6 months no water change, no skimmer, no testing and everything looks great
 

Have an RSM130 that I set up with the intention of being low maintenance as my interest in the hobby comes and goes after 12 years.

The tank was set up with no skimmer.

The bio load is pretty light.

A flasher wrasse and an indigo dottyback along with CUC (5-10 snails and 5-10 various hermits and a sea hare) make up the bulk of it's inhabitants.

It is also populated with 5 or 6 Zoa varieties, a few Euphyllia, a plate coral and a few other lps and softies.

Well, the last time I did a water change (or anything more than dump some food in) was June, 2015.

The algae on the glass was so bad, you could not see into the tank to see what was going on.

This past weekend, I decided to get back into it and made up a 5 gallon wc.

I had set this tank up, with a dsb and a clean up crew purposefully so that aside from feeding a couple times a week, it wouldn't need anything to survive but even i was totally surprised by how great everything looked.

Zoas had grown, LPS had grown, all fish and coral were alive and accounted for.

Even though it was what I was going for, I was still stoked to see how well it turned out.

Just goes to show, this hobby can be whatever you want it to be.

I don't regret the hours spent trying to maintain a pristine sps tank but I don't get any less satisfaction out of the low maintenance set ups either.

I can confirm guests who are not in the hobby themselves are no less impressed with one than the other.

Just for fun, I did a couple tests and found trace ammonia and 0 nitrates.

respect your bio filter.

So the moral of the story is if you don't maintain your tank it will be so algae filled that you can't see whats in it but the stuff in it will still be alive?

We're talking algae on the glass.

I assume the CUC and Sea Hare took care of anything on the rockwork because it looked great.

To clarify, the tank was not filled with Algae at all, I'm not even sure where you got that from...maybe you just skimmed the posting?

Chaeto in the back compartment and some red dragons breath in the bottom right corner....that's it for any algae growth.

I'm not sure any tank could avoid algae growth on the glass, however it did provide a natural food source and inhibit growth on the rockwork in addition to creating an ideal environment for pods.

The moral of the story, if you're looking for one, is that you can have very low maintenance reef tanks that give you great results if properly planned for.

You don't need to spend a ton of money on equipment, nor do you need to check in on it every day, manically.



I'll post some pics here shortly to show you exactly how it looks after cleaning just the glass.

Things didn't just survive, they thrived.

as another example, I had an RBTA in there, now I have 4 after it split numerous times.

May of went ok but 6 months no maintenance and minimal feeding come on why even have a tank. If If don't feed my animals dog-fish everyday I feel like a jerk and is also a form of animal abuse, bad a enough we lock them in small aqauriums and this is why I no longer buy fish. Good luck with your dungeon tank.

I'm sure if we could interview the two fish in there, they would tell you they have lived a pretty happy, peaceful life.

Much less stress in an environment where they can't constantly see humans walking by or light's shining into the tank at random times, no hands in there, no big changes or fluctuations in water chemistry.

Fish would also be just as happy with the rich, natural diet of pods and algae than they would be with something you are putting in there.

Again, the idea is that things didn't just get by, they did well....as well as in tanks that I would spend an hour a day or more on.

The fish are fat and healthy, the corals have all grown, both zoas and LPS and the RBTA has split several times.

No animal abuse here. :lol:

My two dogs and two cats agree.

Thank you for your concise analysis.

I wholly expected a certain kind of a reaction, especially from a certain kind of board member :mrgreen:

I agree, its somewhat counter intuitive to how this hobby is often portrayed and I would have never had the confidence to do a set up like this when I first started in the hobby in 2003.

All the more reason I want to share the experience with other reefers.

I'm pretty happy with how this tank has gone.

It's been exactly what the years I have spent learning about this hobby and all the methodology that it entails has led me to expect.

Even so, I was still pleasantly surprised when it seems to have worked so well in practice.

The combination of the DSB, a large amount of well established LR, the proper flow and selectively chosen inhabitants has been a success for my intentions.

I had thought that for sure, after 6 months, there would be a higher ammonia and/or nitrate reading but several tests before i did my first wc proved that wrong.

The water even still smelled fresh and looked clear.

I have 2 similar tanks on the FW side of things. they are run with tetra whisper filters with Seachem's Matrix live rock in for "filter medium". the only chemicals I use is Prime when I do water top off. They are planted with a good base of Volcanic aquatic soil & well planted. Plants thrive being fed from the fish waste, the oldest kid probably over feeds them but hey they're happy. I find if I have algae growth on the tank it means something is out of balance. I removed a bunch of snails out of my big tank into the smaller & they hatched out baby's. I'm slowly picking the baby's out of the smaller tank & putting them into the big tank. Algae problem being solved. When I have it back under control & the snail baby's are a good size off to the LFS they'll go for some store credit!
In the Salt water tank lastnight I was estatic to discover some Chaeto growing on the back wall! I put my seaweed sheet "clip" which the lawnmower blenny seems to recognize immediately b/c he follows it the minute I slid it into the tank to the middle of the patch empty & he knew what to do

It really is all about finding a balance.

Once you have that balance, things get a whole lot easier if you don't mess with it.

I haven't kept FW in a long time but the tanks I see now rival reefs for color and beauty.4

King Ed's has a couple on display that definitely get a guy thinking.

I have picts of my 2 FW tanks in my profile albums, if you want to see them. I'm seriously thinking in my 30 of getting rid of the purple Cabomba it is hard to keep bushy & stay colored up if I forget every day to put in the fertilizers. If I do I'll put a background back on this tank to hid the wall & cords. but my 10gal betta tank I love being able to look thru it & see it from both the dining room & kitchen.

Looks nicer than any FW tank I ever had.