First Tank with no skimmer? Possible?

[Phtevenw]

So hello!
I wanna get into the hobby for over half a year now, but I know i am gonna move to a new apartment in probably july, there i wanna get a "real" tank, like a redsea Xl425 or so.

For now i am thinking about a small build, I have seen some budget builds, some canister filter builds and even some with only marine pure block on youtube. So my questions is... can I do this with only theoretical Knownledge, I read some books about Saltwater tanks and feel ready, but is this a good Idea? My plan would be to use this tank as an experiment and then, when I have the "real" tank in summer, I wanna use it as a quarantine/frag/whatever tank.

So do you expirienced guys think that this is possible for a newbee?

thanks in advance for the answers, greets

 

[SPR1968]

You can do it without a skimmer, maybe with frequent water changes and especially if your fish only. Corals are much less forgiving

But if may be worth waiting until you get your Red Sea tank and doing it with the full equipment, and in the meantime reading up on everything

You might find this helpful

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

And welcome to R2R as well!

 

[BloopFish]

Depends on the size of the tank. If it's what most people consider as a "nano" tank, a skimmer is useless compared to frequent water changes. There's really no point in a skimmer if you can just easily weekly change out 10-20% of the water of a small tank thats like 20 gallons - which in that case a water change is better. If we were talking about a pico or jar tank... a skimmer is just silly when you can maintain super stable conditions with frequent 100% water changes. It all depends on what coral species you want to keep and what size of tank you want to have. I'd imagine if you wanted to keep acros, it would be difficult to maintain stable enough conditions without a skimmer in a medium to larger sized tank. However, if you were keepings mushrooms, toadstools, zoas, palys, easy sps and lps... I'd say a skimmer isn't a requirement.

 

[TNreeferBX]

i run most tanks without skimmers, keep the stocking light and stay up on the testing and w/c. also don’t forget to match the salinity of the water you mix to your tank water rather than what is considered “in range.” i also agree with the notion that staying fish only for at least 6 months to a year can help a lot as far as preventing discouraging losses when you get started in coral. stability is the key to everything, while protein skimmers do help with that, there are other ways to achieve it

 

[Phtevenw]

You can do it without a skimmer, maybe with frequent water changes and especially if your fish only. Corals are much less forgiving

the thing is I don't want to wait anylonger, I want to start something my goal was to kinda start with some frags and two clowns and maybe a third fish.

Depends on the size of the tank. If it's what most people consider as a "nano" tank, a skimmer is useless compared to frequent water changes. There's really no point in a skimmer if you can just easily weekly change out 10-20% of the water of a small tank thats like 20 gallons - which in that case a water change is better. If we were talking about a pico or jar tank... a skimmer is just silly when you can maintain super stable conditions with frequent 100% water changes. It all depends on what coral species you want to keep and what size of tank you want to have. I'd imagine if you wanted to keep acros, it would be difficult to maintain stable enough conditions without a skimmer in a medium to larger sized tank. However, if you were keepings mushrooms, toadstools, zoas, palys, easy sps and lps... I'd say a skimmer isn't a requirement.

some zoas and an anemone would be the goal. and the fish as mentioned

i run most tanks without skimmers, keep the stocking light and stay up on the testing and w/c. also don’t forget to match the salinity of the water you mix to your tank water rather than what is considered “in range.” i also agree with the notion that staying fish only for at least 6 months to a year can help a lot as far as preventing discouraging losses when you get started in coral. stability is the key to everything, while protein skimmers do help with that, there are other ways to achieve it

I know that patience is key in this hobby but 6 months to a year sounds pretty discouraging to this hobby haha

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! I think I will give this a shot

 

[TNreeferBX]

six months to a year seems like a long time but if you want to be able to point to a little coral in a your huge future tank and be able to say “that’s one of the first corals i’ve ever bought, and it’s still going strong” that can come with a great sense of accomplishment

 

[User1]

So hello!
I wanna get into the hobby for over half a year now, but I know i am gonna move to a new apartment in probably july, there i wanna get a "real" tank, like a redsea Xl425 or so.

For now i am thinking about a small build, I have seen some budget builds, some canister filter builds and even some with only marine pure block on youtube. So my questions is... can I do this with only theoretical Knownledge, I read some books about Saltwater tanks and feel ready, but is this a good Idea? My plan would be to use this tank as an experiment and then, when I have the "real" tank in summer, I wanna use it as a quarantine/frag/whatever tank.

So do you expirienced guys think that this is possible for a newbee?

thanks in advance for the answers, greets

Please include a simple "yes" answer in the poll. It is very possibly to run any sized tank without a skimmer. It just needs proper planning across the board. That means environment support (pumps, power heads, wave makers, plumbing, and other things), corals, and of course fish. Plenty of tanks out there in home aquaria that do not run skimmers.

 

[Quietman]

Normally I'd go into the whole - skimmer buys insurance and time to react but yes you can run a tank without one (guess I just did ) But with your attitude on temporary and moving to QT and wanting to learn - I think its a great learning experience.

Only thing I caution is that you're going to be responsible for health of livestock and they didn't sign up for the experiment. With no skimmer, make sure you start slow - ever so slow - as in one fish for weeks, let tanks stabilize, then add another and so on. Test often. Also have plenty of saltwater (tank volume min) on hand for water changes.

Good luck!

 

[ahiggins]

I also run all of my tanks skimmerless. I don’t feed a ton and I understock. I’ve worked at zoos and aquariums that have had skimmerless systems as well as huge tanks that have hundreds of gallons with a ~80gal skimmer lol so I get the need.
it all depends on your nutrient load. If you can manage with water changes and keeping up on solid removal, you don’t need it. Actually skimmers can be detrimental to low nutrient systems in most cases. They remove too much from the system.
don’t even mention canisters lol they’re awful. If you don’t change media every few days, it’s just awful and accumulated so much junk in them that it works against filtering. Plus they’re a pain to service and open. Messy.

 

[bjc451]

Just think of all the posts we wouldn’t get about skimmer overflowing and not making bubbles. It’s a love hate relationships with skimmers

 

[Spaceshrimp]

I run 29 gallon bio cube without a skimmer and i keep Lps and an anenome I would recommend a good clean up crew

 

[TNreeferBX]

there are many things i do in my simpler tanks to let them stay stable, here are most of them.

big of a tank as i can fit in that spot
small individual fish as well as small quantity
i use a large portion of biological media, a physical filter as well as a chemipure and purigen combo for nutrient export.
i also keep the flow in the tank high 40x volume +
i use a lot of sand as well as a lot of love rock
i add my cleanup crew slowly and methodically based on what i need them for in the tank
i keep generally soft corals and some lips
i also invest in good lights to make up for my cheapness for my corals so they look as good as possible
i also use only rodi mixed or purchased saltwater for those tanks as well



with all that being said you don’t have to follow that model, just figured i can give you a list of things that i do to help me when i want to set up a tank and not necessarily break the bank on it. i’ve kept a lot of different saltwater livestock but as a college student i definitely understand where you’re coming from as far as putting a lot i to a most likely temporary tank. just make sure you don’t take it likely when you hear test your water and take your time. the one thing that’s for sure is you can easily waste more money on livestock than equipment if you rush. you can learn about a lot more different things faster than your tank can handle them

 

[Salt & Peper]

Imo skimmers remove just as many good elements as it takes out. I run my tanks with no skimmers or external filters. Love rock/sand and water changes plus all my live stock has a job to do. There are many ways to be successful in this hobby. research the one that works with your schedule and run with it.

 

[Phtevenw]

Please include a simple "yes" answer in the poll. It is very possibly to run any sized tank without a skimmer. It just needs proper planning across the board. That means environment support (pumps, power heads, wave makers, plumbing, and other things), corals, and of course fish. Plenty of tanks out there in home aquaria that do not run skimmers.

I somewho cant edit it.. sadly..

I run 29 gallon bio cube without a skimmer and i keep Lps and an anenome I would recommend a good clean up crew

What filters do you use?

Normally I'd go into the whole - skimmer buys insurance and time to react but yes you can run a tank without one (guess I just did ) But with your attitude on temporary and moving to QT and wanting to learn - I think its a great learning experience.

Only thing I caution is that you're going to be responsible for health of livestock and they didn't sign up for the experiment. With no skimmer, make sure you start slow - ever so slow - as in one fish for weeks, let tanks stabilize, then add another and so on. Test often. Also have plenty of saltwater (tank volume min) on hand for water changes.

Good luck!

I guess i can add two clowns at once?



What do you guys recommend? How do i start cycling there?Just like a normal tank?

And what filtration now? Canister? none? what else is there?

 

[Spaceshrimp]

I somewho cant edit it.. sadly..




What filters do you use?




I guess i can add two clowns at once?



What do you guys recommend? How do i start cycling there?Just like a normal tank?

And what filtration now? Canister? none? what else is there?

Right know i just run chemi pure blue and purigen

 

[Quietman]

Summary build - research each:

Cycle like normal - tons of articles and advice. Shrimp is good, ammonia is good...bacteria addtions are optional but do take a few days off the cycle time.

Do not need to any filtration until after cycle. Don't need to do any WC either until after cycle before fish. Don't forget to feed bacteria if delaying adding fish. Add CUC in small adds to match fish.

Weekly (or more often) water changes should be considered your primary nutrient removal and add other (HOB, canister) to supplement or extend time between or reduce volume WC needed. If you have canister lying around - sure. They work - clean it weekly without fail. If not, there's HOB filters (buy biggest that fits on back, not the manufacture recommended).

Load them with recommended amounts of the media and brands you select (GAC, phosphate removal, chemi-pure may be an excellent choice without skimmer - haven't used myself but I will try if ever go your route).

Don't need any extra power head in tank unless corals require but it's always good for O2 exchange.

Recommend you start with 1 fire fish or other goby. Clowns will eat more and can be more aggressive plus not all clowns are the same - some get quite large. But if you must research carefully before buying.

Good luck!

 

[W1ngz]

I say go for it, without the skimmer. Especially if the goal is to have this become the quarantine tank for a larger tank. Here's why:

Smaller nano skimmers are mostly ineffective. They do help, but being in tune with the water and disciplined water changes is more efficient, and to your advantage as you learn.

As a new reefer, learning the basics of managing your water first is important and a smaller tank will be less complex so you can focus on those basics without the complexity of an entire system. Focus on managing your water, and your reef will follow.

You get to scratch the itch now, and still take your time researching the more expensive equipment (and bigger budget) you'll need for a full system in a little while.

Starting small, and taking the longer view will teach patience, something that even experienced reefers have trouble with. Anyone who tells you they don't sometimes change too many things at once, or isn't tempted by impulse purchases of gear or livestock is flat out lying.

 

[bjc451]

Then comes the other point. How many of you wish you bought your current equipment the first time.

 

[EmilyXLC]

I have ran a skimmer 95% of my time as a hobbyist-- I feel like the peace of mind is worth the cost... not to mention, I would prefer not to do water changes any more often than I absolutely have to.

 

[Topreefer92]

I really look at a protein skimmer injecting oxygen into the water. Sure it does pull some skimmate but it does not pull out a large number of organics from the water. Some individuals that run filter rolls have seen that the skimmer does not pull as much and sometimes anything if those are running. I have seen larger systems that use big fuges and they run a skimmer as a secondary for the mentioned above. I'd say you can totally do it you just need to plan your system and stocking around it. Therr are plenty of tank failures that people have had even with a protein skimmer. If it were me I would build the system around running skimmerless but as others have mentioned have a skimmer run part of the day at first for that nutrient export back up. Hope that helps.