How to Build a Sump-less Reef tank?

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Tunze Comline setup is the clean and effective solution. My only minor gripe is they are a little tricky to disassemble / reassemble for deep cleaning.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Just find a system that has a sump. I can’t see every not having one In this hobby . Big Skimmer , and a refugium is big

 

[Roatan Reef]

Regardless of what people tell you on this site, a good Cannister Filter will be just fine....I legitimately clean mine every 3 months and if is never terribly dirty.. i run Chemi Pure, Carbon, Phosguard and bio media in it.

Do weekly water changes, and tank is doing great.....40B, 1 year old.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Just find a system that has a sump. I can’t see every not having one In this hobby . Big Skimmer , and a refugium is big

Meh... It cab be done without a sump and many of us did it without one until probably the last 10-15 years or so. I ran a wet/dry filter from 2008 til I broke down my fowlr 150g in 2014. I knew what a sump was about, back then but frankly didn't NEED it...

I'm not a fuge guy either, everyone swears by them, but I can't get cheato to grow to save my life and that's after 25 years in the hobby.

 

[Paul B]

My 125 has been sumpless for 52 years and so far no problems. I run a reverse undergravel filter with dolomite gravel. Most of the rock I collected myself but over the years I replaced much of it with DIY rock just because I like it better.

The only hardware in my tank is a couple of powerheads and a few heaters which are behind rocks.

The RUGF is run with another powerhead behind rocks so it is not seen. There are no real "filters" but there is a DIY algae scrubber over the tank and a 5' Skimmer in back of the tank. The one powerhead feeds the RUGF and the algae scrubber.

 

[reef_1]

Say you are starting a new tank that's at least 75g. Not drilled. No room for a sump. What's your strategy to setup filtration for a stand-alone system you want running for 10+ years? As a display tank, what's the "minimum" so you don't have a ton of hardware cluttering your view, but still have a stable, vibrant ecosystem? In-tank skimmer? In-tank refugium? Bio-Pellet Reactor? Carbon? GFO? Mechanical filtration? What if there's no room for HOB?

What kind of system do you setup?

I have some nanos which I downgraded to 6 months ago, I wanted to have low maintenance cheap tanks, so reef tank doesnt take over my life. I have in each:

- an oversized return pump, with a short ~10cm hose on the inlet and there is a prefilter sponge from amazon which just fits the hose tightly, the whole unit is very compact this way, have sponges with different density, thats the mechanical filtration and circulation.

- a heater with an inbuilt LED temperature display (Aquael), so can check that one just by looking.

- an airstone sucking air from outside so ph is stable.

- lights ofc.

- a LID so no ATO needed, I can go a month without topup with no dramatic changes in salinity.

Thats all the tech.


Other stuff to simplify maintenance:

- don't have live rock, but PVC structure for corals I want to elevate, which are cheap, easy and algae dont like it, harder to hide for bristleworms, can easily drill holes for coral plugs etc.

- large grain sand, so no blowing around happens.

- only have small snails who can right themselves and in case of dying tank can process small amount of ammonia, so have 1 cerith snail/litre and some nassarius.

- hardware is in the back left corner, now that tank is stable and have experience will add some more pvc structure in front of that corner, but I cant be bothered too much, its extra swimming space for the tank for the fish, they like going around there and pick stuff from the sponge for example.

- have some seachem pond matrix scattered around in the sand, they look ok to me.

- any media/carbon/GFO goes in separately as needed. Purely based on visual observation carbon in a bag seems to clear up yellowish water in a couple of days and handled fish sensitivity to dinos. GFO in bag decreased phosphates, though I am not using it anymore. So media in a bag seems to work for me.

- used UV for a while for dinos, they are now gone for months without running it, cyano also gone, guess cuz soft corals are spereading and have a lot of snails maybe.

- have stable close to 0 nitrates and <0.25 phosphates even though massive feeding, guess now that soft corals spreading around they suck it up and maybe pond matrix works well.

I absolutely love the simplicity of this tank, will add sps and other stuff at some point as well, but dont feel the urge to hurry tbh.

 

[FrugalReefer]

My first reef tank started in 2016 was a PetSmart Top Fin 120 gallon. Everything was HOB, Reef Octopus skimmer, AquaMaxx reactor running carbon/GFO, Aquaclear filter which I converted to a chaeto refugium. Other than a huge aptasia infestation, an out of control Xenia explosion, and my little knowledge of keeping up with alkalinity consumption/demand, I thought the tank was somewhat of a success. Had to break it down in 2018 after a divorce. I wonder to this day what would’ve become of it if it was still up and running.

 

[Spicy Reef]

I have 150g no sump no hob no canister no fuge nothing outside the tank. 2 years now.
gyre for complete water flow and sponge filter (for peace of mind) + heaters hidden behind rock. honestly think it would work w/o the sponge filter but it's already built into the rockwork I clean sponge maybe once every 10 months not sure why...

I have had a very small air stone skimmer also hidden behind rocks for 1.5 years but I really don't like cleaning it out, so I removed it and have taken to running a power head in a 20-50 micron water filter once a week for water polishing.

nems
sps
lps
14 medium 3" size fish + one big sailfin 6"

Strategy is add livestock slowly, monitor ammonia when adding and have lots of water on standby when adding livestock for water changes just in case there's a spike.

I've "documented" all of this with very lame and corny vids...

 

[LegoReefBum]

 

[LegoReefBum]

Pics of My tank, it’s 2 years old first time doing a saltwater tank and I went sumpless. I use a Fluval 407 canister, and a Tunze in tank skimmer. I painted the back black as to hide the equipment and made a custom lid with the back portion in black plex to shadow even more the back section to hide the equipment and help with algee and coriline growing on the pumps

 

[UK softy bloke]

Say you are starting a new tank that's at least 75g. Not drilled. No room for a sump. What's your strategy to setup filtration for a stand-alone system you want running for 10+ years? As a display tank, what's the "minimum" so you don't have a ton of hardware cluttering your view, but still have a stable, vibrant ecosystem? In-tank skimmer? In-tank refugium? Bio-Pellet Reactor? Carbon? GFO? Mechanical filtration? What if there's no room for HOB?

What kind of system do you setup?

18 years and counting, 40 UK gallon. Tunze 9012 skimmer, Tunze 6045 wave maker and fluval 306 external, 5 gal weekly water changes plus daily nopox dose.

 

[FishyDP]

If your display is 75 gallons, after sand/rock you will probably be left with 55-60ish gallons of actual water volume. You could honestly bypass alot of equipment needs by doing weekly 5-7 gallon water changes. If your goal is to not have alot of equipment clutter without a sump, it may be an uphill battle, unless you go with an all-in-one system. An internal skimmer and simple internal media reactor with filter floss will go along way to polish your water and run whatever media is necessary. Water changes will get you by as far as trace elements, calcium/alk/mag for awhile, but may not be enough when your corals grow larger, if you intend on keeping sps/lps. You could then think about manual dosing or a simple doser which does not take up alot of real estate.

All depends, if you are a gear head you will want a sump or an all on one eventually. If you like to keep things simple, you really don't need a ton of equipment. Doing water changes is not the favorite activity of most reefers, including myself, but they are really effective. This is why I will never go without a sump, so I can have all of the equipment necessary not to do (many) water changes.

I am not crazy about the idea of using a cannister filter on a reef. It seems that it is just as much work to clean out a cannister as it would be to do a water change, which is more beneficial overall imo.

 

[Reef Republica]

@angelsandtangs You need to check out the Reverse Undergravel Filter set up..