Reef tank filtration Question for Newbie

[BaileyB]

I have a 20 Gallon tall tank with a Marineland Penguin Biowheel 350 (for up to 75G, filters 350gph) but I've heard using the normal inserted filters they come with aren't that great. I have some Fluval 70 foam pieces that fit in the filter slots perfectly, I can fit 2 on each side so total of 4 big pieces. I figured they would be able to store beneficial bacteria really well on-top of the 20lbs of live sand, 20lbs of live rock, and biowheel. Do you guys think adding foam instead of the carbon filters is a better alternative for keeping my tank clean as far as looks and levels wise?

****Also I'm worried about anything over filling, obviously waste will build up in the foam pieces but they also have all the bacteria on them, how do I clean them off safely? with clean saltwater? I know it would have to be a while without cleaning before something floods but does anyone have any incite? i plan on cleaning the foam every time they visually look like they need a cleaning, probably every 2 or 3 weeks, we'll see.

Also plan on having a good size clean up crew of Nassarius snails, hermit crabs, shrimp, and maybe a tuxedo urchin.

What do you guys think about my filtration? I want bio to be the main filtration, the HOB filter is just to collect waste and chunks of nasty stuff I don't want in the tank. Any comments good or bad are appreciated! I also have another post on flow if anyone could give it a look for my first reef tank! Thanks guys.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Welcome to the forum @BaileyB! I would just run the penguin filter as is, the biowheel, rock and sand will provide adequate bio filtration.. it won’t hurt for you to have some carbon inline and the penguin filter should provide sufficient mechanical filtration for your tank. If you ever want to rinse/clean something without disturbing beneficial bacteria just use water from your tank... love your avatar

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Welcome to the forum @BaileyB! I would just run the penguin filter as is, the biowheel, rock and sand will provide adequate bio filtration.. it won’t hurt for you to have some carbon inline and the penguin filter should provide sufficient mechanical filtration for your tank. If you ever want to rinse/clean something without disturbing beneficial bacteria just use water from your tank... love your avatar

Welcome

 

[BaileyB]

Welcome to the forum @BaileyB! I would just run the penguin filter as is, the biowheel, rock and sand will provide adequate bio filtration.. it won’t hurt for you to have some carbon inline and the penguin filter should provide sufficient mechanical filtration for your tank. If you ever want to rinse/clean something without disturbing beneficial bacteria just use water from your tank... love your avatar

Hey thanks for the response! and thanks for the welcoming!

 

[Subsea]

Foam will create extra work to maintain. Use filter floss and discard when dirty. Bacteria will grow on any surface including on top of each other. Rock, substrate and glass are covered with bacteria.