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michaeltwana
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Posted 9/24/2007 11:04:37 AM
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Well I have crossed over the two year mark for my 40 gallon breeder...It has been skimmerless for almost the whole two years, no water changes for almost one year and things look good and the parameters are right on, though the alk hovers at 2.5.
I attended a local meeting of reefer dudes, and a lot of the stuff that I said was looked at being stupid and/or crazy. Like my belief that I don't need a skimmer, need to do water changes, and add a ton of unnecessary chemicals into my water. My methods to them, in my assessment, where stupid and silly. Like when I claimed "I don't need to add iodine to water to keep Xenia alive and healthy", I was almost run out of town--not really. But I get this a lot from people who set their tanks up with every reactor known to man, when I believe that all you need is good flow, a lot of light, and a accurate water parameters--and maybe a little luck and patience, and things will be okay.
Anyway, maybe it's me, maybe I need some of this stuff...I dunno
I guess the only thing that I see as a new issue is the beginnings of bubble algae, just a few. I am not sure as to why they have appeared really....is there an underlying issue that creates bubble algae??
My tank specs are the following:
40 breeder with a twenty sump, 80 lbs of rock total between the two, a two inch sandbed on the 40 breeder, a three inch in the refuge/sump with chaeto, 150 halides and t5 lights on top, and flow of about 1500 gph. Coral growth is great for softies to average on the SPS. The tank is a mix of LPS, SPS, and softies. I add roughly 20ml of each B Ionic twice a week..I think its ML..too lazy to go check. Two percs, two gobies for fish....
Will try to post pics when I figure out how...
Guess I am looking for someone to tell me I am not crazy...
thanks as usual
michael
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Umm_fish
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Posted 9/24/2007 12:46:27 PM
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the beginnings of bubble algae, just a few
Holy smokes, stop everything and get them out of there, fast! Don't let them take hold or you'll be sorry.
Congratulations on your tank! I think skimmers are good to have around in case something gets out of hand (like a big coral spawn). But, if you're willing to do lots of water changes if you need to and take everything really slowly otherwise, there's no day-to-day need. Heck, the nano guys certainly show that. (I have a 12 gal. nano that's been running over a year with no skimmer.)
Good luck!
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Andy
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porthios
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Posted 9/24/2007 3:22:27 PM
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would love to see some pics..
-jason
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Alentino
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Posted 9/25/2007 3:09:24 AM
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Congrats Michael, 2 year old, yaayyyy!!!!!!!Yeah you bet conventional reefers will curse and condemn your skimmerless tank. I get alot of that too.  Reef on.
_________________________________________________________________Learn the way, forget the way, free the master within
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Eric Borneman
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Posted 9/25/2007 7:32:57 AM
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Ditto the below. Anyone who still thinks Xenia need iodine are so stuck in the old myths of the hobby you should just intentionally supress a chuckle and walk away. They probably still think there are WMD's, too. Congratulations and keep doing the same. Never compromise water quality for a methodology but clearly from your personal experience and those of us posting here, we know for a fact that things do just fine doing them just as you are doing. Its been done since the mid to late 1980's with Jaubert and by hobbyists since the early 90's, including myself on the majority of tanks I have kept. Ask them for their personal experience with keeping tanks the way you are. Its easy to offer opinions when one has never done it any other way. When you have experience with multiple "ways," you can more easily comment with credibility on the advantages and disadvatages, merits and risks, etc. of each.
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Eric Borneman
The people who are trying to make this world worse are not taking the day off. How can I?
Light up the darkness.
- Bob Marley
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BrianPlankis
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Posted 9/25/2007 12:49:48 PM
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I have been running my current system mostly without a skimmer for almost a year and except for the outbreak of cyano I had in the spring I've had no problems. In fact, I've noticed a LOT more pods in all areas of the tank, including a very nice population of copepods with egg masses on my front glass all the time. I have also noticed an increase in stomatella varia and Trochus babies.
Just one question though, you mention no water changes for almost a year. How do you maintain your Alk, Ca and Mg? If I do not add Randy's two-part (shouldn't it really be called three part? :w00t recipe, all three values drop rather quickly with my decent sized population of stony corals and snails.
Brian
7 years FW, 5 years SW
Education is the solution to pollution, not dilution.
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michaeltwana
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Posted 9/25/2007 1:13:54 PM
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I use the two part b-ionic--my calcium is a little high end towards 500 and my alk is at 2.5 by using these additives, but thats all I use...
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT CAUSES BUBBLE ALGAE????
Sorry off subject, but not really..
thanks as usual
michael
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Umm_fish
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Posted 9/25/2007 5:47:54 PM
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Umm ... bubble algae causes bubble algae. I'm not sure I understand your question. It's a plant. It has spores inside that it releases when it is popped, so try to remove it without breaking it. I've never had any luck with the animals that are supposed to eat it, so it's always been manual removal for me.
My next tank, I'm going to quarantine so well....
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Andy
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Graveyardworm
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Posted 9/25/2007 6:26:32 PM
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Bubble algae, other macro algae, and micro algae usually enter your aquarium on LR, rubble with corals attached, and in water itself. In some cases they may be just dormant spores waiting for conditions to be right. Even QT may not be enough to avoid them. I've had macros suddenly appear out of rock which has been in my display many months. Bubble algae is tough contender and can survive well even in a low nutrient environment. The best way I've found to reduce it is with manual removal and competition for nutrients. The levels of dissolved organics in your water are likely whats fueling it, but once it gets a good foothold it can become very difficult to erradicate. As it forms clusters the clusters can trap detritus and help fuel the algae further.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________- David -
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Eric Borneman
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Posted 9/26/2007 7:38:44 AM
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The bubbles are not constantly reproductive, so popping them doesn''t necessarily release gametes into the water. There are lots of types of bubble algae, some more rapidly reproducing (asexually) than others, and nutrients may play a role in some species in that they no longer limit growth. But, as mentioned, many grow with very low nutrients and many don't really spread much. Limiting nutrients won't hurt in combatting nuisance species in the tank, but I doubt limiting nutrients will eradicate it either. I think the right grazer (like the emerald crab, removed once it eats all the algae) or manual removal is the best way. If I see patches, I'll just pull the rock out of the tank and remove it over the sink. Doesn't matter if corals are attached as they tolerate exposure. But, if the rock has a lot of sponge on it, I'd do it in the tank.
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Eric Borneman
The people who are trying to make this world worse are not taking the day off. How can I?
Light up the darkness.
- Bob Marley
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