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| My 58 gallon reef turns 10 years old this month. Well the tank has been set up for 10 years but most of the coral has been in there for 7-8 yrs at most. I started slow. At any rate, the tank is heavily stocked with coral, -no acros-, 7 small fish and some other inverts. I feed fairly heavily and have no algae to speak of, thanks in part to the wonderful urchin I added a few months ago after conversing with Eric in an earlier thread. I need to trade him in soon for a smaller one -- it seems he is growing rapidly. I have even transferred him back and forth between the 58 and the 10 gallon nano for algae duty. It has been one of the most useful and interesting additions to the tank. My skimmer (a downdraft style ETSS reef devil) has been acting up from time to time (overskimming a watery mix to overflowing) so I have been running without it for several days at a time. I guess I was/am trying to "wean" the tank to getting used to running with no skimmer, I have turned it back on a couple of times, but wonder if that is a good idea since the skimmer has been sitting with what must be stagnant water in it for days at a time. Should I just leave it off - go cold turkey and keep an eye on things? I do have an small airstone in the sump -- the pump is outside -- for oxygen and ph regulation. As always, thanks for your thoughts.
--Randy
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Do you have a refugium and/or is your sump lit and if so what is in the sump?
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Eric Borneman
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| I do not have a fuge, their is a a ball a chaeto algae in my overflow box. The sump has approx. 8 gallons in it and contains the currently dormant skimmer and a bag of carbon in a high flow area. I sometimes also have a bag of phosphate remover in there, but currently their is no algae to speak of so I am not using it. The sump is not lit. I add only calcium, alk, and magnesium. I change 15-18 gallons of water every 3 weeks, and have done so since the tank was set up. I use a variety of frozen foods, and once a week or so supplement it with a mix of golden pearls, oyster eggs, and a few other fine foods. I also add a small amount of spirulina flakes. Attached is a photo from last year so you can see the stocking level and types of coral. The large pocillipora at the top middle has been traded back to the LFS as it outgrew the tank. Also, the sun corals have spawned and there are 2 babies (that I can see) that are about a year old. One of them is attached to the skeleton of the red lobophyllia at the bottom right. 
--Randy
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Nice tank! So, you look like there is enough coral and diversity to do without the skimmer. Now, make sure the surface is moving to avoid surface films and the big potential problem is going to be oxygen levels towards the early morning before lights on. I would personally measure it to see where you are at, but the best thing to to is either keep that Chaetomorpha lit at night or get some in the sump and light it - or other algae. I think you'll be fine - you may see some initial spikes in nutrients, some more diatoms, some more cyano as when you start a tank while the system adjusts itself to the extra particulates and other material removed by the skimmer but it will disappear on its own. You might not see it all, but just be aware that can happen and don't panic. I would continue using carbon, too. Keep us posted. I'm sure you will soon join the crowd and be really happy.
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Eric Borneman
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| Thanks for the compliment on the tank, as you know you get quite attached to them, especially after so many years. I will remove the skimmer - I have been wanting to for a while. There is a lot of flow and surface movement in the tank so I don't think there will be a surface film problem, but I will keep an eye on it. Do you think that the airstone in the sump helps at all with the oxygen levels? I did run a light for a short time in the sump but it caused some film algae to grow in the clear plastic tubing from the overflow and the return and I was concerned that it would impede the flow. Is that a legitimate concern? I guess if it is a real problem I could wrap the tubing in electrical tape to block the light, but I do like to be able to vusually check for blockage. Your thoughts on this are appreciated. I would very much like to put a fuge and/or a turf scrubber in the sump where the skimmer was, I have been reading some of the threads including santamonica's info. I really like the idea of natural filtration/food production for the tank. If we can figure out the light/tubing issue (if there is one) I will incorporate that in the next few days. I will probably have some questions on the fuge setup as well. Thanks again for your time.
--Randy
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Beautiful tank Randy!! Could we get a picture of your sump that you have right now so as to get a better idea of how an ATS or cheto can fit into it? 
-Brady
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| This is a quickly photoshopped diagram/photo of my sump and current water level. My plan would be to incorporate the fuge/ats on the left side.  I was considering inserting a tee into the incoming tubing into the sump. This tee would would have a smaller (1/2") diameter piece of tubing to feed the ATS mesh. Would that work as shown or do I need some kind of valve to regulate the flow thru the smaller tubing? 
Also, should I raise the water level in the sump like the image below? I would still leave a safety/overflow margin for flooding during power outages, etc. Due to the baffle design, I think I will need to use a container (plastic bucket or a tray of some kind) if I add a dsb in there. 
--Randy
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 One option i was thinking of would be that you directly plumb the ATS into your return tubing, that way the ATS will flow straight into the sump where the cheto and DSB would be, i think this would give you the most space in your sump.
-Brady
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The flow thru that pipe is quite strong right now. My worry is that with that setup, there will be quite a lot of flow/splashing/noise across the screen. Does an ats need that much flow? Also by doing that I think the flow in the sump will be decreased and the carbon bag less effective. I did manage to install a reverse photoperiod light and chaeto ball in the chamber on the left, so at least that is running. I am considering adding a floating screen as some others have done and seeing how that will work. The other option is setting it up with its own maxijet, although it seems wasteful with all that water flowing thru that pipe...
--Randy
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Ok, ATS is up and running. I ended up feeding it with a maxijet and not messing with the sump feed line. We'll see how it goes. I would assume I should continue with my normal water change routine (15-18 gal every 3 weeks) at least until the system gets used to this new filtration method.
--Randy
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