Few questions. Phyto, CUC and rubble in sump.

[Lucas in Alaska]

Hello,
I'm relatively new to salt water tanks, I've had my 29 for about 7 months now. I'm looking at a 40 or 75 gallon reef tank with a sump and have a few questions. I originally wanted to run a skimmerless system with a lot of live rock, cheato, Carbon and GFO. I wanted to have the best pod production possible in a system and a skimmer just didn't seem right. So here is my questions.

In the sump is it advantageous to have a lot of live rock and rubble for pods? I was also thinking of possibly putting a peacock mantis in my sump. Would the live rock help pod production in my sump?

What kind of clean up crew do I need in my main tank? I know there are recommendations for CUC's if you are using a regular sump but what are the recommendations for a CUC for a ATS system?

Do I need to or can I feed my system Phytoplankton? I don't know how the ATS works with Phyto. Do I need to add Rotifers to my system or do the pods get big enough?

Thanks

Lucas

[SantaMonica]

Welcome to the forum.

For a scrubber reef, you don't need the carbon (removes vitamins and amino acids), GFO (reduces scrubber growth), or chaeto (will die because of scrubber). Your rock and sand are enough.

Yes a sump with lots of rock rubble (1/4 to 1/2 inch) will give pods lots of places to breed). I like the bags of gravel rocks used for FW tanks.

CUC is your choice; is not affected by the scrubber.

Phyto (non-live) is not needed; few photo corals eat it, and so it just adds nutrients. You can use it if you want, though. Any liquid feedings should be blended seafood particles, fed slowly and continuously, for the corals.

Your scrubber will add lots of baby copepods, and the rock gravel will trap waste to help feed pod growth.