So I'm setting up a 55 and I wanted to change things up and do corals later. I was trying to figure out the best filter set up and here what I have. 2 Aquatop CF400UV canister filters and a eheim skim350 surface skimmer. Now I was thinking about adding a Tom rapid RP3 and 2 reactors one for GFO and one for carbon. Is this over kill? Does this seem like a good setup? Anyone have other recommendations?
Setting up a new 55
- Thread starter Zac
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One well designed, adequately sized, canister, pending it's setup properly, would be more than enough for a 55. I would also incorporate GFO and carbon (may not need the GFO) and I would also consider a HOB skimmer. (i'm assuming you don't have a sump) Ultimately it comes down to the bio load of the system.
I have no sump you are correct that's way I was thinking about getting a Tom rapids wet dry filter and using it for the GFO and carbon reactors. All it has so far is the 2 UV canister filters and a surface skimmer.
I had a 46G bow front with: Hydor 350 Canister (can't emphasize enough these things only work if you run them properly), BRS Mini Reactor running a mix of GFO & Carbon, HOB Reef Octopus Classic Skimmer. I ran pellets for a while as well and ran into ultra low nutrient issues and had to tone back my filtration.
If you get two brs reactors, you might as well get the dual, unless you're trying to accomplish something else entirely. Two large reactors of that size is way over kill for a 55, it's over kill for my 80, but i plan to use it on a larger system later. I do like pellets, i'm using a CPR submersible pellet reactor, but there are a lot of HOB models. I have a reef octopus HOB bio pellet reactor for sale if interested.
Well I thought about the dual but I like the idea if I get 2 reactors I can adjust the flow better. I want to use one for gfo and use the other for carbon. I don't want to mix gfo and carbon into a single reactor because I'd feel bad throwing out good gfo when the carbon was done. How much does that hob reactor take up on the back of your tank?
Keep in mind you'll have two pumps, and twice the plumbing to worry about. I changed my GFO/Carbon mix every 2 weeks and my water was just as clear. This is the reactor, there are dimensions in the specs section.
- Footprint: 8.7” x 4.53"
