New tank without a filter (updated with pic)

[GuOD]

Hi everyone,

I've added a bunch of base rock to my system as of yesterday and some live sand/macro algae and it's created quite the murkey water. The tank is finished cycling but unfortunately my filter broke. I only have 2 powerheads and a protein skimmer. The problem is, I can't turn the protein skimmer on because it instantly fills with bubbles (I guess because there is so much stuff in the water!). I was wondering - I added some damsels when my cycle finsihed and wnated to know if they could survive without a filter? It will take a few weeks for a replacement


Picture of Tank:



The NEXT DAY! Powerheads only



Review of Rocks:

The rocks are MarcoRocks. They are truly amazing!! They were recommended by someone here and I jumped on it. www.marcorocks.com Here is my full review:

The rocks were AMAZING shapes and very porous. The largest rock (which can't really be seen) was like a mothership and must've weighed at least 30 lbs. All the rocks had great texture and shape to them! there are also a bunch of small pieces and rubble to have a nice natural look. Marc's rocks are just as he describes - extremely porous and totally awesome! I am planning to get a 2nd tank at some point and will definitely be stocking Marc's rocks again. My roommate recently ordered some uncured liverock to start his reef tank and when he saw my rocks he was extremely jealous. 100 lbs of base rock is far more than 2x his 50lbs uncured liverock. I would wager that it's more than 3x the amount of rock he received! Marc is also wonderful to deal with. he's fast to answer emails and very knowledgeable.

The bad (for Cdns only!) Shipping to Canada is non-standard for him and there were some glitches. It was not his fault but it did arrive slowly and fedex is just dumb. Not to mention it's expensive!! If you're in the states though..just go for it!!

 

[roka64]

Did you cycle your tank with out sand or rock?
How much rock do you have, now?
I'm not sure about the skimmer, so someone might be able to help there.

 

[lando]

First off...how did you cycle the tank? Did you notice any parameter changes? Your tank will do just fine without a filter. The "Berlin" method of filtration consists of a LS substrate, 1.5-2lbs/gal of mature LR and aggressive skimming...thats it. Many successful tanks are kept this way. You just need a few powerheads to circulate the water.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that a filter is not needed. I`ve just made it with LR and a skimmer for the first seven yrs. The last two I added a fuge.

 

[GuOD]

I cycled the tank originally with fluval FX5, shrimp from grocery and 25 lbs of cured live rock.

I had a skimmer going for about a week - I still can't run my skimmer. The top part instantly fills with bubbles and the diffuser box overflows - there's just too much in the water right now.

Here's a pic of how it looks now. It cleared up a tiny bit more but it's stopped clearing. I was thinking of getting a diatom filter by Vortex (the XL).

 

[roka64]

That rock is AWESOME! It's hard to tell, but do you have some caves? Where did you get your base?
I think a few of the folks in the previous posts can help with the skimmer. I have never used one.

 

[quixand]

Yeah no crap! Looks AWESOME! Where did you get the base???

I want some!

Also, like roka said, make some caves. Fishees need em =)

 

[GuOD]

The rocks are MarcoRocks. They are truly amazing!! They were recommended by someone here and I jumped on it. www.marcorocks.com Here is my full review:

The rocks were AMAZING shapes and very porous. The largest rock (which can't really be seen) was like a mothership and must've weighed at least 30 lbs. All the rocks had great texture and shape to them! there are also a bunch of small pieces and rubble to have a nice natural look. Marc's rocks are just as he describes - extremely porous and totally awesome! I am planning to get a 2nd tank at some point and will definitely be stocking Marc's rocks again. My roommate recently ordered some uncured liverock to start his reef tank and when he saw my rocks he was extremely jealous. 100 lbs of base rock is far more than 2x his 50lbs uncured liverock. I would wager that it's more than 3x the amount of rock he received! Marc is also wonderful to deal with.

The bad (for Cdns only!) Shipping to Canada is non-standard for him and there were some glitches. It was not his fault but it did arrive slowly and fedex is just dumb. Not to mention it's expensive!! If you're in the states though..just go for it!!

I appreciate all the commnets! the rock truly does look amazing!! You can't see it but near the back left there's this dome-looking thing that kinda has tons of little pentagonal craters that looked green when I first washed it.. it will look awesome when the water clears I'm sure. As for the caves, there are tons! I tried to stack it up so the fish can easily hide. It's really neat because a fish will swim in the left side and come out the right! Of course, they're only damsels. I don't know that bigger fish could fit/weave through the caves, but I don't think they're into that as much. Also, the caves in the bottom right go all the way to the back.

 

[quixand]

Very nice. Will deff. use Marcorocks.com for my base. No doubt.

 

[GuOD]

Do I need to have large caves?? I stacked the rock so that it was sturdy -- rather than trying to make fancy bridges etc. I could make some larger caves if it would be beneficial. I guess it's mostly crevices and alcoves now, rather than actual long big caves.

 

[quixand]

Depends on the size of fish you are hosting.

All fish like caves and stuff. It not only offers them protection, but is also a mental stimuli ( swimming through and around )

If you are just keeping small type fish, then what you have explained thus far sounds just fine.

 

[GuOD]

Here's a new pic from today! it's really clearing up well with powerheads only!!

 

[quixand]

VERY nice. Get a skimmer on that bad boy and you'll be laughing mate!

 

[GuOD]

VERY nice. Get a skimmer on that bad boy and you'll be laughing mate!

Coralife 220 super skimmer can be seen at the top of the pic. It still can't run as there's too much stuff in the water but hopefully in a few days it wlll be clear enough.

 

[quixand]

Oh well look at that. LOL

Congrats!

 

[EJS4]

I know this may sound stupid but did you try adjusting the flow on the skimmer with the red adjustment knob.

 

[GuOD]

I know this may sound stupid but did you try adjusting the flow on the skimmer with the red adjustment knob.

Hehe, thanks. Actually, I had it working perfectly fine before I added some macro algae bacteria etc.

The problem is, even at minimum, it foams over instantly. We made a makeshift solution today and it has worked quite well but it's still too saturated for the protein skimmer to handle alone. I think it will just take some time is all. At the lowest volume it would bubble over and fill up in under 1 minute.

 

[hc8719]

looks really good, how big is the tank?

 

[stevefromga2000]

do you think that he would ship outside of the country to me? i'm in japan right now, but that rock looks pretty neat. i sent him an e-mail asking if he could ship it priority and how much it would cost, so now i'm just waiting for a response i guess. it's just base rock, so it wouldn't hurt it to be packed up in just a dry box for a couple of weeks, right?

 

[roka64]

I went to order 150Lbs from Marc, he is getting a shipment in on areound the 12-17, I believe.