So I am upgrading my nano 20 to a 45 and had planned on drilling for a sump/ refugium set up but I just got a marineland canister filter rated for 100 gallons never been used still in the box for $20 on Craigslist. So I was thinking of saving my time and money and using that on it. Any thoughts? I know that it will be a hit in over all quality but I don't see a lot of reason not to I think I can maintain more then excellent tank conditions with it as I have used two HOB filters up until this point and have never had a problem keeping perfect parameters and my coral (both soft/hard)is growing like a weed. I value the opinion of my fellow reefers please feel free to give me opinions you won't hurt my feelings!
Canister filter reefs
- Thread starter jstec
- Start date
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Ya don't really need a canister filter on a salt tank. You can however, if your maintenance on them is weekly, they tend to collect garbage and will turn into a nitrate factory. A Sump/Fuge on the other hand is totally different, that where you hide all your equipment, and grow macro alge which in turn cleans your water naturally. Not saying you can't run one, I do, but I run one because I dose a Lanthanum Product for phosphates, and the filter helps get the bound phosphate out of the water.
ElGuapo
New Member
I ran an Eheim canister on my 46 bowfront for a good 6 years without any issues. Will require a bit more maintenance than a sump would since as someone mentioned above it can become a nitrate factory if you get lazy. I left the original filter pad in there (the nylony one), chucked the filter floss and bio-balls and just used chemi-pure and some seachem nitrate reducing rocks and once in a while put in a polyfilter at the first stage. Once I got complacent I would only do water changes once every 2-3 weeks and would clean the filter out every 2 months or so. This would involve replacing the polyfilter, rinsing the pad, and replacing the seachem and chemi pure. Had a bunch of live rock in the display which probably helped but my nitrates were never high. So in the end, definitely not the most recommended filtration method but yes it can be done. Tank was running 6 or 7 years with a canister, coralife T5's, and an aqua-c remora skimmer and successfully kept a bunch of LPS and softies. One thing though, first canister I got was also a marineland. Ended up leaking after about a year. After some research I ended up getting an Eheim that was about the same price. Best decision ever. Those germans know what they're doing. Not one issue with that filter. Have also used their pumps and they're much quieter and seem to put out more flow than comparable pumps like mag drives. But for $20 you can't really go wrong. If you're handy might as well drill, or check craigslist for a used drilled tank. Found my 72 bowfront with stand and sump for $200
I tend to build everything myself I'm just trying to give myself a break I recently just built my hermans tortoise an outdoor enclosure and am making my own led lighting for the new tank $27 dollars worth of parts is way better then the $200 I'd spend on a new led commercial system. Thanks for the input on the filter I think I'm going to have to just go for it and switch it up later if I have to I just hate to leave it in the basement unused
3dees
Well-Known Member
I use a cheap canister on my 120. I run carbon and gfo with some poly. I clean It every two weeks with my wc. I can't get any nitrates. I don't have a sump so this was the easiest way to go. 15 months and so far no problems.
Maintained properly, canister filters are great for SW! So many uses. Can run just about anything in them, without wondering where to put the lil bags 
You'll be fine!
You'll be fine!
RAD Aquatics!
New Member
I think cannister filters for reefs have gotten a bad wrap over the past recent years, but I think they have a place in the hobby that most people dont appreciate.
Theyre great little reactors for picos and nanos, and the right eqipment also looks a lot cleaner than say a HOB filter. You can also run heaters inline, which again is great for smaller aquariums.
Theyre great little reactors for picos and nanos, and the right eqipment also looks a lot cleaner than say a HOB filter. You can also run heaters inline, which again is great for smaller aquariums.
