Will a coral only tank work for a traveller?

M

monterey63

Detritus
#1
#1
Hi All,

I have kept many salt tanks in the past but haven't for several years. I want to start a new tank but I travel 5 days a week for work now. I was thinking of setting up a coral only tank on timers or something like that. I want to keep it around 35-70 gallons. Any advise is appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
 
SkyShark

SkyShark

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
#2
Totally doable. I would recommend getting an Apex and you will be able to monitor the tank right from you phone.

Recommended key equipment:
Quality controllable LED light
Apex w/ DoS (for dosing 2 part if you are doing an SPS tank) and AFS if you get any fish
quality ATO (like the Tunze 3155)
Skimmer with large or remote collection cup

You could get a couple of hardy fish that will readily accept pellets (like clowns). The fish waste is good for the corals. The AFS is a controllable autofeeder. Just get a feed ring so the pellets don't go right down the overflow.

There is so much work going into automation right now that it has never been easier to automate a tank. You can even automate water changes with another DoS.
 
Balz3352

Balz3352

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
#3
SkyShark;363310 said:
Totally doable. I would recommend getting an Apex and you will be able to monitor the tank right from you phone.

Recommended key equipment:
Quality controllable LED light
Apex w/ DoS (for dosing 2 part if you are doing an SPS tank) and AFS if you get any fish
quality ATO (like the Tunze 3155)
Skimmer with large or remote collection cup

You could get a couple of hardy fish that will readily accept pellets (like clowns). The fish waste is good for the corals. The AFS is a controllable autofeeder. Just get a feed ring so the pellets don't go right down the overflow.

There is so much work going into automation right now that it has never been easier to automate a tank. You can even automate water changes with another DoS.
Click to expand...
+1
 
M

monterey63

Detritus
#5
#5
Thanks so much for the reply and the great specifics! This is really encouraging, I have missed my aquarium so much in the last 5 years. Balz 3352 is recommending a biocube, I actually have some experience with a 29 gal biocube in the past. I took a look at the Apex controller and that looks really cool, I like the idea of being able to monitor remotely. I will do some research to see if Thanks again for your reply, any advice on easy to take care of coral varieties?
 
M

monterey63

Detritus
#6
#6
Thank you for posting the biocube thread! I have some experience with biocube and had very good luck. I am pretty excited to get something going, do you have any advice on coral variety recomendations?
 
SkyShark

SkyShark

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
#7
I think the Nuvo and Fusion tanks from Innovative Marine are great. I have the Nuvo 38 and a fusion 20 I haven't setup yet. I went with an all-in-one tank since I was a little nervous about setting up a sump and traveling.
 
Miah2bzy

Miah2bzy

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
#8
Will a coral only tank work for a traveller?

SkyShark;363337 said:
I think the Nuvo and Fusion tanks from Innovative Marine are great. I have the Nuvo 38 and a fusion 20 I haven't setup yet. I went with an all-in-one tank since I was a little nervous about setting up a sump and traveling.
Click to expand...
+1 I got a nuvo fusion 30L and love it. It's in my boys room and I set it up to mimic a tide pool for low maintenance with only a few fish and corals I knew could survive swings in salinity. Added the upgraded media baskets, going to switch to ROx carbon and gfo in it, and then added a refuge section. It can go for 1 week without having to change the filter sock, if I take the sock out I've gone 3 weeks without touching it. Added a auto feeder to help w the fish.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
asn-naso

asn-naso

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
#9
While, I haven't been taking care of my tank much, I have been traveling on/off and super busy with work. I just add water to my ATO res once a week. I also have a complete reef, with fish, and use an auto-feeder 2x a day.

I would set it up with corals for 6+ months, then wouldn't hesitate to add fish if it is still stable.
 
S

sharkboy99999

Cleaner Shrimp
#11
#11
Balz3352;363361 said:
Agreed with above... I didn't specifically say biocube. That's what I have but hindsight I'd probably go with IM of some sort higher end looking tanks. But biocube definitely works just fine
Click to expand...
If you take the hood off and remove the trim then they look nicer I think at least
 
M

monterey63

Detritus
#13
#13
Thanks for the reply, have to be honest I don't know what ROx carbon or gfo are but will do some research on that part. Sounds like the Nuvo is a favorite with the responders, I will check it out. Are you out of the box on the lighting or did you upgrade?
 
M

monterey63

Detritus
#15
#15
I just checked out the Innovative Marina tanks and they are beauties. The lagoon style really looks cool, it would be fun to experiment with having plants above the water line. Very cool thanks for the recommendation guys! I am gathering from these comments that you all feel the Fusion is a better product than biocube? Seems to be more easily customizable.
 
asn-naso

asn-naso

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#18
#18
Biocubes are great IMO. May not be as fancy as some of the newer tanks, but they also keep evap down. My only suggestion would be to upgrade the lights to LED's if you get serious about the hobby. The lights they ship with are fine for most non-SPS corals.
 
SkyShark

SkyShark

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#20
#20
The IM tanks don't come with lights, so you have the flexibility to get whatever fits your budget and style. There are some great LEDs out there with many different mounting or hanging options.
 
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