Canister Filters

[bellebob]

Hi All,
I am starting a new saltwater tank as have always been a freshwater guy. i am going to use 2 canister filters in my tank as it is not set up for a sump, has anybody any advice as to what is the best media to use?
Many thanks in advance

 

[Alarmguy66]

Starting out new, just filter floss and carbon, nothing else you should need. As time goes on that might change, but for at least the first few months that will be enough.

 

[ReefStable Verified Sponsor]

I highly recommend staying away from canister filters for saltwater. The media needs to be changed too often for them to make sense.

Here is a Guide for Saltwater Filtration, mechanical filters are at the bottom.
Additionally, here are my Top 5 Filter Choices.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

I highly recommend staying away from canister filters for saltwater. The media needs to be changed too often for them to make sense.

Here is a Guide for Saltwater Filtration, mechanical filters are at the bottom.
Additionally, here are my Top 5 Filter Choices.

Hey man, first, really like your blog. Lots of good easy information. I was given a eheim canister filter to use in my 65G. Im just learning that the floss and the product as a whole could be housing nitrates. In any event, I went to a local aquarium store and was told I should use my canister as a media reactor and loose the floss.

I only have a 65G tank. Have a couple zoa frags and 3 small fish, so not a lot going on right now...before I add anything else (my nitrates are 20) how should I assemble my canister? Should o just put some mech on the bottom and use onky carbon? Remove the floss and use carbon until i may need to add something else?

The guy told me that canisters can be used on small tanks, but, seeing as mine is 65g I'd have to clean the floss like 3x a week for it to work decent.

Any tips would help. Gotta use what I got right now. I plan on testing my phos in the coming days as the kit is in the mail.

I plan on adding a protein skimmer in the future, but I'm ok doing weekly maintenance for a while, but 3x a week is too much.

Rob

 

[Fastpitch]

I use a canister fx4 on a 150 gallon fish only. The water right now is brilliant. I use ROX carbon and Phosguard. I also use biopellets in a separate reactor since I am a lazy hobbyist and almost never do water changes. I would caution against using to many biopellets since I have experienced bacteria blooms that resulted in tang HLLE.

 

[Bryn]

Great replies. I will add that I have used my old freshwater canister filter to move water from tank to bucket, bucket to tank, vacuum junk off the bottom of a tank. It has a lot of uses, so even if you do not use it, keep it around, you never know when you might find a use for it.

 

[brandon429]

run it empty, for the current it provides and empty is easy cleaning. no media is required.


might sound like a flippant offer, its planned out tho
its the reverse of what tanks asking for invasion challenge help in the nuisance algae forum do

running socks to catch waste is common/same function as filter floss in a canister but running the socks doesnt do much good if we can reach in a reef, grab sand and drop it, and the cloud that comes from it could kill some reefs and in others it just causes cyano blooms for a while

my point is, we're catching detritus in small places but leaving it in the big obvious places, and you running an empty filter could allow you to focus on keeping the display actually clean from time to time vs stored up, and on the verge of some invasion, since you can see whats in the filter doesnt matter much to the display tank/it has plenty of surface area and it needs your cleaning, not adding more in back.

clean sandbed systems, high flow, clean rocks, and using socks now thats a low-detritus design but its rare.

most are dedicated to cleaning filters but run very accumulated tanks, your filter doesnt need anything in it since you have enough surface area up front already. adding more doesnt make it more stable. running adsorbing media for nitrate or po4 is common for them, if you want to run those items.