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Newbie thinking about starting a tank

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Jonathan Chia

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Hi everyone,

I'm looking to get into the hobby with maybe a 50-60 gallon tank.

I've done tons of research on potential things I need and I think i've narrowed down my list.

One of the things I am trying to minimize doing is water changes...Hoping to accomplish this through a lower bio load in conjunction with the right equipment.

Is there an optimal sump configuration that would minimize water changes? I've heard of the Triton method but it seems the actual supplements are sold out everywhere.

Thanks!
Jonathan
 
The Triton method recommends a fuge 10% of the tank volume, but that method is not cheap, you should be able to find the supplements online though, any sort of shortage now might not be the case when you finally get up and running.

Lower bioload is a great start though, less fish means less food, less food means less waste, however it really has to be something you adhere to all too often I see people maximizing (and then some) the fish in a tank. Now don't get me wrong fish are not the only bioload to a tank, but they are the #1 cause of "dirty" water, where as corals are going to be sapping elements from the water those typically are easier to deal with as you simply need to add them back in.

Back in the day when I wanted many tanks, one idea I had was a fishless system, having only invertebrates in the tank (shrimp, snails, etc for some movement) and then corals to make a stunning backdrop. Then at most you feed the tank for those things which tends to be much less than what you feed a fish.
 
Thanks everyone

If I don't use the triton method, could I just use kalkwasser? I assume kalkwasser is more for replenishing, while the refugium is the main filtration, along with a media reactor...Would I need a skimmer in this case?
 
We use water changes to replenish the trace elements that our livestock depletes. Kalk only replenishes alk & calcium.
Cheers! Mark
 
Depending on what you have in mind for the long-er run of your tank’s inhabitants; LPS and SPS will need the Calcium for sure as well as Magnesium. If you plan on adding a clam, thise too need to build a shell.
A skimmer is a great filtration piece of equipment for sure but some people go by without one, of course they have different ways to deal with nutrient export; via refugium, x-type of media or water changes.
 
Have you considered that there might be ways to make doing water changes easier? Using a pump and some tubing to push water in/out of the tank can speed things up a lot, and if you can run a syphon or drain line into a drain in your house you might be able to make water changes a lot less messy than they might be. I have a tank in my garage that I mix water in, and pump it into the sump with a long hose, and have another hose that connects to the overflow drain, which goes down to the sink. That they there's no pouring or lifting of water and a lot less mess.

Alternately vodka method can be successful at reducing the need for water changes as well, I did that for a few years on a tank in an old apartment of mine.
 
First of all...do it. It’s a great hobby.

Second of all...be ready to invest a ton of time into the hobby regardless of wether you do water changes or not. It’s a time sucking hobby. But, after you get used to it, you can manage that time and combine tasks to be more efficient.

For example, when I do a testing session, I test my phosphorus and nitrate first because I know they need 3 minutes to pull a reading. I can get my calcium and magnesium tests done while waiting for those to be done.
 
Alright guys, seems the wife isn't letting me into the hobby due to "not enough space", so I'm thinking about doing a 20G AIO from Waterbox

What would maintenance look like if I kept a solid CUC of shrimp/snails, 2 clowns, an anemone, and some softies (mainly Green Star Polyps)

Hoping once the tank is stable I can avoid water changes, but not sure how realistic that is, epecially if I just use the filtration provided with the AIO (bio balls, carbon and a sock). I'm assuming maintenance will be replacing the carbon and cleaning the sock/ bio balls?

Thanks for your help all!
 
Like I said. You will need to put time into it. How much depends on how much success you want to have.

Most of your learning will come from frequenting forums like this, and reading others successes and failures.

A nano tank by nature is harder to take care of because there is less water volume to help cover up mistakes. Plus the water gets “dirtier” quicker.

There are ways to make things easier but most of that come with experience
 
Your plan won't work to not do water changes with that setup. You will need a way to remove nitrate and phosphate. Refugium, water changes, carbon dosing etc...
Also you will need a way to replenish major and trace elements. Dosing 2-3 part by hand, dosing pump, ca reactor etc...
With your proposed stocking list the 2-3 part isn't nearly as important since no stony corals, but you want to keep the alkalinity stable, and the trace elements will need replenishing.
 
with a 20 gallon tank you will have to stay on top of it. Not alot of room for mistakes ( and we all make mistakes ). IMO with this hobby you have to make time for it
 
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