100% Live Rock - "Inukshuk" Filtration System

"No protein skimmers, no filters of any kind, no sump... just lots of eco-Live-Rock"

Customers often ask us whether our eco-Live-Rock is as good as wild-harvested Live Rock. To answer the question, we often refer our customers to see the sample tanks in this page. The filtration system of the tanks below consists only on man-made Live Rock. That is, no protein skimmers, no filters of any kind, no sump... only lights, powerheads and Live Rock (100% man-made eco-Live- Rock). As you can see, our Live Rock works pretty good!

This filtration system is based exclusively on Live Rock and Live Sand. Although specific details can vary among different tank setups (see examples below), the basic elements of this filtration system are:
  • Lots of Live Rock (1 to 2 lbs per gallon)
  • Live Sand (approx. 2 inches)
  • A source of water movement (e.g. a few powerheads)
  • A source of abundant light (e.g. T8, VHO, metal halides, etc.)
IMPORTANT: This filtration system is designed to work with a small fish bio-load. Too many fish and too much feeding could cause nitrate and ammonia to rise, potentially harming aquarium life. Also, in hot places (or during hot months) a chiller or fanning system may be needed to prevent the temperature of the tank to rise too much.

This filtration system is ideal for people with modest budgets. It is design so you can spend more of your money on corals and fun inverts and less on expensive gear.

The filtration system herein described is certainly similar to others (e.g. the Berlin system). However, as far as we know, there are no other system that advocate Live Rock as the only filtration component, so we decided to give it its is own name: The Inukshuk Filtration System

We like this name because, just like a real Inukshuk, it is simple yet effective... you just need to pile some rock for it to work... and of course, because it was invented in Canada!



120 Gallon tank


- 150 to 200 lbs of Live Rock
  ALL man-made eco-Live-Rock

- 5 Large powerheads

- 660-Icecap ballast with 4 VHO bulbs (120W each, 2 actinic, 2 marine glow)

- 5 small fish, lots of corals, lots of inverts

- Seawater changes:
  25% every 5 months

- No filters of any kind, no protein skimmer, no sump








30 Gallon Cube tank 


- Approx. 50 lbs of Live Rock

 ALL man-made eco-Live-Rock

- 2 small powerheads

- 2 Canadian-Tire ballasts with 4 T8 bulbs, 2 actinic and 2 marine glow

- 2 small fish, lots of corals and inverts

- Seawater changes:
  25% every 6 months

- No filters of any kind, no protein skimmer, no sump











30 Gallon Cube tank

- Approx. 50 lbs of Live Rock
95% man-made eco-Live-Rock

- 2 small powerheads

- 2 Canadian-Tire ballasts with 4 T8 bulbs, 2 actinic and 2 marine glow

- 2 small fish, lots of corals and inverts

- Seawater changes:
  25% every 6 months

- No filters of any kind, no protein skimmer, no sump





50 Gallon tank
                

- Approx. 50 lbs of Live Rock
100% man-made eco-Live-Rock

- 3 small powerheads

- 2 T8 bulbs, 1 actinic and 1 marine glow

- 4 small fish, some (low light loving) corals and inverts

- Seawater changes:
  25% every 4 months

- No filters of any kind, no protein skimmer, no sump



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