I bought a 20-30 gallon canister filter of eBay. It's sunsun hw- 602b. I'm sure someone has heard of it. It comes with 3 different porous sponges. Small place to put extra media above and below the top and bottom sponges. My question is that right now I only have a biowheel on my 20 long tank that's rated for 10-20 gallons. I estimate that I have 15 lbs of live rock in there too. I also have a 60 gallon rated sponge filter in there. Love the oxygen and bacteria that it makes and holds. I'm thinking of adding the canister to it. If I don't I have a ten gallon tank sitting around I may start up and use it for that. Any ideas what I should do? Also when I do set it up should I just use the sponges it came with or junk them and add my own media in there? Like carbon, ceramic rings, bioballs, help me out here!!!! Lol. Thanks for reading!!!
Canister filter...
- Thread starter tmac18
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Virtualbasil
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2015
- Messages
- 355
- Reaction score
- 59
I don't think a canister filter is enough filtration even for a nano IMO.
Virtualbasil
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2015
- Messages
- 355
- Reaction score
- 59
You would have to do serious water changes. You may have short term success but like a few months down the road you would be having problems.
Dtackett
Valuable Member
actually a canister filter is plenty. remember, your main source of filtration is your rock. anything beyond that is just for removing detritus and organics. a 1gph filter is enough for a 1k gallon tank without having to do a lot of water changes because the rock is what does the real work.
that being said, canister filters are a pain on saltwater tanks. they work great for freshwater but in saltwater they become nitrate factories unless they are cleaned OFTEN and I don't mean a quick rinse. they need to be cleaned on all interior surfaces and if they don't have smooth hoses all the way, the hoses need cleaned too. youre better off with a hob than a canister. I wouldn't use it.
that being said, canister filters are a pain on saltwater tanks. they work great for freshwater but in saltwater they become nitrate factories unless they are cleaned OFTEN and I don't mean a quick rinse. they need to be cleaned on all interior surfaces and if they don't have smooth hoses all the way, the hoses need cleaned too. youre better off with a hob than a canister. I wouldn't use it.
Virtualbasil
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2015
- Messages
- 355
- Reaction score
- 59
I think like 6 months down the road you will have problems
saltysilverado
Active Member
I'm using a 150g rated canister filter on my 55g reef tank and for media I replaced all the cheap filter and carbon and I put in a chemipure blue bag, purigen, and also using phosguard
Lynn52
Active Member
I used a canister filter for over 10 years. It requires weekly maintenance but works very well.
That being said I doubt you really need it. Your live rock is your primary filter and you have A HOB and sponge that should filter out particulates. I don't run filters on either of my display tanks just sumps with skimmers. I do run a cheap HOB filter on my 20 gallon QT tank. I never have water quality issues in that tank even when I have 6 fish in it.
That being said I doubt you really need it. Your live rock is your primary filter and you have A HOB and sponge that should filter out particulates. I don't run filters on either of my display tanks just sumps with skimmers. I do run a cheap HOB filter on my 20 gallon QT tank. I never have water quality issues in that tank even when I have 6 fish in it.
melypr1985
totally addicted
Your thinking in terms of adding water volume... can't go wrong right? Well, with the canister filter- even if you miss just one cleaning- can become a nitrate factory and make it very difficult to keep good water parameters. Now think about your factory being 1 and 1/2 times as big as your city. In this case, more water volume isn't a great thing when that extra volume is potentially polluted.
Canisters work great for fresh water, but not recommended for saltwater.
Canisters work great for fresh water, but not recommended for saltwater.
I'm doing 10-15 % water changes every weekend. I started with tap water that I treated but since moved to buying my water from my fish guy. So in time removing all the crap tap water I should never of used. I read and heard 1 lb of live rock per gallon. I'm only at 15. I eventually want to get rid of my sponge filter. But I know my sponge is holding tons of bacteria. I know after a few months my sponge will clog. That's why I want more live rock. I just added about 7 lbs. Need about 5 more. Thanks for everyone's input. If I do use the canister I will use it for purigan/ carbon or bioballs/ ceramic rings. But prolly only in my fowlr tank.
pondman
Active Member
Sorry haven't been on in a few days when I ran mine I would clean them every other water change I would do a five gallon a week then so every other week. I would take out the sponges and clean out in sink. Also I would dump the pods back in tank. Hope this helps.
