Hey sumpless guys, whats ur setup?

[scott_r]

Just curious as to other peoples set up on their tanks with no sumps? Im new to this hobby, bought a used set up and unfortunately I cant drill my tank. The set up is a 72 gallon bowfront, Fluval 406, Remora Pro S skimmer, 2 power heads w/a a chit load of live rock :mrgreen: Things are very stable, only problem is my Nitrates hang around 10 all the time. I do 10% water changes and weekly clean out my Fluval. For now this is what Im gonna work with.

Cheers!!

[Adrenaline101]

Before my tank A.D.D. kicked in I was dealing with this same dilemma. One of the biggest things I looked into was hard plumbing a larger external skimmer. The Remora just isn't big enough to pull enough water volume out of my old 50G let alone the 72.

In the mean time, what are you running inside of the fluval canister filter?

[SteveCGY]

60 gallon cube. Eshopps 100 hob skimmer and wp25 for flow. Love it and no problems at all. I don't think I would ever a run a sump unless 100g or larger. 5g water changes weekly.

[hillegom]

canister filters are great nitrate factories. Totally work in freshwater, but not salt. You could take all the media out and put in LR if you want. But the media just collects detrius and converts it into nitrates. Different matter if you cleaned it every 3 days, but who wants to do that?
You could use a HOB filter and clean the media there frequently. (Much easier and I know of people that do this)

[mike31154]

77 gallon Hagen running sumpless since January 2007. I used to run a canister as well, but after they developed leaks & with maintenance issues I finally ceased that scenario. While running a canister, I considered it as a mini sump of sorts. I don't get the nitrate factory thing, if the canister doesn't produce nitrates & your stocking hasn't changed, something else such as the live rock has to take up the slack. In any case, if running a canister, it's probably best to leave it empty of any conventional filtration media. A bag of carbon is pretty much all I had in there before finally taking it offline. It certainly developed quite a coating of benthic critters, which are generally considered beneficial for filtering nasties out of your water. Nitrate level of 10 is not that bad, especially in a younger tank. If green hair algae isn't at nuisance levels, I wouldn't be too concerned.

Your water change & filter maintenance routine should keep the system in pretty good shape. What kind of power heads are you running? Adequate flow is one of the best ways to keep things stirred up & prevent build up of crud that leads to issues down the road. Even if you don't have finicky sps coral, I've found strong flow with minimal dead spots is a good thing, provided you're not tearing the flesh off your softies.

[scott_r]

What kind of power heads are you running?

I have 2 hydor's. One is a 1400 gph and the other a 750gph. Is this enough flow?

I also ordered some Seachem Matrix as media in the Fluval 406, supposedly supposed to be good for cans...from what Ive read but I may just loose the canister all together.

Cheers!!

[scott_r]

Before my tank A.D.D. kicked in I was dealing with this same dilemma. One of the biggest things I looked into was hard plumbing a larger external skimmer. The Remora just isn't big enough to pull enough water volume out of my old 50G let alone the 72.

In the mean time, what are you running inside of the fluval canister filter?


Right now I have Fluval Opti-carb and the cermic donut things. Ordered SeaChem Matrix media with my new RO/DI system, should be here next week.

Cheers!!

[jason604]

Y dont u just get a hang on back overflow and make a sump so u dont need to drill. I use the CPR one and they work great. I always turn off my return pump when I feed my fishes and when turnin it back on the siphon will just continue where it left off. Never have to suck it again lol.

[FishAreFriendsNotFood]

Seachem POND matrix would be a better choice, these larger pieces leave more internal areas/volume for anaerobic bacteria growth, collects less detritus as well. It's basically pumice near as I can tell.

[Coral Hoarder]

I run a 72 gallon reef 100 pounds rock large hang on the back fuge a bunch of power headsa thin layer of sand and LEDs

[freddy]

I have a 75 with an aquaclear 110 and a cheap redsea prizm skimmer,tank is loaded with softies and some montipora and digitata,have been running it this way for around 5 yrs no problems,I think it all depends on your bioload,if you want a tank packed with fish then I think you would have to go another route.5 gallon water change every 2 weeks,using reef crystals salt.

[pinkreef]

I have a 72g bowfront no sump, psk100 eshopps hob skimmer, cpr hob refugium (the larger size) with cheato in it. I do a 10 gallon wc weekly

[canadianbudz604]

Yep a hob filter is fine to go sumpless and skimmer less. Even a canister filter is fine as long as you keep it clean.