Should I or shouldn't I?

[Bensadork]

So my tank has been up and running for a few months. I have yet to add any coral to it but I do have a couple of black and white oscillaris and a peppermint shrimp along with some hermits and an emerald crab and a few snails for my CUC. Its a 46g bowfront that I previously had set up for a couple of years as a freshwater tank with 2 biowheel 200 HOB filters. When i decided to do saltwater, I pretty much just threw all of my freshwater equipment into a spare closet. I went out and bought an Aquatop CF400-UV canister filter with a built-in UV sterilizer. This, of course, is before i found this forum site and this is what the LFS recommended to me. The only thing that I have in my canister filter right now is some foam to catch large debris and 2 bags of carbon. One of the bags came with the filter, and the other bag is chempure elite. I threw the bioballs out that came with the filter. Anywho, the more I read, the more I realize that I may have just wasted my money by buying this canister filter since i have 80 pounds of live sand and 50 pounds of live rock. I also have an aquatop PSK100H HOB protein skimmer. The skimmer works fantastic and I have no issues whatsoever with it. So for the question at hand. Would I be better off just removing the canister filter altogether? I have never had any problems with my water parameters but then again my system is still in its infancy. All of my fish and invertebrates are happy, hungry, and healthy so I can't see any reason why I should change anything that I am doing so far. I am more concerned about down the road. What are some things that may or may not happen if I completely remove my canister filter and only use my skimmer? My canister filter puts out a really good amount of flow so I know I would have to get a good powerhead or a couple of them. I just get so paranoid about the fact that I have a canister filter and I read constantly all of these "nitrate factory" horror stories. Should it stay or should it go? If this was your tank and you did not have the option for regium/sump, what would you do? I also have a 36g bowfront from my freshwater days which i also ran 2 HOB biowheel 200 filters on that. If i decide I want to set that tank up as well would I be an idiot for using those biowheel filters? I just want to be able to have fun building these tanks and hopefully save some dough and use things i already paid for that are just laying around.

 

[4FordFamily]

If you are willing to clean out your canister filter monthly, then it should stay. If not, it will turn in to a nitrate factory and do more damage than good, IMO.

 

[Bensadork]

Thats where I am torn. I have no issues with cleaning out the filter because its really easy access in my stand and its really easy to disassemble and care for everything. When I clean out the filter, does this mean I need to ditch the old foam or just rinse it out in tank water during a change? Am I safe as long as I dont get a lot of deritus built up into the foam? Coming from the freshwater community it makes me very anxious to think about running a tank without any kind of filtration, but then again the freshwater hobby does not have live rock and has different demands for the fish.

 

[4FordFamily]

Thats where I am torn. I have no issues with cleaning out the filter because its really easy access in my stand and its really easy to disassemble and care for everything. When I clean out the filter, does this mean I need to ditch the old foam or just rinse it out in tank water during a change? Am I safe as long as I dont get a lot of deritus built up into the foam? Coming from the freshwater community it makes me very anxious to think about running a tank without any kind of filtration, but then again the freshwater hobby does not have live rock and has different demands for the fish.

If you rinse, you'll kill colonies of beneficial bacteria --- but the detritus will build up and cause issues - so it's a catch 22.

IMO, sell the canister and buy a skimmer. Best reef investment you can make (other than the reef itself)

 

[Bensadork]

If you rinse, you'll kill colonies of beneficial bacteria --- but the detritus will build up and cause issues - so it's a catch 22.

IMO, sell the canister and buy a skimmer. Best reef investment you can make (other than the reef itself)

I already have a skimmer that seems to work fantastic. That's why I am wondering if I should just nix the canister altogether.

 

[4FordFamily]

I already have a skimmer that seems to work fantastic. That's why I am wondering if I should just nix the canister altogether.

IMO, Can it.

I have one under my 180 reef upstairs that I unhooked. I can't get it out without taking apart the tank so there it sits. It's worthless when I have a sump where I can place media anyhow, IMO. The UV sterilizer is OK I guess but if you're reefing properly, you probably don't need one. AT BEST it may help with algae, but if it becomes a nitrate factor it will cancel out if not make it worse. As far as parasite prevention and care, UV are notably worthless honestly. It's almost impossible for most reefers to set one up such that it will be effective - and again if you're properly QT'ing your fish you won't need it for that purpose.