sounds good barnsey i'll set it up with live rock pebbles. i have the fluval 405 it has 4 trays ill put live rock in 3 then carbon in the top tray. maybe i'll set up a sump soon. i will need to know how to set up an overflow then. until then thanks to all with thier info, very appreciated.

Fishboy, one thing I think your missing is the chemical aspect. I have aggressive corals such as a Hammerhead coral with kenya coral trees and Xenia's in a 29 Gallon and need the canister to run charcoal that I change every month or the chem warfare would lay havoc as I'm told. I could run this in a sump but I don't have one, only a HOB Aqua C Romora Protein Skimmer.

However I have read on wetwebmedia that LR in the canister does not necessarily work given the no light conditions. Haven't followed up on this to verify though. I'll research further.

As for the Phosban I may add a level of this, thanks for the tip Barnsey.

You dont need light for bacteria to colonize.......the problem with canisters is they TRAP debris....no matter the media its a PITA to remove all the media full of water and clean it out weekly. Live rock/bioballs/bio bale it doesnt matter it all does the same thing. The truth of the matter is......if you could keep the bioballs from trapping debris...they would prove to be efficient in a reef tank if completly submerged. The Aerobic bacteria converts nitrites to nitrates.......nitrates are harmful to corals.......so excess nitrates will literally bleach and stunt the growth of corals. If you wanted an efficient way of removing nitrates......besides LR.......you can dose kalkwasser......it literally precipitates the nitrates pulling them out of suspension in the water column making them harmless. OR you could run a nitrate media.....OR you could run a scrubber.......OR......you could just feed less and let your LR and skimmer do the work for you. I havent fed my tank in a week........my fish are fat and happy and the tank is healthy. I usually feed them once or twice a day a few pellets a piece....(small sinking pellets) Back to the topic......I havent ran ANY chemicals in my new tank since I started it up. I dont think that I need to, my tank is healthy and its running fine without them. So why fix what isnt broken. If you want to run a canister......go for it ........its your tank! But personally I wouldnt even go near one for the reasons stated above. Its just a nitrate bomb waiting to blow your tank up with nutrients.

I dont run anything at all.....I have a calcium reactor that takes care of calcium needs.....as well as my magnesium needs. Everything else is taken care of with water changes every two weeks and great skimming.