Canister Filter

William Spak · Apr 23, 2019

Hey everyone... I have a canister filter for my 35 gallon reef aquarium. I bought this last year... tank has been running since last August. I’ve now heard that these filters aren’t so good. I am pretty much stuck with this filter for now. My nitrates have been high but since we have made the switch to RO water and are currently doing every other day 30% water changes they are going down. Will they stay down if I don’t over feed? Any opinions on what I should do?

Thanks!

Big G · Apr 23, 2019

That's a great question. It depends a lot on how you have the filtration setup "inside" the filter unit. Here's a link that may help you.

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatfishblog/2007/10/10/canister-filters-for-saltwater/#.XL8saaZlD-Y

Slim64684 · Apr 23, 2019

I have a canister on my 20 long and my nitrates hover right at 10ppm. I don't have any media in the filter though. Just some floss on the intake that I change every 3 to 4 days.

Peace River · Apr 23, 2019

William Spak said:
Hey everyone... I have a canister filter for my 35 gallon reef aquarium. I bought this last year... tank has been running since last August. I’ve now heard that these filters aren’t so good. I am pretty much stuck with this filter for now. My nitrates have been high but since we have made the switch to RO water and are currently doing every other day 30% water changes they are going down. Will they stay down if I don’t over feed? Any opinions on what I should do?

Thanks!

William, there are multiple opinions on this - I agree with @Big G that the filtration media is key. Although some use canister filters as an all in one filter (mechanical, biological, and chemical), I choose not to use it as a primary source of biological filtration. My personal recommendation is to remove bioballs or any other biological filtration from the filter and use live rock and live sand in the tank for the biological filtration. Fill all of the chamber of the canister with mechanical filtration (e.g., filter floss, sponges, etc.). You can also occasionally adding chemical filtration (such as activated carbon) to your canister. Then clean the filter media in the canister every week or two and keep up with your regular water changes to supplement the filtration (once the levels stabilize you can reduce water frequency to every week or so based on your tests). This approach also minimizes the risks associated with anoxic conditions in the filter if you lose power for an extended period of time. Additionally, I encourage you to stay consistent with your water quality tests. Canister filters may not be optimal but they can be a valid filtration option. Good luck!

William Spak · Apr 23, 2019

Peace River said:
William, there are multiple opinions on this - I agree with @Big G that the filtration media is key. Although some use canister filters as an all in one filter (mechanical, biological, and chemical), I choose not to use it as a primary source of biological filtration. My personal recommendation is to remove bioballs or any other biological filtration from the filter and use live rock and live sand in the tank for the biological filtration. Fill all of the chamber of the canister with mechanical filtration (e.g., filter floss, sponges, etc.). You can also occasionally adding chemical filtration (such as activated carbon) to your canister. Then clean the filter media in the canister every week or two and keep up with your regular water changes to supplement the filtration (once the levels stabilize you can reduce water frequency to every week or so based on your tests). This approach also minimizes the risks associated with anoxic conditions in the filter if you lose power for an extended period of time. Additionally, I encourage you to stay consistent with your water quality tests. Canister filters may not be optimal but they can be a valid filtration option. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the help!

William Spak · Apr 23, 2019

Big G said:
That's a great question. It depends a lot on how you have the filtration setup "inside" the filter unit. Here's a link that may help you.

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatfishblog/2007/10/10/canister-filters-for-saltwater/#.XL8saaZlD-Y

Thanks!

William Spak · Apr 23, 2019

Slim64684 said:
I have a canister on my 20 long and my nitrates hover right at 10ppm. I don't have any media in the filter though. Just some floss on the intake that I change every 3 to 4 days.

Thanks!!

Oshengems · Apr 23, 2019

I had one my first year i got it free so figured let me use it, great for pods I had a bag of chemi pure and bag of carbon then the rest full of rubble rocks tons of pods, I was able Eheim canister filter eventually needed the outlet

hotdrop · Apr 23, 2019

I wonder if you can add a algee reactor in line with your canister to lower the nitrates and if it would work well enough to keep them down.

William Spak · Apr 24, 2019

Peace River said:
William, there are multiple opinions on this - I agree with @Big G that the filtration media is key. Although some use canister filters as an all in one filter (mechanical, biological, and chemical), I choose not to use it as a primary source of biological filtration. My personal recommendation is to remove bioballs or any other biological filtration from the filter and use live rock and live sand in the tank for the biological filtration. Fill all of the chamber of the canister with mechanical filtration (e.g., filter floss, sponges, etc.). You can also occasionally adding chemical filtration (such as activated carbon) to your canister. Then clean the filter media in the canister every week or two and keep up with your regular water changes to supplement the filtration (once the levels stabilize you can reduce water frequency to every week or so based on your tests). This approach also minimizes the risks associated with anoxic conditions in the filter if you lose power for an extended period of time. Additionally, I encourage you to stay consistent with your water quality tests. Canister filters may not be optimal but they can be a valid filtration option. Good luck!

Just a small follow-up. So... I should take out these noodles i have in the canister?I have had live rock and sand for the entire duration of the tank being up. And I should only have sponges in the canister? And clean them out every week or so? How would I go about cleaning them? Thanks!!

Peace River · Apr 24, 2019

William Spak said:
Just a small follow-up. So... I should take out these noodles i have in the canister?I have had live rock and sand for the entire duration of the tank being up. And I should only have sponges in the canister? And clean them out every week or so? How would I go about cleaning them? Thanks!!

I'm not sure what noodles that you are referring to, but I am assuming that they are for biological filtration. If you choose to follow the approach that uses the canister primarily for mechanical filtration then I suggest that you use sponges which remove larger particles and then filter floss (an inexpensive alternative is pillow batting that can be found at a sewing or craft stores) which remove smaller particles. Other media possibilities include blue filter pads or non-dyed felt (for removing even finer particles).

In order to clean the media you can rinse it in RO water (not tap water) and reuse until the media starts to break down. You will need to choose your own approach and determine what is best for you but IMHO this is a viable approach. Good luck!