Removed canister filter from 65 gal. need info

I have a 65 gallon set up. with about 50lbs of live rock and sand. Its pretty well stocked with fish and coral.

Corals - Duncan,torch,hammer,clove polyps,zoo's,shrooms,

Fish - yellow tang, 6 line wrass, diamond goby, starry benny, crabs and star fish.

I have a aqua euro usa 100 protein skimmer running with a couple power heads blowing. I had a fluvar 304 canister filter running but i just took it out because i hate it. do you think my tank will be ok with regular water changes. or is this asking for bad news?

 

Well if you do not have a sump I would add one for multiple reasons, just don't add anything like inverts or fish or corals for a few weeks to allow the LR to take up the additional load.
I did it to my 65 and it is much healthier

 

my tank has been set up for about 4 months now and i just unplugged the filter yesterday. i dont have a sump. my tank dose not have a overflow or is not drilled or anything. i was told i should not do it and just wait till im ready for a new tank. Im a pretty crafty person and if theres a way to add one i would really love to do it.

is there a diagram out there for a sump design i can follow that anybody knows about?

 

just look up "DIY over flow" that what i just did to my 37 gallon to add a sump ...

 

Kenny951

I ran a 5ft SPS dominated reef tank using a HOB skimmer and plenty of water flow (70x plus per hour)
the biological filtration was provided by the rock, the sand and bacteria living on every surface in general - the water movement helping to bring the nutrients to the bacteria

removing a cannister filter from an established tank should be done in stages IMO
The capacity to support bacteria is based on the bioload of the tank
so some of your bacteria lived in the filter and some lived in the tank (rocks , sand etc)

if you just remove the cannister there may be a breif period of parameter issues as the bacteria in the tank multiplies in order to deal with additional waste that was at one time dealt with by the bacteria in the filter

a better way to wean your tank off reliance on external cannister filters would be to remove the media it contains in stages - taking out 1/4 each week over 4 weeks which means the removed bacteria is minimal and thus compensation for its loss is quicker

Steve

 

thanks for the replies,

Steve, i was told to just unplug it. but me being a rookie i took the whole thing out of the mix. i hope i didnt screw myself.

should i plug it back in? with new media because i threw away the old stuff. or should i just see what happens and if things start looking downhill then hook it back up?

Can i have a healthy tank with just the skimmer and regular water changes?

 

You will be fine! I have a 55 running for three years with a Octo 300 skimmer, rocks, and water changes. This tank is my favorite because of how simple it is. As long as you keep to 20-25% water changes every couple weeks you will have a great tank. Dump the filter and don't look back.

 

Thanks thats just what i wanted to here ;D.

thanks for the help guys.