Starting my new Reef Aquarium

mrsalnj · Jul 9, 2017

Whats up guys i joined reef2reef a couple of days ago and introduced my self. I started building my stand for my new 40 gallon breeder tank , I am starting to plan my sump and I'm looking to go with a 20 gallon long aqueon fish tank , Petco has there 1 per gallon sale going on. I want to take my time with things i will be posting pictures on my journey of my first reef aquarium.I was a freshwater guy so I'm currently selling all my fresh water stuff including my fish. So my question is i have a fluval 306 canister filter and i was wondering can i use it with my saltwater tank? and maybe use it as a media reactor such as carbon or any other media or maybe you guys have a better idea..Please Help and give me your input

Thank You in advanced

iemsparticus · Jul 9, 2017

mrsalnj said:
Whats up guys i joined reef2reef a couple of days ago and introduced my self. I started building my stand for my new 40 gallon breeder tank , I am starting to plan my sump and I'm looking to go with a 20 gallon long aqueon fish tank , Petco has there 1 per gallon sale going on. I want to take my time with things i will be posting pictures on my journey of my first reef aquarium.I was a freshwater guy so I'm currently selling all my fresh water stuff including my fish. So my question is i have a fluval 306 canister filter and i was wondering can i use it with my saltwater tank? and maybe use it as a media reactor such as carbon or any other media or maybe you guys have a better idea..Please Help and give me your input

Thank You in advanced

Welcome, and enjoy the ride! Coming from another previous freshwater guy, once you go reef, you never look back!

As far as your canister filter, I am sure that you COULD use it as a carbon reactor, but it will be significantly bigger (read: take up a lot more room) than an actual carbon reactor. Perhaps someone here has used one that way... if it were me, I would sell it off, or use it for your quarantine tank.

mrsalnj · Jul 9, 2017

iemsparticus said:
Welcome, and enjoy the ride! Coming from another previous freshwater guy, once you go reef, you never look back!

As far as your canister filter, I am sure that you COULD use it as a carbon reactor, but it will be significantly bigger (read: take up a lot more room) than an actual carbon reactor. Perhaps someone here has used one that way... if it were me, I would sell it off, or use it for your quarantine tank.

Use it for my quarantine tank as in salt water lol I want to sell it as well but if i could use it might as well make use of it so thats why I asked to see, i hate making equipment going to waste

iemsparticus · Jul 9, 2017

mrsalnj said:
Use it for my quarantine tank as in salt water lol I want to sell it as well but if i could use it might as well make use of it so thats why I asked to see, i hate making equipment going to waste

Right... you can use it to filter your saltwater QT.

Greybeard · Jul 9, 2017

I moved from fresh to marine in 1984... never looked back.

Welcome to the game

mrsalnj · Jul 9, 2017

Here are progress pictures of my new reef aquarium and I also bought my sump today as well I went with the eshoppe r-100

Greybeard · Jul 9, 2017

I had an R100 on my 60g cube. Used it for about a year, and went to an RS-100. The flow chamber under the refugeum was impossible to clean, which is something I just couldn't accept. Flow wise, it worked fine... the little refugeum worked great, at half overflow flow rate... that was kinda neat. Just didn't work for me. The return pump compartment was small, and since I was unable to access the back of my cube, it was impossible to access. I wanted to move to an external pump, and with the return section center/rear, it was not going to work for me.

The RS-100, same size,without the refugeum, worked out much better for me. My new system, which is going to be using the Triton system, needed a specific sump design, which really isn't available commercially. I converted a 55g glass tank. Seems to be working so far.

Your stand appears to be plenty sturdy. You going to sheath it with plywood? I had a similar 2x4 stand at one time on a seahorse system that I wrapped with black canvas, attached with velcro. Worked out amazingly well, really.

mrsalnj · Jul 9, 2017

Greybeard said:
I had an R100 on my 60g cube. Used it for about a year, and went to an RS-100. The flow chamber under the refugeum was impossible to clean, which is something I just couldn't accept. Flow wise, it worked fine... the little refugeum worked great, at half overflow flow rate... that was kinda neat. Just didn't work for me. The return pump compartment was small, and since I was unable to access the back of my cube, it was impossible to access. I wanted to move to an external pump, and with the return section center/rear, it was not going to work for me.

The RS-100, same size,without the refugeum, worked out much better for me. My new system, which is going to be using the Triton system, needed a specific sump design, which really isn't available commercially. I converted a 55g glass tank. Seems to be working so far.

Your stand appears to be plenty sturdy. You going to sheath it with plywood? I had a similar 2x4 stand at one time on a seahorse system that I wrapped with black canvas, attached with velcro. Worked out amazingly well, really.

yes i am looking to sheath it with plywood and ether stain it or paint it.