FOWLR Filter

[Raineforrest]

My husband and I are still in the planning stages for a 46 gallon bow front tank. I'm leaning towards a sump but am still trying to figure out if I can do the plumbing myself.

This weekend he decided to also purchase a used 75 gallon with stand. He is really leaning towards fish and live rock only in this tank and insists on using a Marineland Emporer 400 that we had already purchased. I was reading that carbon filters are not good for a saltwater tank because they pull the good nutrients out of the water. Is there anyway that he can modify this HOB to better filter the tank without causing problems?

 

[benbalter]

Well a sump is much more flexible. You use a sump because salt water seem to make more waste to be removed. Then you can add Chaco or magum plants. Far as the canister filters are fine to and you can remove part of the carbon filter if you want but carbon is no a bad thing. Coconut carbon is a bad thing it adds phosphate to the water. Super charging the alge growth. Sooner or later you will end up adding corals any way

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

My husband and I are still in the planning stages for a 46 gallon bow front tank. I'm leaning towards a sump but am still trying to figure out if I can do the plumbing myself.

This weekend he decided to also purchase a used 75 gallon with stand. He is really leaning towards fish and live rock only in this tank and insists on using a Marineland Emporer 400 that we had already purchased. I was reading that carbon filters are not good for a saltwater tank because they pull the good nutrients out of the water. Is there anyway that he can modify this HOB to better filter the tank without causing problems?

I’m confident you can do the plumbing yourself. I wouldn’t trust cutting a hole in a glass aquarium the first time though unless it was acrylic.

 

[Raineforrest]

Well a sump is much more flexible. You use a sump because salt water seem to make more waste to be removed. Then you can add Chaco or magum plants. Far as the canister filters are fine to and you can remove part of the carbon filter if you want but carbon is no a bad thing. Coconut carbon is a bad thing it adds phosphate to the water. Super charging the alge growth. Sooner or later you will end up adding corals any way

If I have my way we will definitely be adding coral to both tanks Lol

 

[Raineforrest]

I’m confident you can do the plumbing yourself. I wouldn’t trust cutting a hole in a glass aquarium the first time though unless it was acrylic.

The cool thing is that I bought the tank with a hole already cut in it. I have researched sumps and have a good understanding of those. I just have to figure out how to set up the plumbing in/out. So I've been doing a deep dive into basic plumbing this weekend. Thank you for the vote of confidence! =0)

 

[benbalter]

The cool thing is that I bought the tank with a hole already cut in it. I have researched sumps and have a good understanding of those. I just have to figure out how to set up the plumbing in/out. So I've been doing a deep dive into basic plumbing this weekend. Thank you for the vote of confidence! =0)

Plumbing doesn't have to complicated. You can use pvc which does need cut and glued but it's cheap. Soft hoses are much more forgiving but more costly. In my case I used a mix of both. I used a vinyl hose between the pump and pvc to make
quite. My plumbing was inspired by the borg, good luck you got this

 

[Raineforrest]

Plumbing doesn't have to complicated. You can use pvc which does need cut and glued but it's cheap. Soft hoses are much more forgiving but more costly. In my case I used a mix of both. I used a vinyl hose between the pump and pvc to make
quite. My plumbing was inspired by the borg, good luck you got this

Thank you so much! And thank you for sharing! I am recognizing a few parts that I have been reading about so I must be making some progress. I must admit that it seemed very overwhelming in the beginning.

The hardest part was figuring out where to look for info. So just in case someone like me happens upon this post....

PVC Plumbing Basics, Part 1 - What you Should Know

If you're unfamiliar with hard plumbing, this article will cover some of the basics of sizing and matching PVC plumbing for your aquarium.

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[benbalter]

Thank you so much! And thank you for sharing! I am recognizing a few parts that I have been reading about so I must be making some progress. I must admit that it seemed very overwhelming in the beginning.

The hardest part was figuring out where to look for info. So just in case someone like me happens upon this post....

PVC Plumbing Basics, Part 1 - What you Should Know

If you're unfamiliar with hard plumbing, this article will cover some of the basics of sizing and matching PVC plumbing for your aquarium.

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Well I been at it about 11 years I still remember starting out. I wasted a lot of money on things. So here is what I learned
1. You don't need the best of best
2. Buy used! Compare the price of new VS used. You should pay about half for used
3. Be patient nothing good happens fast in salt water
4. Don't buy used pumps for the main pump. In my opinion pumps don't need wifi control. Once you get it running right you probably won't touch it again.
5. Try to remember most videos on the web are trying to sell you something
6. Dip ever thing you can. Quarantine everything you can. Again be patients.
7. Test regularly and often. Make changes slowly again patients patients and more patients
8. This is most important your going to make mistakes. Don't beat your self up to bad.

 

[Raineforrest]

Thank you for the advice! I know I will be working on my patience because I tend to get some anxiety.

Well I been at it about 11 years I still remember starting out. I wasted a lot of money on things. So here is what I learned
1. You don't need the best of best
2. Buy used! Compare the price of new VS used. You should pay about half for used
3. Be patient nothing good happens fast in salt water
4. Don't buy used pumps for the main pump. In my opinion pumps don't need wifi control. Once you get it running right you probably won't touch it again.
5. Try to remember most videos on the web are trying to sell you something
6. Dip ever thing you can. Quarantine everything you can. Again be patients.
7. Test regularly and often. Make changes slowly again patients patients and more patients
8. This is most important your going to make mistakes. Don't beat your self up to bad.

Thank you for the advice! I will definitely be working on having patience because I do tend to get some anxiety and overthink things.