2 clowns, 3 damsels, 2 blue gudgeon gobies, a bicolor angel and coral beauty. And msybe 10 snails and 3 hermits.. 2 sea urchins.

Nitrates have been at 10ppm and arent going up.. So i dont even do water changes much anymore.

And if i do water changes its simply due to nitrates getting to 40ppm or higher if that ever happens... I also use straight city tap water. Had zero issue using tap in over 2 years as i progressed to bigger and bigger tanks for my reef..

I think all the gadgets ppl buy.. 400-500$ per led and storing RODI water in 50 gallon drums in there house is s big waste of money and time.

Isnt needed at all im sorry..

The only fancy if you could call it fancy gadget i have is a 60 watt uv sterilizer and thats simply to keep the water clear and well just because.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Simpler is better, and tank photos don't lie. good job! Nuff said. ;Stop

 

[Sailfinguy21]

Watch "My 135 gallon Reef tank" on YouTube

This is my tank. Its only 3 months old ( i know it isnt years old ok) .. but my 55g hexagon and 27g hexagon before it were the same method.. basic no sump no skimmer nothing special and i had no issues for 2 years. I just brought the same basic everything to my 135 and got more fish and corals and nothing is happening to em.. See how much extention i have on my frogspawns and stuff ? I wish i could show a before and after picture of the acropora i mentioned.. but it is in the video near the end.. that thing is growing on my rocks after only a week lol.

I posted a pic of the acropora. See the growth going to the rock ? Thats one weeks worth

 

[road_runner]

I think there are some caveats to this. Someone with less experience might see your post and think all they need to do is dose 2 parts and done.
Your system seemed to have mature nicely and able to self sustain.
Also your pictures shows that you understand how much feeding your system need in such a way that it can proccess the nutrients by itself..ect

One of the important factors is the number of fish to coral....the more fish you have the more husbandry and filtration/ lighting you need to sustain pristine water condition for coral to thrive.

To whoever new to reefing and read this post, this is not the norm. It take time and efforts to reach where this post is at.. testing, correct husbandry, right filtrations...ect all these elements are important until your system reach a mature phase where it can proccess the nutrients in a sustained way...


Great system btw.

 

[Sailfinguy21]

I think there are some caveats to this. Someone with less experience might see your post and think all they need to do is dose 2 parts and done.
Your system seemed to have mature nicely and able to self sustain.
Also your pictures shows that you understand how much feeding your system need in such a way that it can proccess the nutrients by itself..etc
To whoever new to reefing and read this post, this is not the norm. It take time and efforts to reach where this post is at.. testing, correct husbandry, right filtrations...ect all these elements are important until your system reach a mature phase where it can proccess the nutrients in a sustained way...

Yes and no... what it really took was just a lot of reading and learning. But when i first started i actually didnt know what i was doing.

I setup my 27g hex.. poured a gallon of nitrifying bacteria in to instant cycle the tank.. put 6 corals in including a peice of that purple acropora you see in my pic that was my first ever coral. I bleached the acro and it took months to come back... but it did work out.

I did have 20 years of fresh water experience though so that helped. But yea... i agree its best to learn.. but what better way to learn then do it

 

[road_runner]

Yes and no... what it really took was just a lot of reading and learning. But when i first started i actually didnt know what i was doing.

I setup my 27g hex.. poured a gallon of nitrifying bacteria in to instant cycle the tank.. put 6 corals in including a peice of that purple acropora you see in my pic that was my first ever coral. I bleached the acro and it took months to come back... but it did work out.

I did have 20 years of fresh water experience though so that helped. But yea... i agree its best to learn.. but what better way to learn then do it

Lol so what did you learn from reading? It would be more helpful to the community sharing what you learned.

 

[Sailfinguy21]

Dude i cant explain it all... It just took time reading many threads doing research on corals.. learning what sps and lps means and stuff that you and I know now.. But when i first started i didnt listen to anyone.

I bought dead rock to keep pests from live rock out.. i setup my rock wall.. then poured a gallon of fritzyme in.. ammonia was gone in 2 days.. i got a bunch of fish. Bunch of corals and upgraded my lighting as i got more money.. i used power compacts i had laying around.

You see these pics ? This is when i first started lol... That torch coral was one of my first corals too.. i still have it with 3 heads now vs 1.. I litterally got rocks.. tossed em in.. filled with tap water and salt mixture... put power compacts over it.. put bacteria in.. 3 days later i got fish and corals... 2 months later i moved it to the 55g hexagon.. which is my last pic.. i just moved everything over to it... added a lil more sand.. got 20 more corals and the rest is history..

My onlyHUUUGE mistake was not QT my fish.. i got ich lost alot of fish... when i moved to my 135g i got 100 lbs more rock and sand.. and i did hyposalinity in the 135g and had 35 corals in a 20g Long tank with just a hob and some sand for over 2 months..

All my corals survived.. lol some even grew pretty well laying on sand in a crammed 20g tank... So what im saying is it isnt as difficult as its made out to be.

 

[road_runner]

Dude i cant explain it all... It just took time reading many threads doing research on corals.. learning what sps and lps means and stuff that you and I know now.. But when i first started i didnt listen to anyone.

I bought dead rock to keep pests from live rock out.. i setup my rock wall.. then poured a gallon of fritzyme in.. ammonia was gone in 2 days.. i got a bunch of fish. Bunch of corals and upgraded my lighting as i got more money.. i used power compacts i had laying around.

You see these pics ? This is when i first started lol... That torch coral was one of my first corals too.. i still have it with 3 heads now vs 1.. I litterally got rocks.. tossed em in.. filled with tap water and salt mixture... put power compacts over it.. put bacteria in.. 3 days later i got fish and corals... 2 months later i moved it to the 55g hexagon.. which is my last pic.. i just moved everything over to it... added a lil more sand.. got 20 more corals and the rest is history..

My onlyHUUUGE mistake was not QT my fish.. i got ich lost alot of fish... when i moved to my 135g i got 100 lbs more rock and sand.. and i did hyposalinity in the 135g and had 35 corals in a 20g Long tank with just a hob and some sand for over 2 months..

All my corals survived.. lol some even grew pretty well laying on sand in a crammed 20g tank... So what im saying is it isnt as difficult as its made out to be.

Lol you did a great job and good sharing ad well...keep rocking it.

 

[Sailfinguy21]

Yea i just wish i could fast foward time to years so i can have a tsnk looking like some peoples like the dude who made the thread... alot of my corals grew.. but most are still only months old..

But yea i guess the whole moral is just learn the nitrogen cycle.. learn how to mix zalt.. manage salinity... Dont worry sbout sumps or protien skimmers.. or testing water religiously... Imo keep your alk at 8-9 calcium at 380-450 and keep your nitrates below 40.. I deff managed the tank alot to keep nitrates below 40 until i made that little denitrate canister.. that cut back on alot of water changes.

Please QT of fish... dont buy corals at impulse.. spend time in the shop... Ask questions if you dont know what the coral is ask the shop owner... pull your phone out.. do research on that coral before you buy it.


Thats what my advice to new people would be.

 

[SeaDweller]

Dude i cant explain it all... It just took time reading many threads doing research on corals.. learning what sps and lps means and stuff that you and I know now.. But when i first started i didnt listen to anyone.

I bought dead rock to keep pests from live rock out.. i setup my rock wall.. then poured a gallon of fritzyme in.. ammonia was gone in 2 days.. i got a bunch of fish. Bunch of corals and upgraded my lighting as i got more money.. i used power compacts i had laying around.

You see these pics ? This is when i first started lol... That torch coral was one of my first corals too.. i still have it with 3 heads now vs 1.. I litterally got rocks.. tossed em in.. filled with tap water and salt mixture... put power compacts over it.. put bacteria in.. 3 days later i got fish and corals... 2 months later i moved it to the 55g hexagon.. which is my last pic.. i just moved everything over to it... added a lil more sand.. got 20 more corals and the rest is history..

My onlyHUUUGE mistake was not QT my fish.. i got ich lost alot of fish... when i moved to my 135g i got 100 lbs more rock and sand.. and i did hyposalinity in the 135g and had 35 corals in a 20g Long tank with just a hob and some sand for over 2 months..

All my corals survived.. lol some even grew pretty well laying on sand in a crammed 20g tank... So what im saying is it isnt as difficult as its made out to be.

So you did ALLLLLLL of this reading and research and it told you you could do the method you’re doing? Two days in, it’s ok for livestock, to use tap water, not to QT? What are you reading? What you’ve done seems contradictory to what you’ve “researched”.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Here’s my word of advice for reefers who are having trouble with their corals.
You don’t have to add anything other than food, alk, cal, and magnesium.
Don’t even think about dosing nopox, phosphate, nitrate, or anything other than what I mentioned above.
Get a good skimmer, good light, dosing pump, and good flow.
This is the only equipment you need. You don’t need an algae scrubber. Chaeto In your fuge is all you need.
Leave your tank alone. There’s a lot of reefers on here who keep buying things and changing things around when they don’t see their corals growing. Set up a light schedule and profile and leave it alone. Set up powerheads for flow and leave it alone. Only add more or rearrange when corals fill in and start blocking flow. As for test kits just get salifert alk, cal, and mag test kit. They’re cheap and work very well.
Set up your protein skimmer and leave it alone.
Keep your hands out of the tank. The only time I reach my hand in the tank is when I clean my glass with the magnet cleaner
And have to take it out once I’m done. Set tour corals where you want them and leave it there. Move only if it’s getting too much or not enough light or flow.