NPS tank with only ATS filtration?

I was wondering if anyone has tried keeping a NPS tank using ONLY an algae turf scrubber as filtration. This means no skimmer, biopellets, refugium etc. If anyone has tried this please comment on your success. This is a setup I would like to attempt. Any ideas or comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

It will all depend on your dedication to the screens and what NPS you want to keep. In order to attempt soft NPS you will likely need too much screen to want to deal with.

But if your goal is with mostly LPS NPS (sun coral, dendros, rhizo) then an ATS would be perfect. They don't take the continuous feeding that the softies and gorgs and crinoids do.


On paper, an ATS is the perfect form of filtration for a NPS tank. BUT, to get enough food in the system for any difficult NPS and to keep the water clean you would need something like 1000 sq inches of screen that you would have to maintain on all different schedules to ensure that there is always screen at it's peak of growth to keep everything balanced. It would become a HUGE work load.

 

Go all or nothing if it is an nps only tank, I will be using a skimmer rated for 150 gallons, and biopellets on my 20 high tank, with a 10gallon sump, and will be continually feeding. Unless you do daily water changes, an ats will not be enough alone, you need to deal with rotting food particles inaddition to inorganic waste, nps prefers pristine water.

 

To give you another idea of the level you could go in order to fully keep NPS you can check out my Azoox thread. On my 65g tank I will be running an auto water change that will do 5 gallons a day, a skimmer rated for a 1500 gallon tank (yes, 1500, not 150), Ecobak biopellets and an algae scrubber rated for 10 cubes of food a day.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/grims-azoox-build-139079.html

 

Ok! Awsome thanks for the ideas. I dont mind the extra workload. I live in a dry cabin in alaska (meaning no running water of any type) and i still manage to maintain several lps and sps and softie coral tanks even when its -50 outside. Water is brought in via buckets from town. So the work required to maintain these tanks is of no issue ahah. im just wondering if it can be done. I dont want to do gorgs just some nice suns and dendros etc. Large screen. Copy. but wouldnt skimmering remove the food that im filling the water with anyways. Seems its working against itself.

 

Please correct me if I am wrong...but the point of continuious palegic feeding is for the corals to filter the food from the water. Skimming would remove this food matter, requiring additional feeding. The skimming does not remove the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite phosphate etc that poison the water. The ATS will remove (for the most part) the water pollution and leave the particulate matter. Now if the NPS tank had a heavy CUC-heavier than a normal reef tank-these inverts would eat up the uneaten and settled food matter before it had a chance to decompose. So, my question is...would a NPS tank running a large ATS and stocked with no fish and a large population of pods, brittle stars, snails, hermits etc etc be able to sustain sun corals and dendros. I was also planning on fragging my sponges into this NPS tank. I have more sponges then I know that to do with. Keep the info coming! Ive been alreadybeen reading your build on Azoox grim!

 

............bump

 

I do not consider a tank dominated by Dendrophilia a true NPS because you can target feed them.

Now a Dendronephthya is a different ball game all together.

While I have limited first hand experience with a true NPS, the theory is that you need almost a continuous introduction of fine particulate matter to maintain most true NPS corals long term. A ATS will not remove ammonia hopefully your large biological filter will.

You will need a skimmer to remove the DOC that will brake down and cause elevated nutrient levels in your tank.

 

Hmmm. Ok. Well I am planning a heavy live rock content for this tank as well as a DSB for the biofilter. And then the ATS of course. I am still not sure entirely on what livestock to put it. I only want NPS, and no fish. Inverts only. So any suggestions from you folks would be appreciated! Thanks for the ideas and info.

 

Following, because I am curious.

You could perhaps do some scallops, NPS gorgonians.

Have you seen this page:
WYSIWYG Non-photosynthetic corals and more from the WYSIWYG Diver's Den

Have you checked out Urbanks thread on Reef Central?