filterless system

[tgoeujon]

at the moment im running a fluval 305 on my 55 gallon and was wondering if anyone runs filterless as i would like to get rid of the fluval (noise) ive got about 100 lbs of live rock and an excessive cleanup crew. if anyone does this some points and what not to dos would be helpful.

thanks Trevor

[Bugsy]

I have never done this but my neighbour has a 125 that he runs filterless and has nothing but crash after crash. Don't know what in the world he is doing wrong. He has wiped out some major $$$$$ in corals and fish each time but will not put a filter on it......:confused:

See what others think.

:biggrin:

[Drock169]

most reef tanks dont run canister filters

[xtreme]

are you running a skimmer?

[banditpowdercoat]

Just run a sump, with some slower flow. and Powerheads in tank. That will keep your noise down. I only run filters on my FW tanks. SW just has Phosban reactor, skimmer and the LR

[lorenz0]

IMO nothing over a 20gal can run a filterless system. I put in alot of time cleaning and doing changes on mine. a 55gal is to big and is impossible with to many fish. O have 2 myself and I think that is to many and plan on putting a good HOB skimmer on the tank to help me out a bit

[Carrera75]

My tank 50 gallon reef tank has been skimerless for 2 years and all my fish, corals and invertebrates have been thriving so far. I must say that my tank has no SPS and perhaps that's why I can get away with running a skimerless tank. So far my corals have been growing pretty well. In fact I sell frags often so to say that a reef tank cannot be skimerless is not entirely true.

Here is a link to another beautiful skimerless tank...check it out!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=893433

[tgoeujon]

i am running a skimmer. but no sump.

[Canuckgod420]

My wifes tank is skimmerless and its a 34 gallon cube with softies, lps, and an orange plating montipora...everything looks great, including the 6 fish and countless snails(they breed so much I have to move the small ones to my tank). It does have a sump in which we run a phosban reactor with 1/2 a cup of carbon, and a filter sock on the return to eliminate microbubbles from returning to the tank. The only flow we have is the return pump, which causes a lot of turbulence in the cube.

[marie]

i am running a skimmer. but no sump.

I've never run a filter on any of my reeftanks, a skimmer and live rock is all you need

[hummer]

I use to have a 77G that ran 2 Fluval Filters and a hang on protein skimmer. Later on I stopped using the Fluvals and bought a Phosban Reactor. The system ran fine. After I upgraded to 90G, I continued the same setup but bought a Euro-Reef RS100 protein skimmer.

[tgoeujon]

so if im understanding right as long as i run the skimmer and the power heads and my live rock is adequate (100 +lbs in a 55) it should be ok? dumb question but ive never looked into a phosban reactor. what do they do and are they very costly?

[banditpowdercoat]

Phosban reactors are cheap, about $40 @ OA or JL. Use RowaPhos or PhosBan media in it. Low flow through it, 20GPH or so, it absorbs the Phosphates outa the water. I run 50/50 RowaPhos/matrix carbon and it cleared my weater up immensly. Looks crystal clear now.

With a HOB skimmer, like a Aqua C Remora Pro and a Phosban reactor you should be good. Your about the same water volume as me, but have 60Lbs more rock LOL

[hummer]

Everyone has their own type of setup but a good skimmer, live rock, power head and phosban reactor is all I have in my system. I guess a phosban reactor does whatever you put in it. I put Carbon media in mine to remove toxins and it clears up the water. I bought mine for about $50. You would also need a pump (Max Jet 400 maybe?) to push water into your phosban reactor and back out to your tank. If you have a sump, you can tie it into the existing pump.

[tgoeujon]

thanks for the ideas so far guys anymore will be appreciated as well but i think i have an idea to work with. bandit at some point im gonna have to check out your system.

[sunce_22]

I run two 20 Gallon Nano tanks and a 10G Nano tank without any filters, skimmers, phosphate reactors, sumps or anything. Simply LR and powerheads.
In my 10G: I have 12 pounds of live sand and 14 pounds of LR and one powerhead. The bioload is very small: 1 small damsel, 1 mantis shrimp and a small clean-up crew.
My 20G: Both have approximately 15 pounds of live rock in them. One tank has 1 pair of Naked Clownfish and a Cleaner shrimp and a clean up crew
The other 20G has a pair of clownfish, a sea urchin, a mantis shrimp (inside a critter keeper) and a clean up crew.

I have never had a problem. I only do water changes about 20 percent once a month or so too. Everything is just healthy and happy.

Im no expert though, all I know is that is what works for me. My fish are thriving, corals are growing and there isn't any algae so I have no complaints.

[banditpowdercoat]

thanks for the ideas so far guys anymore will be appreciated as well but i think i have an idea to work with. bandit at some point im gonna have to check out your system.

Dude, your more than welcome to come over, sands filthy right now, but. Little bit of a drive for ya, but I'd like to see yours as well. I also want to check out your mustang a little more closely :D I'm a car nut too

[kwirky]

I'm running my 45g without any mechanical or "biomedia" filtration but I have a sump with a zeovit reactor in it. Bare bottom too.

If you go filterless make sure you get a turkey baster and frequently (almost daily) blow off your rock. That'll let you siphon the detritus out once a week from the tank bottom. Running bare bottom when running filterless too helps if you don't mind the bare bottom look.