sps tank questions

so im maybe doing a second new tank
and im thinking i just wanted to do corals im still going to use base rock and sand since ill keep inverts in here but a had a few concerns

1.if i have no fish do i really need to skim a 55 gallon tank? ill still keep a chaeto refugium on the back

2.how do i tell when everything stable if im not really adding a bio load?

3.what would turn live rock black and cause it to die off under the sand? i had that happen in my last tank and i found it quite unpleasant

 

1) For SPS, yes. Corals produce waste, too.

2) Testing. With or without fish, all parameters should be checked frequently until you get the "feel" for your tank.

3) Sounds like hydrogen sulfide which is usually associated with a DSB gone wrong.

 

I always thought of the waste corals produce as being very minimal that should be able to be controlled with WC. I always thought the waste with corals is associated more with feeding corals such as NPS and having excess food in the WC.

 

see thats where i get lost with the dsb issue

the sandbed was only 2 inchs deep.. -.- and i was so lost trying to figure out a cause to the sand turning black with the rock also

i might just add a pound of lfs rock with all my base rock to spice things up although ive heard rave reviews about this dr.tims bacteria

 

I would never have a tank, especially an sps tank, without a skimmer. There is a reason our ability to keep sps got much better with the introduction of the protein skimmer. I do think it is essential to successfully keeping sps. Just my .02

 

1. it depends on the type of sps. I have a 29 gallon tank with orange monti dig, pink birds nest, green birds nest and hydnophora and all I have is a hang on back filter. I do 5gal water changes every other week.

2. How would you know everything was stable if you had fish? would it be any different?

3. I wouldn't worry about the black on the rock. it's normal in a low oxygen area. I could turn over any rock under my sand and it'd probably be black but my tank is fine.

 

to me the great thing about skimmers is you don't have to do water changes so often the bad thing is a skimmer removes good stuff as well as the bad so you must replenish the chemicals they remove or do water changes to put them back in, i have a 25g for over ten years with no skimmer and its beautiful, it just requires w/c more often.