Concept: The Once-a-Month Intervention Reef

[Anonymous]

I was thinking. One of the biggest downsides to reefkeeping (other than cost ) is the diligent maintainence & monitoring required. Reefs require daily feedings and inspections, making, for example, travelling for several days difficult and worrisome. We can do a lot to automate the reef equipment, however not only is this even more expensive, but it's more complex & risky in regards to breakdowns, malfunctions, or other problems. Whenever I'd leave for more than a day, I'd be worrying about the reef - not only about the health of the inhabitants, but about potential catastrophic failures such as failure of the overflow system resulting in flooding & pump burnout, or possibly some sort of electrical fire.

So I think the holy grail of reefkeeping would be a simple, self-contained system which requires little maintainance, giving the reefkeeper the freedom he deserves - for example, the freedom to go on vacation for a few weeks, worry-free. Enter The Once-a-Month Intervention Reef.

The concept is this: a self-contained, sealed reef system where the only inputs are light & electricity, and the only maintainance is a once-a-month water change, feeding, and pruning. So, once a month you open up the cover, do a water change, do some pruning, and drop in some food, close the cover, and that's it until next month.

My concept model is a 20 gallon long glass tank, divided by plexiglass into the reef section & a refugium section. Water is circulated between the two by a small powerhead. A heater will also be placed in the refugium section. a plexiglass cover will be placed over the top of the aquarium to prevent evaporation & gas exchange.

The main reef section will be light by a 250W HQI, and the refugium by a smaller bulb on reverse-daylight time.

The main reef section with have large amounts of live rock, with a small open area. Fauna will be one smallish fish (say a royal gramma) and corals. The refugium will contain some rock & macroalgea. A sandbed will extend throughout.

Presumably the large amounts of live rock, sand bed, and refugium will provide enough microfauna to feed the fish.

So what do you think... Is a once-a-month concept feasible at all? What problems do you see with this? Would this be a difficult-to-balance system, or would the light bio-load coupled with heavy sand & rock capacity make it easy?

 

[Anonymous]

I think with the correct mix of critters it is possible once the tank was well established. I do not think you could go a month with out checking on it tho.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes it is feasible.

With no need for expensive lighting, reverse period, expensive live rock and live sand.

To maintain calcium I would advise water being filtered through a calcium carbonate source like crushed oyster shells.

The partition should have enough holes that macros and pods can feed the fish and coral area.

The key would be to get the macros established and in control right from the start. Then add fish slowly.

And no need for water changes. no need for ro/di.

If you could replace evaporative every couple of weeks or so and reduce circulation, then the system would not have to be totally sealed either.

But you should have absolutely no problem setting up a system that only requires some maintenance every 2-3 weeks and supports fish and soft corals. Without all the usual expensive aquarium specific stuff.

 

[Anonymous]

I think it would work, except for the gas exchange. I know the reason you want to seal it is so you don't have to top it off, but without gas exchange the potential for a crash if too much O2 is ever used up is scary.

Why not do everything you said, but use an auto top off. Then it could be a 2 week intervention tank.


It might also get ugly becuase so much would grow on the glass if you only cleaned it once a month.



My tank now requires only feeding and top offs. I have left it on vacation for 10 days a few times. Of course, I have also not gone on vacation because I couldn't find someone to top the tank off and feed it every other day.

I sometimes go 5 or more days without even looking at it because I top it off when the lights are out. My wife tosses some food in while I'm at work and no worries. 8)

 

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth to you, I have a planted FW aquarium that I only top off once a month, and perform yearly maintenance (plant growth is not supercharged by CO2 anymore). I can't remember the last time I touched it.

I think it's possible, but you need to figure out in some rudimentary way what goes in what needs to go out, and how u can accomplish or simulate this. ie: can you really go a month w/o removing ammonia and nit's "manually" ? what can be done to defray pollutant buildup? are there any organisms or man made objects which could assist that? bottom line is if pollutants are still INSIDE the aquarium and no new beneficial food/organics are going IN, then you need something to convert the undesireables.

 

[Anonymous]

I think it would work, except for the gas exchange. I know the reason you want to seal it is so you don't have to top it off, but without gas exchange the potential for a crash if too much O2 is ever used up is scary.

I'm thinking that carbon would be so scarce in the system (one normal daily-sized feeding a month, with corals & plants growing & sucking up carbon) that that wouldn't be an issue.

It might also get ugly becuase so much would grow on the glass if you only cleaned it once a month.

I would keep an algea magnet on the glass, so I could do an algea scraping whenever, without having to open it up.

 

[Anonymous]

air gas exchange at the surface would not be an issue.

As long as in a 24 hour period the plant life consumes all the fish co2 and returns oxygen. In fact the macros may be limited due to the lack of co2 production from the fish. So that a balance is acheived between the fish and plant life.

 

[Anonymous]

First post here, so be nice..

I won't seal it that tight. Maybe you should get one of those biosphere with some seaweed and a tiny red shrimp?

Seriously, one of my last reef tanks is low intervention type with very low evaporative setup. But it does have a sump, where I dump calcium and good gas exchange with skimmer, etc.

The main issue I see is heat. If you purposely restrict evaporation, if you don't do it right, you may end up overheating. If you plan it well, I don't see any problem that can't be overcome.

 

[tinyreef]

it's doable. top-off would be the main issue if you can supply ca/alk as it's being used up.

i don't see why the basic concept can't work (probably being done by a number of people already). there are people that go without waterchanges or go for very long periods in-between them.

but it's easier for the larger systems than smaller imo as gadgets and error-cushions favor the larger tanks. putting the required setups in smaller tanks detract too much aesthetically imo.

for example, my current pico can't hold a float switch, aesthetically enough for my tastes at least. otherwise, it would/could keep going as long as there's fw to top-off without my interference. assuming no mechanical failures, of course. i may see stunted growth because of the lack of ca/alk though (i top-off with kalk).

a suitable top-off setup (effective and aesthetic) or evaporation solution (e.g. brandon's sealed systems) and a steady ca/alk source would be the main issues imo.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with seven.

I think the main issue would be heat. While some daily rise and fall in temperature is ok, the light energy being trapped in the closed environment would probably be excessive.

But even with that I say go for it. That way we can learn from anything that goes wrong. :lol:

 

[tinyreef]

I think the main issue would be heat. While some daily rise and fall in temperature is ok, the light energy being trapped in the closed environment would probably be excessive.

i disagree.

while temperature is a fundamental problem with nanos that inherent issue can be addressed with fans or chillers (getting back to aesthetics though).

the issue with fans and such cooling methods is how much is enough? you can cool too much actually. you'd have to invest in temperature controllers and such to switch on and off or CL chillers etc.. assuming an unlimited budget, then this and many other concepts/ideas are easily within reach.

but working within the typical budget requires a little more thought and luck (to find good deals) ime.

it still can be done, cheese. i'm not saying it can't on the typical budget but requires much more prep work. i think sealing the system is the best way to go if you're going uber-small. if you're going be in the larger range 10g+ then an ATO is probably simpler.

we're assuming the general reefing stuff is solved beforehand, of course. corals, fish, livestock, water dynamics, lighting, chemical detente. y'know, the little details. :lol:

 

[bleedingthought]

I was thinking. One of the biggest downsides to reefkeeping (other than cost ) is the diligent maintainence & monitoring required. Reefs require daily feedings and inspections, making, for example, travelling for several days difficult and worrisome. We can do a lot to automate the reef equipment, however not only is this even more expensive, but it's more complex & risky in regards to breakdowns, malfunctions, or other problems. Whenever I'd leave for more than a day, I'd be worrying about the reef - not only about the health of the inhabitants, but about potential catastrophic failures such as failure of the overflow system resulting in flooding & pump burnout, or possibly some sort of electrical fire.

So I think the holy grail of reefkeeping would be a simple, self-contained system which requires little maintainance, giving the reefkeeper the freedom he deserves - for example, the freedom to go on vacation for a few weeks, worry-free. Enter The Once-a-Month Intervention Reef.

The concept is this: a self-contained, sealed reef system where the only inputs are light & electricity, and the only maintainance is a once-a-month water change, feeding, and pruning. So, once a month you open up the cover, do a water change, do some pruning, and drop in some food, close the cover, and that's it until next month.

My concept model is a 20 gallon long glass tank, divided by plexiglass into the reef section & a refugium section. Water is circulated between the two by a small powerhead. A heater will also be placed in the refugium section. a plexiglass cover will be placed over the top of the aquarium to prevent evaporation & gas exchange.

The main reef section will be light by a 250W HQI, and the refugium by a smaller bulb on reverse-daylight time.

The main reef section with have large amounts of live rock, with a small open area. Fauna will be one smallish fish (say a royal gramma) and corals. The refugium will contain some rock & macroalgea. A sandbed will extend throughout.

Presumably the large amounts of live rock, sand bed, and refugium will provide enough microfauna to feed the fish.

So what do you think... Is a once-a-month concept feasible at all? What problems do you see with this? Would this be a difficult-to-balance system, or would the light bio-load coupled with heavy sand & rock capacity make it easy?

Did you go ahead with this?

 

[Anonymous]

I wondered also.

I just went on 2 1 week back to back trips. Stopped in on day 7 replaced evaporative water and fed then returned at day 14. Everything was fine. But there was enough evaporation with the external sump/refugium that the day 7 top was required. So not totally once per month.

 

[linderaberry]

I am certain it is possible to develop a tank system that needs maintenance only twice a year. or even less.

Consider the Ecosphere - kept at room temperature, no inputs other than weak sunlight, but mine has been alive for over 12 years, with "maintenance" being nothing more than an occasional swipe with the magnetic wiper to keep the sides clean. And that's just for cosmetic reasons; it isn't actually necessary.

The Ecosphere is designed with just a very few interdependent and very resilient organisms, with no possibility of unwanted parasites or disease organisms or unplanned-for decomposers. A more complex system, especially one with a few large organisms instead of many very small ones, lends itself to many many times more potential sources of disequilibrium.

Yet, after a certain threshold complexity, the more diverse an ecological system is, the more stable it is, as a general rule. That's why the ecosystems of large natural areas are pretty stable, and why loss of biodiversity is such a fearful thing -- if you allow the destruction of species you don't care about, you reduce the inherent stability of diverse systems, and risk destruction of the structure supporting the species you do care about.

So, yeah, I think, if you are able to create a system that is small and simple enough, or big and complex enough, and if you're willing to accept a big mortality load of aquarium organisms while you experiment, certainly you can get an aquarium that is self-sustaining and practically zero maintenance.

And at this point, I don't think an expert scientist has a much better chance of creating it than an aquarium hobbyist.

 

[linderaberry]

Did you go ahead with this? I've been thinking more about it. It is such an attractive idea. Maybe a good approach would be to go with brackish or estuary species that normally tolerate a range of conditions -- salinity, pH, temperature, O2/CO2, etc. I guess that would rule out most interesting corals but it would allow plants. Some gobies. Bivalves. Shrimp. Snails. Maybe crabs?

And how about those species that are dependent upon seasonal ponds, like African saline mud flat species -- killifish etc. -- they've gotta have an incredible tolerance for variations in conditions.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry folks, I lost track of this thread.

Negative, I have not attempted this. I will probably try something less extreme, i.e. some sort of low-maintenace scheme, in the intermediate future.

 

[jackcarp]

I think you have a great idea-follow the ideas of the eco-sphere.
http://www.eco-sphere.com/home.htm

 

[OddFish]

Consider the Ecosphere - kept at room temperature, no inputs other than weak sunlight, but mine has been alive for over 12 years, with "maintenance" being nothing more than an occasional swipe with the magnetic wiper to keep the sides clean.

This is the old thread, but: what inhabitants (from widely available in LFS) will be able to withstand the room temperature and an ambient light (or low PC light), low or no filtration, and do not require massive amount of feeding, as non-photosynthetic corals do?

 

[unwired]

I realize that this is an old thread but I'm hoping that some folks here are still paying attention (esp. Cheese Sandwich).

I too have been thinking about building a small tank to sit on my desk or low metal filing cabinet. I'd be interested in comments about my own approach and weather or not it makes any sense.

Now having had a large reef years back I think I'm up to the challenge but I also realize that the advancements made in the last 20 yrs were not done by people following the rules but rather those who tried to learn from what they saw and develop a new approach.

First a quick analogy...
We've all seen the kid who's eyes glaze over in the music store looking at that Fender Strat but what little of them realize is that for Rock music, the guitar is either a 1/2 or 1/3 of the 'System'. If you know anything about tone than you'll realize that the guitar is coupled to an under powered speaker attached to a tube amp that helps it generate the warm sounds you're looking for. Today, throw some signal processing in the middle and you've got even more versatility in choosing the guitar that looks pretty in the store.

Back to where we began. I think that we tendto cheat a bit when talking about the Nanos and don't take the 'System' into account. All we hear about is the nice 2 Gallon but we leave out the details about the sump filter and some other materials that affect the overall ecosystem.

What I propose is that for someone interested in a low maintenance tank, you cheat!

How about a 2,3, or 5 gallon with 1 1/2" of live sand followed by a 10 Gallon fuge sitting somewhere under the desk?

Think about it for a moment, if you enlarge the overall ecosystem you can minimize the water changes. Throw 3 chunks of liverock into the fuge with a bunch of turbo snails and let them push things to their hearts content. I'd be willing to bet that you'd be able to get a good amount of coral, inverts and even fish into your Nano.

I'd likely try to cap the top too but steal a back corner for an internal overflow which I'd leave open to the outside for air exchange.

I thought Guy's Canadian Whiskey top off was cute too:
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=64417

The last mod I've been contemplating is the one I'm least sure about.
Time for another quick analogy (as I think they help show us how impracticable we can be just to get what we want).

We've all seen people drive cars with windows open and that dog trying to sniff some air while the wind breezes by at 50mph. Though this might be nice for a little hwile I'd think your dog would completely freak out if you trapped him there for hours on end. Having said this, why do we filter our tanks 35x an hr with huge pumps?

Sure, the ocean passes fresh water over the reefs all the time but what we are doing is blasting water by everything just to keep our filtration in check. This is a second reason why I'd like to go with a proportionately large fuge/filter to the actua ltank size. I'd like to see how everything behaves if I can slow down the flow rate as much as feasible while introducing some sort of wave/current pattern in the tank with something like a Hydor flo unit.

I've spoken enough so please let me know if you think any of this makes sense or if I'm just being silly about it all.

Thanks for sticking with me. If I do go forward with the build I'll try to keep you folks posted on the progress.