Enough filtration?

by **Fixer10499** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:52 am

Novice new to salt. I have a tank that is small but I want to overcompensate for this fact with over filtration. Currently I have a 29 gallon with a Eheim Ecco 2234 Canister Filter at 145 gpm. A nano in tank skimmer rated at 29 gallons max. 16lbs of live sand and 5 pounds of live rock. I really want to keep going on the filtration route but I want to know which direction gives me the most bang for the buck. Refugium? More LS/LR? Bigger Skimmer? I enjoy the peaceful quite that the current setup provides and want to keep that if possible but I’m open to the direction that gives my snowflake eel the best environment. Does FOWLR stand for fish Only With Live Rock?

by **fihsboy** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:13 am

Ditch the canister and the nano in tank, they are just going to build up nitrates and give you massive amount of algae. We can all attest to this. You want to run a sump. I know its only 29 gallons.....but you can fit a 10 gallon sump under your tank and run a skimmer made for a 125 tank.....that in turn will give you the best filtration possible with decent water movement. I have a 45 with a 10 gallon sump and a oversized skimmer. The sump was only added to accomadate the skimmer. Get yourself a in sump reef octopus skimmer and you will be happy as ever. Yes about the FOWLR. You will want to get more rock....The cheapest....Marco rocks. Just google it. I bought 50 lbs for $112, and its quality rock. Im not saying what you have now wont work......because it will, but you will be pulling your hair out with it. If you go the live rock and huge skimmer method....the only thing to clean is the skimmer cup.....and that is a grand feeling. :) I have been running my 45 for three months now with mostly sps and its just that setup......works for me and 90% of the reefing people.

by **Fixer10499** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:36 pm

How loud is the sump skimmer set up, I just shelled out 150 for a very nice non refundable canister, this sucks, are u saying that canisters make bad water quality? I understand one route on filtration is prefered, but is there measured specific difference in filtration qaulity
or just anicdotal information.

by **fihsboy** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:49 pm

Canisters are okay........but they trap debris...which in turn cause searious nitrate issues. Ask blueshoes about his canister.

by **Snowboss4492** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:16 pm

you probably need to service a canister filter twice as much as the recomended service intervals to keep them semi neutral as far as nitrate factories.........but as fishboy said, it sure is nice to just dump a skimmer cup every other day and spend time looking at the tank rather than looking under it at the filter...............frequent water changes are a must as well....................at least 20-25% weekly to start..............as you get comfortable and the tank stablizes you might be able to do less but i wouldnt count on it - -im running a 20 gallon for 2+ yrs and do weekly 25% changes still - - -ive heard of other doing monthly changes but i personally dont agree with that theory {not that its wrong i just dont agree}

Boss

by **lionlord3502** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:57 am

yous your canister as a carbon canister/ rock base bio filter that will take care of your bio filtering but you will have to clean out debre once a month or when you change the carbon out on it just remember you can never have to much filtration but you can have to much skimming. plus you will wast a tone on money. the skimmer pulls out the good and the bad. and you will find your self have to put a tone of trace elements in your tank

by **newbie916** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:42 am

I agree with boss. I have a 24 gallon and 95 gallon reef. I do weekly 20-30% water changes with Reef Crystals. I was dosing supplements, but I noticed that I didn't need to because of the water changes and high quality salt.

I'm not running a protein skimmer. My filtration are two filter sponges, phosban, and carbon. I also have about 40lbs of live rock and 20lbs of live sand. I have a 150 watt MH Sunpod with a 14k Phoenix bulb. If your planning on getting Acans or high light sensitive corals be very careful. I've bleached and lost a 60 head Acan colony this past week. Still has 20 heads on it, but it's RTN'd. The hobby gets frustrating sometimes, but all of us lose corals every once and a while. Anyways, make sure you cycle your tank and add the live rocks before you start adding livestock.

by **Fixer10499** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:11 am

"I don't have skimmer on my nano tank.
For your tank size, you may not need skimmer as well.
Just do weekly water change and install good quality external filter. Eheim is the one I strongly recommend. "

Posted by chingchai
Premium Member

This guy is a sick SW expert, his advice makes sense to me. I'll just do weekly 5 gallon water changes and save the skimmer purchase for the 90 gallon I'll need in 2 years when this snowflake is to big for this tank :D

by **Snowboss4492** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 10:40 pm

sounds like a plan

by **puffedupseagull** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:54 pm

If its not broke dont fix the fucker

Enough filtration?

10 posts