General questions from a reefer with less than a year's experience

[oneshotreef]

I have less than a year of experience in saltwater aquariums. I started off with a Fluval Evo 13.5 It's a good starter tank, but after some time it's not what I want. I'm moving to a Waterbox Marine X 60.2. I have so many ideas for the new tank and wanted a little advice

• Sump is setup for a filter sock, could I skip a skimmer and set up a refugium instead? Or is a skimmer preferred no matter what
• I might be able to split the return chamber and add a small 6X5 refugium or is that to small?
• This is my first sump system, any suggestions on good videos on controlling water levels in the sump and main tank?

Thanks for any help or advice

 

[Rmckoy]

I would strongly recommend the skimmer ..

main reason being oxygenating the water which in turn regulates ph .
Also helps with exporting organics which in turn convert to nutrients .

I have less than a year of experience in saltwater aquariums. I started off with a Fluval Evo 13.5 It's a good starter tank, but after some time it's not what I want. I'm moving to a Waterbox Marine X 60.2. I have so many ideas for the new tank and wanted a little advice

• Sump is setup for a filter sock, could I skip a skimmer and set up a refugium instead? Or is a skimmer preferred no matter what
• I might be able to split the return chamber and add a small 6X5 refugium or is that to small?
• This is my first sump system, any suggestions on good videos on controlling water levels in the sump and main tank?

Thanks for any help or advice

 

[X-37B]

The best advice I could give is form a plan and stick with it.
I prefer skimmer over fuge.
Some run no skimmer.
My sump has no baffles.
I run a filter sock, skimmer, and a carx.
For water level you will need an ato pump and container.
You control your sumps water level with it.
Check out some build threads of tanks you like for more info.

 

[PanchoG]

Keep the skimmer, filtration is priority. Refugium is good, even if small, make sure the chaeto or any other macro algae you grow there does not get into the return pump.

 

[CanuckReefer]

I have a no sump setup, but I will say, skimmer....I only run it 6 hours a day but it pulls the crap out of system effectively. And as @Rmckoy mentions it will oxygenate

 

[mdb_talon]

The question on a skimmer really just depends on who you ask. Personally I wont run a tank without a skimmer so for me the answer is yes use a skimmer. Will find plenty of people who dont run a skimmer.

6x5 would be quite small for a refugium. It may be enough to grow a little ball of cheato or something though.

As far as water level in DT that one is easy it should always stay the same when the return pump is on. The most important thing to ensure is that when the return pump is off there is enough capacity in the sump to hold any water that will drain. So for water in sump it depends on sump and baffles/etc, but just make sure you have enough water... but not so much it overflows when pump off.

 

[CanuckReefer]

The best advice I could give is form a plan and stick with it.
I prefer skimmer over fuge.
Some run no skimmer.
My sump has no baffles.
I run a filter sock, skimmer, and a carx.
For water level you will need an ato pump and container.
You control your sumps water level with it.
Check out some build threads of tanks you like for more info.

Here is one for you to sidetrack it a little. I have a 90g . I run HOB Skimmer (6 hrs a day), No sump, UV 2 hrs, multiple powerheads, lots of Live rock that's it. My nitrates and phos are always next to nothing. Could I ditch the skimmer next? Did so with canister long time ago....risky business lol.

 

[Subsea]

I haven’t used a skimmer in 35 years, after Reefing 50 years. When lights are out in reef tank, oxygen is critical because everything that consumed carbon dioxide during photosynthesis consumes oxygen when lights are out. Robust circulation at surface of display tank and cascading water from display to the sump are critical to promote aggressive gas exchange. Your protein skimmer could help with this. I don’t use them because they pull out nutrients that grow coral.

I looked at the manufactures data on your selection. The construction of their sump/refugium does not allow for much innovation. Considering the small size of refugium compartmen, I would leave out the lights and use sump as a pod generator. For that purpose, I would leave out the filter sock and allow MULM to grow pods.

"Mulm" in a reef tank

I think one of the most important, and least understood or mentioned things in a reef tank is "mulm". That stuff that grows in the dark portions of a tank if it is set up long enough. "Mulm" is a combination of algae, sponges, bacteria, pods, worms, detritus, poop and any thing else that can be p...

wamas.org

[A sterile tank IMO is the biggest problem we have keeping certain fish healthy.
Sterile is good in an operating room but very bad in a tank.]

 

[Doctorgori]

....all the above is all good...
Heck, At that size tank you could depend solely on water changes especially if you match parameters to lessen stress/change
added: I once saw a smaller tank with a very well done macro algae in the DT, no skimmer, or sump. Probably used charcoal or Purigen as the water looked polished

 

[Subsea]

O

....all the above is all good...
Heck, At that size tank you could depend solely on water changes especially if you match parameters to lessen stress/change
added: I once saw a smaller tank with a very well done macro algae in the DT, no skimmer, or sump. Probably used charcoal or Purigen as the water looked polished

This tank will be what you said. It’s 3 weeks up & running and waiting on divers for 60lbs of uncured live rock and 15lbs of live sand. Tank is 55G with two cannister filters as refugiums and a reverse flow undergravel filter using 1.5” of aragonite, 0.1mm - 1mm.

 

[X-37B]

Here is one for you to sidetrack it a little. I have a 90g . I run HOB Skimmer (6 hrs a day), No sump, UV 2 hrs, multiple powerheads, lots of Live rock that's it. My nitrates and phos are always next to nothing. Could I ditch the skimmer next? Did so with canister long time ago....risky business lol.

Hard to say. Do you have a tank pic?
If your feeding your tank enough your no3 and po4 next to nothing levels are ok.
I follow the heavy in heavy out method so a skimmer is needed for my system.
I would always recommend a skimmer, as they do more good than bad, imo.
Since I run no fuge I need a skimmer and am currently waiting for my upgraded skimmer to arrive.
My current one can not keep up with the tanks demand now.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Hard to say. Do you have a tank pic?
If your feeding your tank enough your no3 and po4 next to nothing levels are ok.
I follow the heavy in heavy out method so a skimmer is needed for my system.
I would always recommend a skimmer, as they do more good than bad, imo.
Since I run no fuge I need a skimmer and am currently waiting for my upgraded skimmer to arrive.
My current one can not keep up with the tanks demand now.

Here you go. Nothing overly special, but its my little slice of the ocean.

 

[Subsea]

Here you go. Nothing overly special, but its my little slice of the ocean.

Kudos to the Yellow Gorgonian. They don’t like me.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Kudos to the Yellow Gorgonian. They don’t like me.

This one is very moody lately. Have it about a year, started with Roids, about 6 months in started to fade, started feeding Live Phyto which perked it up a lot, and now fading again. The hardest thing is keeping it free of algae. Constantly moving powerhead flow over it to blow it off lol.

 

[Rmckoy]

Kudos to the Yellow Gorgonian. They don’t like me.

Are the yellow gorg a nps ?

 

[CanuckReefer]

Are the yellow gorg a nps ?

Yep.

 

[Subsea]

I am convinced that ornamental sponges are much easier than NPS.

 

[Rmckoy]

I am convinced that ornamental sponges are much easier than NPS.

If I could find a way to get rid of sponges
I have a bunch growing in my sump ,
And under a few rocks . Huge yellow sponge ...

 

[Subsea]

If I could find a way to get rid of sponges
I have a bunch growing in my sump ,
And under a few rocks . Huge yellow sponge ...

Ornamental sponges look nice but not sure how they contribute to food webs. It seems as if Hippo Tang & Algae Blennie snack on its flesh. Note new growth of white after some heavy grazing.

Cryptic sponges provide much to the microbial loop. They absorb DOC and produce DIC. This is a self feeding loop between cryptic sponges & corals. Dutch research paper on the “sponge loop” showed how cryptic sponges captured POC, particulate organic carbon is the microbial loop, at a rate to double in size in 6 hours but for the detritus feeding multiple food webs.

 

[Subsea]

I have less than a year of experience in saltwater aquariums. I started off with a Fluval Evo 13.5 It's a good starter tank, but after some time it's not what I want. I'm moving to a Waterbox Marine X 60.2. I have so many ideas for the new tank and wanted a little advice

• Sump is setup for a filter sock, could I skip a skimmer and set up a refugium instead? Or is a skimmer preferred no matter what
• I might be able to split the return chamber and add a small 6X5 refugium or is that to small?
• This is my first sump system, any suggestions on good videos on controlling water levels in the sump and main tank?

Thanks for any help or advice

@oneshotreef
My bad for the hijack. Sorry to not address your specific questions. As you found out fast, advice comes in all flavors.
Seek what makes sense to you and stick to it.