keeping some live rock in a tank with no filter

[classklown90]

Hey all, i was looking to acquire more live rock just for use in the occasional change in aquascape or use in future fragging, etc. I was wondering if i had a 1o gallon tank with just live sand and rock and whatever comes on the rock, could i keep this without a filter without needing to change the water weekly? assuming the rock is fully cured. how often would i need to change the water and has anyone done this?

 

[trackfast]

I'm "trying this out" right now. I went with dry rock, some live sand and some chaeto from a mature tank. I've only had it together a few days so I haven't tested anything yet. I would think the live sand and chaeto would give me a little jump start on the cycle. I don't think you would have to change the water for a while since there is so little bio load. I'm going to test from time to time; change the water if there's a rise in the ammonia.

 

[classklown90]

aawesome thanks, ill be setting this up tmm morning. keep me updated how yours comes along

 

[Krypt]

Personally, I would say you need to treat it the same you would any other tank. Even though you don't plan to keep any live stock in the tank, you'll still need to feed it in order to produce ammonia to keep the bacteria on the LR fed. If you don't then when you go to switch it out, the rock may cause a mini cycle in your display because your removing rock that has bacteria and replacing it with basically dead rock.

An easy solution to this would be to just keep a small species of livestock in the 10 gal to keep the bacteria alive and well, then perform bi-weekly/monthly water changes on it as needed.

 

[Krypt]

I'm "trying this out" right now. I went with dry rock, some live sand and some chaeto from a mature tank. I've only had it together a few days so I haven't tested anything yet. I would think the live sand and chaeto would give me a little jump start on the cycle. I don't think you would have to change the water for a while since there is so little bio load. I'm going to test from time to time; change the water if there's a rise in the ammonia.

The chaeto won't do anything for your cycle except absorb the nitrates at the end of it. Even though you got some LS from a mature tank, you will still need to cycle normally to get the dry rock colonized with the proper amount of bacteria.

 

[classklown90]

so if i added a small cleanup crew to the tank then it should run smothly with monthly changes and no filter?

 

[cmor1701d]

You still need a heater and a power head for water movement. That would be similar to 'cooking' rock which is a method to remove nutrients stored in older LR.

Do you plan on lighting the LR to keep the coralline algae growing?

No clean crew is needed as you should not be feeding a rock only tank more than an occasional pinch of food to maintain the bacteria.

If you want to cycle that tank follow
How to cycle your tank with out the use of fish

 

[classklown90]

yea i have a 24 watt light over the tank now with just live sand and a very small amount of live rock. maybe ill add a small HOB filter simply to keepthe water moving

 

[kingman8610]

Ok 2 things

1. It DOES need to be ALMOST kept like a Fowlr tank but like Krypt and Cmor said, little food, and pwc when ammonia gets up, and not really much pwc just enough to keep WLVLs stable. And a lil bit of flow, which if the HOB is placed well, should, like you said, give it enough flow. That is what i use for flow in my 10 HOWLR (Hermits Only With LR lol)

2. What is Chaeto???(sp)

 

[classklown90]

haha alright great, thats really what i plan on keeping in there, live rock and a few hermits/snails maybe an emearld crab

 

[iDream]

if you might use it for frags id might as well spend the money now to set it up so you can keep frags or pests you may find in your DT, and who knows maybe one day you'll find a nice fish you cant live without, and you have no room and a tank unsuitable for a fish

chaeto is macro algae btw

 

[trackfast]

Thanks for the advice. I am using a HOB for movement and the tank has a heater. I originally started this bc someone gave me much more chaeto than I needed. (I have a HOB filled with chaeto on my other tank). I had some dry rock I wasn't using so that's how that ended up in the tank. I am planning to get a little livestock into it too.

 

[kingman8610]

Yeah apparently thats my thing... for now, if you have questions look at my older posts/ started threads... usually found in the FOWLR forum... or ask me and I'll see if I've asked already then send you the link, but I've pretty much figured/found out all there is to keeping a HOWLR <<< I'm going to Copyright that lol, but keeping one of this type is really pretty simple especially since there are no fish, Water Lvls are not such an urgent thing and hermits are very forgiving and hardy, though maintaining STABILITY is what I aim for, as well as the appropriate Lvls. I guess what I am trying to say is that I have time when something goes wrong to find out what I need and Nothing dies on me, except snails and starfish, if you have those. Good luck to you and your tank!