Sanjay Joshi's Nano Reef Tank is 23 YRS OLD, No Skimmer, No Water Changes!

[@jimedwards9310]

Dinner. Wine. And no water changes. Life is good. :)

[@sleexox]

to address some comments regarding this tank, he has been running this tank for 23 years . As a result, his tank has matured a hell lot compared to usual reefers. Thus, his tank system is able to run by itself without any water changes or skimmer. The more your tank matures, the more "auto pilot" your tank allows itself to be. And yes, he did mention he does top up evaporated water saying" carrying a 5 gallon bucket of water up." Topping up evaporated water does not count as a water change as phosphates, nitrates, and parameters remain the same except salinity. Thus, only topping up with RODI water.

[@davidtraxler6810]

I had the opportunity to meet Sanjay and saw all of his tanks. He is such a pleasant and humble guy. His 500 gallon tank in his basement is stunning. I didn’t know as much about reefing then as I do now, but he is truly a wizard when it comes to fish. He also breeds clowns. It was really cool to talk with him about this as well as clowns are some of my favorite fish. Keep stewarding these beautiful creatures Sanjay!

[@aquarius8063]

At my old job I took care of a 30g in my office (softies/lps) and my boss 40g reef tank with basic Marineland Emperor hang on filter, heater and EcoTech LED's. Both tanks thrived well with no fancy equipment, skimmer etc. Did water change maybe once a month with tap water and instant ocean reef crystals. After boss retired, he donated his tank to me and then after I left the company I merged all into my home 135g tank. Duncan, Torch and other corals donated are still thriving 5 years later. Once you get that harmony in your tank and as an aquarist you are in tune with that....the magic happens and get a tank like above. Happy Reefing people!

[@chrisprice8053]

i have a 10 gal that has been running for 20 years. i quite doing water change years ago i just top off and no skimmer. it dose great not a prob with it. all i have in it is leathers and a few mushrooms 3 fish . i use hang on the back filters 2 of them aqua clear . the 1st 5 years with a small tank is hard lots of crashing and a few outbreaks of hair algae. i got it down to the tank run itself clean the filter's every 2 weeks change out the chemi-pure every 4 months. I do test every 6 weeks to make sure all is good . He is right it takes years to get there

[@gabedorpinghaus629]

You guys have no clue that this man is one of the most respected man in the Reefing community...his tanks are the real deal

[@eddyortiz8110]

He's created his little ocean.I can't believe how healthy and beautiful this tank is.The large reef at the end is mind blowing.Can't wait to see.

[@MicrobiusBlue]

We miss you Jake

[@DEXTER-TV-series]

?

[@Bentley.Carlson]

@@DEXTER-TV-serieshe passed away

[@kayakcarol]

😢

[@Chinellaleon]

Oh nooo really? that is so sad man

[@mk12347]

I THINK i started understanding how these people are able to have maintenance free tanks. the idea is leave the tank to take its time and stabilize, dont rush on throwing things. put one thing at a time (patience) and wait for your system to stabilize again. within time your system will have a life of things u can and cant see and will develop its own eco system. sorry for using system alot, I work with computers ;)

[@sparkyjones560]

M. still doesn't chance the fact the salinity goes off due to evaporation or that corals need nutrients, tones of minerals and nutrients to thrive. no damn way he's not doing water changes regularly.

[@sparkyjones560]

Salinity goes "off" due to evaporation, but if you just add the same amount of freshwater it comes back to where it was. If you top off with more salt water then your salinity still gets higher. This is common knowledge. It's not a reason to do water changes. You knock down the crusted salt to the water line to redisolve and top off with fresh water back to where it was. And he never said he didn't dose nutrients.

[@naclcreep2505]

Since so many people are asking, here is how to have a REAL LONG TERM SUCCESS with a 0 water change/filtration tank... Go back in time 24 years and start a tank. Care for it using water changes, mechanical filtration and chemical filtration. Over the next 14 years continue to care for the tank using common methodologies. Nothing special, you’re setting yourself up for success after all. Now, you have have 10 years left until the present day. Slowly start to toy with using less or zero chemical filtration. With this, do smaller or more spaces apart water changes. Don’t make any major changes to live stock and try to keep your hands out of the tank. You’ll have to play around with feeding amounts and you’ll probably have to watch corals slowly wither away. Here is the important and unfortunate part... it cant be forced. Life will get inspired the way of taking care of the tank and you and the tank will mature together. You and the tank will slowly reach a symbiotic understanding. You’ll unknowingly, yet naturally cultivate this symbiosis for the next 4 years. 6 years until present day and you should have a decent balance of “nutrients in=nutrients out” You might have to cut your photo period to under 8 hours per day but who knows. So now you have 1 year until you can say “I haven’t done a water change in 5 years” During this year you’ll likely pull the skimmer that you have neglected to the point that it doesn’t work anyway. You’ll pull a bag of carbon that’s been in the sump for 4 months and is well beyond its capacity. The handle in your special water change bucket will break and you won’t stop doing water changes after your 4th big water change in 11 months. Then BAM! just like that you’ve got a chance at having a tank that will sustain on 0 maintenance! @reefbuilders do you want me to come give this talk at ReefStock

[@mgultra5613]

you need to make videos!

[@kayakcarol]

And that is how it's done! 👍

[@dulichion]

classic Indian guy, " youre doing this as a personal challenge?' no Im just trying to reduce my work" love Sanjay lol

[@nipponjim7815]

amazing setup, looking at corals and drinking wine would be positively therapeutic. very inspiring work Mr. Joshi sir!

[@Fifthimagez]

The crazy part about this is I have a brand new empty 29 gallon with everything Already This tank is really inspiring thanks for sharing

[@Greego]

Man, Sanjay is just mystical like Cesar Millan. He makes this stuff looks so easy but you know 99% of us out there will never be able to run tanks like he does because he was somehow born with "the juice." Sanjay will be like "I just threw some water in this bucket and added some coral along with this dolphin and a light from Home Depot and now I got this museum-like aquarium." Do you even feed any of the animals in the bucket Sanjay? Sanjay: "Nope. I just pour some of this red wine in the bucket every other month and that's it."

[@kryptkeeper457]

thats hilarious.

[@casper0689]

"This" is Great 😄 !!! (Especially The Dolphin 🐬 Part) LMAO 😂 !!!

[@danielbolf7896]

He has forgotten more about reef tanks than most of us will ever even know...

[@marlonallansupetran7120]

These kinds of tanks is a testament that we still have a lot of things to discover in this hobby (even in freshwater tanks).

[@ScottM]

He does have gorgeous tanks. I met him at one of the swaps and it was so interesting just talking wth him. Great video.

[@ska2dt]

Wow, some of the comments really show the ignorance of people. I'm not sure if it is because they are newbies or just have not heard of Sanjay. I wonder if people realize that people like him, and long time friends like Mike Palletta and Julian Sprung are the reason we even really have a "Reef" hobby and not just a "fish only" hobby. These are the guys (legends) that started it all.

[@bluebastion]

Ditto

[@michifbaby01]

Darren Thomas let these amateur's know what it is...

[@TheThedaftone]

Agreed Darren, i find it hugely disrespectful of some of the commenters on this video to post their uneducated new to the hobby opinions on one of the guys who`s work and passion is the reason they are able to keep anything other than goldfish.

[@sparkyjones560]

So we have them to thank for the destruction of coral reefs around the world... good to know!

[@apdroidgeek1737]

alan .strickland hey i kept my goldfish alive for months

[@jonerikpeterson1727]

Yea i habe 27g hexagon reef.. and same thing.. no skimmer and bot even a sump... just a hob for a filter polishing pad and some pumps and a little canister with denitrate in it and it works just fine.. Ppl go to too many extremes and say it isnt possible.. but it is

[@GetGrizzledOn]

jonerik Peterson if i wanted to start from scratch on a system like that. How would i get started?

[@tyngchinchillachang838]

Do you have any corals if so how do you feed them?

[@coralfish12g]

I spy a Scarlett Johansson & Shaun White!

[@mikeaman2008]

Ok, so this is possibly the best looking nano reef tank on the planet. Awesome job Sanjay. Very cool!

[@StanTheObserver-lo8rx]

I had a 50 gallon like that..all soft corals. 150 watt coralife Metal Halide, and 40 watt grow bulbs. Undergravel filter. Was the best I ever did. I think the key is the same as a freshwater plant tank...rethink your idea of how many fish to put in as least amount is the best amount for corals or plants.

[@bryanpena7268]

I never owned a reef but I assume that once you establish and condition your tank in a certain way, it just works that way. Its like the freshwater discus fish, in germany breeders cultivated them in tap water so the discus over there are more acclimated to higher ph than those found locally. Wouldn't doubt corals can adapt to an environment over many years especially if its controlled in a certain way, like topping off every so many days at the same time keeping a strict schedule. I'm surprised this man never upgraded his tank size after so many years

[@SuperFischboy]

you can see that phenomenon of adaption also in the wild where corals try to adapt to higher temps and ph in the ocean. They also "train" corals under stressful conditions so they are more robust when they put them back in the reef. Corals are amazing

[@joshavila1176]

LOL people making it seem impossible, I mean he was doing water changes and running a skimmer for a decade plus... it's not like he just set it up a year ago and now it's zero maintenance.

[@StudioGhibletz]

exactly, it's just a well balanced aquarium. Totally possible on a tank that age

[@keithwicks9103]

For real. I don't know many people who continue water changes on a 10+year old tank. You can honestly probably stop at the 5 year mark. Your tank is stable at that point

[@D.W.G.]

5 years wow, looks great this guy is a legend.

[@minimarine7801]

I keep coming back to this video. So inspired by this tank 😍. Hope mine looks like this some day!

[@RandomlyRantful]

Glass of red and beautiful reef. This man is my idol.

[@nonyabusi1132]

He knows what he is doing. He said it takes years to get there. Years to establish the tank and the biodiversity. He is patient and he had some very expensive fish to prove it.

[@vtecbanger3180]

I have a 55 gallon i bought used and established 6 years ago. I change the water 15 gallons once a year, feed heavy and have many soft corals, anemone. The corals grew faster when I stopped changing the water 2 years ago. I do run a dyi algae scrubber., deep sand bed, live rock in sump. My secret is prime tap water condition in my top off just as a precaution.

[@reidsmith3002]

Damn that guy is a legend. A gem tang in a tank that has no filter and hasn't had a water change in 5 years

[@matthewmeek4289]

I dont understand how this is possible, like where the fuck does the fish shit go then?

[@platedlizard]

The coral are the filter :)

[@sparkyjones560]

Matthew Meek it breaks down, goes into the sump and the bacteria in there breaks it down further until it can be released from the water. Where does fish shit go in the ocean? If it didn't naturally break down, it would be an ocean of shit by now.

[@jonerikpeterson1727]

legend ??? So i habe a 27g jex reef with no filter either does this mean im a legend.... The problem is everyone in this hobby says you need this and that and i found out like this guy you dont... And fyi he has a sump which is basically a giant canister filter..

[@jonerikpeterson1727]

@@sparkyjones560 actually... sumps canisters and hob filters will maybe pick up 10-20% of food or shit... Most of it floats to the bottom and breaks down in the sand or what not... Filters in fish tanks arent needed.. Sumps are a joke and not needed AT ALL... All most filters do is keep particles in the water out.. but fish poo sinks.. I have a reef tank with no real filters either.. and its fine

[@alexmcdowall8680]

For someone that doesn't like maintenance that tank was polished inside n out.

[@anuenuer]

Awesome tank!!!! I'm just starting a low to no maintenance saltwater invertebrates aquarium using sand, rock, water, and inverts from one of my favorite beaches on Hawaii island. Thanks for this amazing inspiration 🤙🏾. Aloha again from Hawaii

[@randel9658]

I'm new to this kind of hobby and started out with a freshwater tank through the help of some friends. I originally wanted a saltwater tank but I had absolutely no idea of how to build it from scratch, let alone maintain it.

[@esoteric5187]

Coming from someone who has experience in both fields, salt water can be a little bit tricky to set up but not too tough. I will say though, you’ll want to do TONS of research about salt water everything before you get the tank. Do research on different marine salts and which ones are good high quality salts, do research on surface skimmers, RO/DI most definitely (reverse osmosis/ deionization ) different types of polyps and which ones are good for beginners, learn lights, learn fish, learn nitrogen cycle and how to combat certain nitrogen compound spikes like ammonia or nitrite, maybe some research on denitrification. Learn everything 😂 best of luck

[@randel9658]

@@esoteric5187 Thanks, gonna do some research about it. Prolly not gonna be that easy but oh well. I live in a small town close to the sea and go diving often. The sight of beautiful reefs teeming with different species of fish and other creatures is what inspires me to build one.

[@esoteric5187]

Ranie Talsecc ah that’s awesome I’m jealous 👍👍👍

[@xxbellababyrhixx]

Start with hardey fish like clownfish

[@Rvh1]

Same

[@pubwvj]

So good to hear Jake’s voice. Miss him.

[@karljoseph4766]

Beautiful tank everything look so healthy and well maintained bravo 👌👌👌

[@jkpisces]

wow and its so clean without skimmer and water changes

[@playinragz]

Lesson... patience! 20 years it’s established, no filter etc... Incredible!!! RO water additions, no doubt. Soft corals are easiest and certainly rewarding. Looked like Ich on that tangs fin however.

[@Stotz360]

Good video Jake thank you for all the info keep it up!

[@jayJay-cm1zg]

Tanks a million.😊

[@StewartRocco]

Sanjay sent me a few pieces of that gorg 3 yrs ago. I love it! Great video as always Jake😎

[@lunaticrider209]

I put a video up on my 135 gallon fish only saltwater tank. I haven’t done water changes in over five years. I just add supplements and top off ro. I use a oversized sump and skimmer to help with the cleaning. Cheers from California!

[@That_Guy_Named_Epyk]

California for lyfe

[@JBReefer45]

RIP Jake your legacy will live on.

[@captainandrewcrabtree]

Hardly any live rock, that is suprising. Beautiful tank!

[@NationalReefing]

nice low maintenance softie tank and love that "don't fight your reef"

[@memofrf]

This is brilliant. He is a boss.

[@fishsquishguy1833]

Unbelievably beautiful aquarium. The fact that it’s a 29gal tank is really inspiring too. Way ahead of my current skill level right now, but maybe someday.

[@christiansigl1]

sanjay you are a legend

[@ferrari_guy3570]

How the heck does he do it? WTH? This tank is amazing.

[@dansrod5952]

@V T and what about water evaporation?

[@keithwicks9103]

He doesn't. Did you watch the video? He did water changes for 18 years. Most people who don't do water changes did water changes for the first couple years

[@pascal590]

Your videos always have the best music. Would you ever consider making a Spotify playlist?

[@ReefBuildersVideo]

Not a bad idea, I'll look into it, I'm a Spotify power user!

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

I love softy tanks they always look like some really cool childrens fantasy story.

[@neilsmith5883]

Beautiful tank so natural looking.

[@christemple6311]

Omg this is my dream tank!

[@FishmanEricRussell]

An excellent example of ballance

[@naveengowda4698]

His tank is surviving because of corals ...his corals consume a lot of nirates

[@yogidost]

Naveen sir how we can got corals in india

[@gospelofrye6881]

I didn't watch the whole thing - did he say he cuts out and discards/moves coral regularly? The xenia growing on the silicone in the corner glass of the tank would take over the whole tank in 23 months, let alone 23 years! I cut back my xenia heavily every two months!

[@naveengowda4698]

@@yogidost corals are banned in india you can’t get them …try getting anemones

[@1010bigfish]

I know this is a older thread, but I was just curious about supplements. Do you dose the tank at all with anything? That’s a beautiful tank regardless if it was set up yesterday or 23 years ago.

[@magicmoments8037]

proud of u uncle im also indian and ihave a 5yrs old tank with same thinks in india .... #sanjay

[@DeeFromBrooklyn]

He said it all when he said don't fight it. Trying to grow what you know you aren't prepared for. Great update.

[@MASSAquariums]

Dee From Brooklyn I want my 40 to be a no maintenance tank. I'm almost there

[@hakunamatata289]

Love this man.. So against the grain of making this a snake oil business with these 100000 million products..

[@karljoseph4766]

Beautiful reef 🪸tank and a nice selection off fish 🐠 inside the perfect combination bravo 👏

[@shazzvlog2249]

I need this very same set up

[@BoY860]

Those lights are making all the coral explode with color.

[@urbanrat84]

Interesting. I can see organics floating around and algae on the glass but the colours of the corals and clarity of the water surprises me. I'd expect a brown soup by now. Wish you'd tested the water while you were there!

[@A1AAdventures]

... Like Grandma’s Skillet. Never washed, “the time is the seasoning”, it ages and gets better. Like This Tank! 😆

[@RoGuExPaNcAkE]

A1A Adventures I hope I get my grandmas cast iron skillet! lol. And it’s true not supposed to “wash” it but does get cleaned.

[@A1AAdventures]

The hidden kitchen family gems lol

[@ZokomoTV]

I'm amazed he doesn't do water changes. I have only heard of this with people who have skimmers/ or filtration systems

[@tiloalo]

vikinglord13 with the jaubert method you don't need skimmer, however I doubt he is using that method here

[@briarfox637]

I have a hard time believing that tank is actually been running for over 20yrs because it doesn't even look like its been there for a year. It would be in rougher shape.

[@reborngarage1]

can we please get an update on the tank ??!?!?!?!!?

[@alexsulewski2497]

I think Sanjay took down the tank.

[@RogueAquariums]

Nice preview Jake of a pretty spectacular low maintenance Reef.

[@pmang6]

Wow you are still checking the comments on a year old video, props. I really like your videos but i find that sometimes you cut people off and fail to let them explain things at their own pace. I want to hear the owner of the tank tell me what they think is important, rather than the more guided approach you seem to take. Just a bit of my opinions, hope you dont take it the wrong way. Keep up with the great content, cant wait to see you build up the new warehouse space!

[@ferrari_guy3570]

No water changes? Hardly any filtration? How is that possible? The corals must keep the water clean.

[@h20water22]

I think his tank are mature where biological filtration take care of it all. His tank are mostly soft corals mean they are pretty hardy and some corals need a little bit of dirty water( fish poop) so the corals can feed up of that.

[@marrson6249]

@@h20water22 Could be but I've never heard about bacterias which prevent water to get yellow. In this tank I can't see yellow water, and I don't know how that works without water changes and carbon.

[@h20water22]

Marrson what do you mean by that? Do you mean fish poop if so then when the fish poop the corals absorb it in as nutrients

[@nosumpreefing8287]

Never see Sanjay or Mike in recent vids. I'd watch a whole channel of just them.

[@dsx4AI]

I'm skeptical abt the no water change thingy, but thats just because his sump is very small. It's actually possible to maintain a reef tank without water change. In fact, most of marine aquarium shops here in indonesia (where most of your beautiful fishes came from) very rarely, if not never, do water change for their tanks. To maintain their aquarium, they use a huge sump (>>10m) filled with live rocks and dead corals (but not finely crushed like what you often see in branded aquarium media). To keep the salinity stable, they only add ground water every few weeks Granted their tanks are not as pristine as this one. Their tanks tend to have algae problem (most likely because of the high phos from the ground water), and the corals dont bloom as beautiful as this man's tank (they only use cheap lighting). But hey.. no water change is no water change

[@michelhaineault6654]

and it's not even a Jaubert method.Extraordinary accomplishment.

[@ryandixon6428]

Im speechless amazing video

[@mrlordsnooty]

So it did have a skimmer and he has been doing water changes up until the last 5 years, misleading title but what an amazing tank, this guy knows his shit.

[@rafaelrodriguez172]

I wish I could learn more about this I’ve been trying to start my tank my 120g I have it running for 1 month and half now and I got nothing inside but live rocks and sand I also don’t have a sump wish I’m thinking about buying one but this has inspired me a lot it’s a game changer

[@anthonynovello7759]

OK so no water changes no skimmer ... how is CA and Alk kept ? any trace elements added ?

[@brettschneider8521]

Anthony Novello it’s a soft tank so cal and alk isn’t being used really

[@willhowell5104]

why have i watched this video 3 times today. idk!

[@johnsonwu7055]

That’s my (kinda) tank. No skimmer no water changes. I run a sump and I keep my skimmer off because of noise. But mine is fish only with base rock. Just top off and baking soda.

[@blackmamba5380]

Hi.. what is skimmer... is this device helps water get now?? It takes water from a tank below the aquarium and recycle it with the one on the aquarioum?? If you dont have skimmer how can you replace water on a big tank? Manually??

[@splashaquatics4946]

@@blackmamba5380 A skimmer is a device that pulls excess nutrients out of the water, a better place to ask this question would be on a forum such as reef2reef.

[@MileHighReefers]

I love a softy reef!

[@karljoseph4766]

Very natural tank 💯💯💯

[@johnpiper6947]

This shows your tank can still thrive even when not doing all the right things. right on.

[@BoY860]

I have a 65 cube i would like to make into a little to maintenance free system. Is that difficult to acheive?

[@dalewhitmore143]

No water changes. He said he done one 5 years ago.

[@muffemod]

1:10 carbon dosing that wine in there baby!

[@ReefBuildersVideo]

Maybe that's the secret to no water changes ;-)

[@relaxuu9113]

no skimmer, no whater changes and no acroporas

[@ReefBuildersVideo]

Touché!

[@kevinhelfrich1705]

No water changes and no skimmer? That's crazy. I don't see any method for nutrient export . Where do they go? I'd be curious to know what his levels of nitrate and phosphate are at.

[@Arie_Idaho_Reef]

He prob doesn't overfeed his system, there for his beneficial bacteria and corals soak up enough nutrients to keep his tank stable.

[@yogidost]

Salute to you sir please tell me how u maintain the tank

[@theindianmarineaquarist2035]

param mitra I am from India, lets talk more about the marine aquarium hobby. Contact me at [e-mail]

[@yogidost]

@@theindianmarineaquarist2035 hi dear

[@davidgalarza781]

wow that is an amazing tank, very busy

[@ronlindsay6477]

Whats the filter system? NO FILTER!! Sump, but it's not on!

[@armouredcat2369]

gotta be one of the healthiest tanks ive seen

[@Mike__B]

one of the nicest tanks I had was a 120g soft coral (and RBTA) tank, it did have a skimmer (but a very cheap one) but yeah it was one of those water change every other year if I could be bothered to get to it type of things. Had dwarf angels in it, all the mean fish (not predator ones just mean), and it ran great. Unfortunately dumbass me did a live experiment on how torque works and snapped the back pane of glass. But it did manage to get into a UK aquarium magazine so I'm happy about that :D

[@tsurro8086]

He's the man!!

[@RainyDayCollectibles]

Dude, Where is his main tank video? I've been waiting for like 3 weeks.

[@ReefBuildersVideo]

I'm ramping up the video production with MACNA around the corner and I PROMISE it's in the queue, and will be totally worth it.

[@heavenlyhatch6219]

I haven't done a water change on my 55 in 5 months just tops off no skimer and feed every other day or ever few days never clean the glass or anything ha it's my 5th salt water tank had a 9 gallon 55 30 another 50 going to a 120 and building a 24 gallon cube for a nano reef

[@BuiltInBrooklyn]

Project Build mk5 how? How do you get rid of the poo and all that stuff? I’m looking to start a nano reef tank and would love the input!

[@OSSOYT]

Clean up crew, micro organisms and corals can consume the waste I suppose.

[@deontetoliver1159]

Also do you dose?

[@heavenlyhatch6219]

Deonte Toliver no I don’t I never have yet but it’s hard if a fish gets sick with no protein skimmer or anything even algae Blumes it never happeneds don’t even use a auto top off just put water in every so often use leds so there’s not a lot of evaporation

[@pxtfish5478]

Would be nice to know what are the parameters of the tank, and if he adds any supplements.

[@unleashdogscom]

Sanjay rarely tests his water

[@salmanhussain9967]

I am not trying to doubt anything here, but does he top off the tank water??? I mean you gotta have some evaporation right?? Also, how is the water so clean, especially without a mechanical filter (as the comments suggest)?? mind blown!

[@fitprofile]

Salman Hussain too offs aren’t considered water changes.

[@Mr345696]

Salman Hussain the coral helps breakdown waste and is pretty much a biological filter. Benefits of live coral in saltwater and plants in freshwater

[@catalunia68]

woooooooow bellisimo acuario, felicidades

[@nomsen2100]

Love the softies 👍 why didnt the Gramma Melacara got a mention. A beautiful fish, rarely seen.

[@nomsen2100]

FOWLR4NOW Maybe you're right. Just looked like the blackcap basslet :)

[@wattpad9728]

this reef is older than me!!

[@inkslingerdrew]

This man knows how to relax, haha!

[@bearclawws]

I would like to know what all he doses to maintain it. That would most likely be the stuff to use.