I have started a salt water tank comming from fresh water. The tank is about a month and a half old currently. I have been out of work because of this covid crap since March 4 so money is an issue. I am trying to use what I can from the existing setup. What I have is a 45 gallon tank because it is the largest i could fit on my stand and the room we have for the tank. I have an older penguin biowhell 200 filter i am using until the cartridges run out. Looking at the hang on tank salt water filters it looks like I can easily improve on the one i have. Most HOT filters are nothing but a box to hold material. I am going to take out the filter cartridge and replace it with chemi pure elite, tidal 55 matrix, and a poly filter. My question is what is the best way to stack it? I am thinking poly, carbon, and matrix from bottom up. The biowheel has been removed. The only livestock in the tank currently is 2 PJ cardinal, 2 Banggai cardinal, 1 Halloween crab and 1 electric blue crab. There is liverock and live sand in the tank as well. I also have a nano powerhead producing about 10x flow. That is all that is in the tank currently. Eventually I will add some corals but that is at least 6 months out.
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Flippers4pups
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In that order is fine. Hoping things turn around for you soon!
ichthyogeek
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So it looks like you're really just using the filter for water flow and chemical filtration, since you already have live rock and live sand, which do the bulk of the biological filtration. If you haven't purchased it, I'd skip on the tidal 55 matrix.
Of the two remaining (poly filter and carbon), I think it really depends on what you're aiming for. My question, is why do you want to use poly filter and carbon? For what purposes/compounds in the tank are you trying to remove?
Of the two remaining (poly filter and carbon), I think it really depends on what you're aiming for. My question, is why do you want to use poly filter and carbon? For what purposes/compounds in the tank are you trying to remove?
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Mandopicker
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I just want to keep the tank as clean as possible. I will probably eventually go to a sump before I add corals but have not decided. It is only 45 gallons so not sure if i need to. I want to see how the water is for awhile first. I understand that the live rock and sand provide the majority of the biological filtration but figured adding more couldn't hurt since there is room in the filter.
ichthyogeek
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Ok, let’s define what you mean by keeping “the tank as clean as possible”. Are there chemicals/compounds you’re trying to avoid? If so, list them please! Otherwise, it seems like you’re trying to fight an imaginary monster and spending money to fight it.
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Mandopicker
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By as clean as possible i mean just that. I want to keep out any contaminate that might enter the system. I do not have a quarantine tank nor do I have the space for one. I did have an issue that one of my PJs had fluke so I treated the entire tank with ponzi pro. (Without filtration) I have put back in the filtration after the treatment was effective. I have also found a much nicer LFS that does quarantine all their livestock before they put it in their system for sale. They do cost a little more but that does minimize the risk to some degree. You say it seems like i am fighting an imaginary monster. Are you suggesting that I have no other filtration other than biological that my rocks and sand provide? I am planning on adding a sump later but wanted something in the meantime. If I do not need any other filtration other than biological then adding a sump makes no sense either. I am also considering adding a skimmer instead of a sump. Space is a huge issue. Either way I go will be a few months from now anyway.
ichthyogeek
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Ok....if you want to keep the contaminate that might enter the system out of it, then just keep it out through proper protocols instead of thinking that a filter with X and Y is going to fix it, because chances are, it's not. And please don't misinterpret what I'm saying. I'm saying that you don't need any extra biological filtration because you already have live rock and sand in your tank. You could just as well need chemical or mechanical filtration, but we don't know what else you might need if you keep throwing around problems of varying ambiguity.
There are a million problems that can come in with the water in your aquarium alone. Fighting the monster of "dirty water" and keeping the tank water as "clean" as possible is incredibly nuanced, and refusing to detail what you think of as "dirty" only propagates the many, many heads of a monster that is already hard to deal with. I was trying to avoid giving examples so you wouldn't just point and say "yes, that" to them, but I guess I'll have to do so.
Example 1: Let's say your water is not pristine. Oh, the water parameters are fine. But there's all this floating particulate matter in it. Poly filter and Matrix aren't going to do the best job at removing all of that. A filter sock, or very fine mesh like pillow filling/filter floss/a fine sponge will do a better job at filtering that stuff out.
Example 2: Let's say your water is turning yellow. In this one, specific case, carbon is what you want, since it adsorbs the gelbstoff (aka the yellow water). A protein skimmer however, would be better, since it not only removes the gelbstoff, but also will help remove any scum that's on the surface of the tank.
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Mandopicker
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I got my first freshwater tank about 38 years ago. Saltwater is a lot more picky than freshwater. I have always followed an ounce of prevention is worth more than a bound of cure philosophy. My thinking was to go ahead and set up the best filtration I can using what I have. I have very little income currently due to our idiot governor keeping our state shut down. I have to make due with what i have. I moved over to saltwater this time because we recently moved into a new house and I had been without any active tank for a couple years. I was keeping bala sharks but they all died of old age and I took the tank down.
Ok then, what would you suggest I do with filtration? I am going to keep the HOB filter running even if it was empty to keep movement on the surface to aid in oxygen exchange until i decide what i want to do with corrals. At this point I am thing all softies but might add some LPS.
Ok then, what would you suggest I do with filtration? I am going to keep the HOB filter running even if it was empty to keep movement on the surface to aid in oxygen exchange until i decide what i want to do with corrals. At this point I am thing all softies but might add some LPS.
ichthyogeek
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Quite frankly, I'd take out all the chemical filtration. There's going to be particulate matter in the tank, so I'd just do something like a very fine filter floss or something to keep particulates down, replacing it/washing it every week or so. If you have the cash, get a nice skimmer as well. That's really all you need for success. All the excess stuff is great for managing stuff for coral/algae, but definitely isn't necessary.
And I feel you on the very little income bit. Most of the jobs I'm qualified for require me to relocate and for the states the jobs are in to open up the public universities.
And I feel you on the very little income bit. Most of the jobs I'm qualified for require me to relocate and for the states the jobs are in to open up the public universities.
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Mandopicker
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OK but like I said before the plan is to add coral in about 6 months. It might be overkill now but I do want to start setting this tank up to be successful. Would removing that HOB filter and replacing it with a skimmer be all that I should do? I do know that I am going to add a skimmer at some point in order to allow for a heavier bioload than what is currently in the tank. I do not want to go crazy but would like more than a few hermit crabs and 4 cardinals to look at. I will more than likely do that before I start adding corals. I will start a build post tomorrow after I get photos off my good camera.
ichthyogeek
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Get a skimmer, and then a sponge prefilter for the skimmer. That's basically all I run on my tank, and it's got some fairly lively mushrooms and GSP in it. Depending on the coral you plan to get as well as the fish, it might be enough, not enough, or overkill.
ReefBeta
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Just fill the HOB with seachem matrix for bio filtration. Not sure if you have power head in the tank. If you don't have enough flow in the tank, rock alone won't provide enough bio filtration.
Adding a HOB skimmer is good. But you will really need an ATO with it, otherwise the fluctuate water level with make tuning the skimmer real painful.
If you want coral, getting enough flow is most important. Probably start thinking about some wavemaker now.
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Mandopicker
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I have a voyager nano 2000 providing 530 gph flowrate which is 11.7X. I will probably add another nano or go to something that is controllable. I went with the nano because of the smaller footprint.
I do have to go to the LFS tomorrow to get some water tomorrow so will look at skimmers then. That might be a couple weeks before I can get one of them. At least it will give me an idea of what to expect.
I do have to go to the LFS tomorrow to get some water tomorrow so will look at skimmers then. That might be a couple weeks before I can get one of them. At least it will give me an idea of what to expect.
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