canister filtres?

[howdy20012002]

I have a few of my tanks with canister filtres and am toying with the idea of taking out all of the sponges, and miscellaneous media in the different trays and filling the trays with coral and rock fragments to act as the filtre.
I am looking at this cuz I am still struggling with high Nitrates.
Rumour is the sponges are a major cause of this.
Looking for some advice and opinions
thanks in advance
Neal

[albert_dao]

Ditch all your mechanical and bio media. Don't bother with LR in the canister if you have any in your main tanks. Waste of time.

People do this all the time. It's an surefire fix to longterm nitrate problems.

[howdy20012002]

so what should I have in my filtres? or should I even use them?

[Ruth]

Carbon works well but I agree with Albert 100% on the sponges and rubble.
You can also just leave them empty and only use for circulation.

[albert_dao]

You're probably better off getting rid of the canisters and switching to Phosban reactors or something.

[Josh24]

Would he be better off to just use a pump, rather than a canister?
Where would his mechancial filtration come from?


Unless it was bare bottom then you could just suck the debris out weekly?

What are your thoughts?

[howdy20012002]

I can probably ditch most of the filters in most of tanks.
However, My SH tank would concern because I don't have much flow in there because, well, the SH's dont' do well in lots of movement.
So with minimum movement, the LR won't really be able to do its job.
The canister filtre at least create some movement and gets out some stuff
Any suggestions?

[albert_dao]

Mechanical filtration is only good in the form of micron filter socks. Short of that, you're best to just avoid it and siphon off detritus as it accumulates.

I don't have any mechanical filtration in any of my tanks. The water is AWESOME. No floaties.

[albert_dao]

I can probably ditch most of the filters in most of tanks.
However, My SH tank would concern because I don't have much flow in there because, well, the SH's dont' do well in lots of movement.
So with minimum movement, the LR won't really be able to do its job.
The canister filtre at least create some movement and gets out some stuff
Any suggestions?

Easy, Phosban reactor and heavy skimming. Bing bang boom.

[howdy20012002]

Easy, Phosban reactor and heavy skimming. Bing bang boom.


any suggestion on name brands for skimmers? I am looking to upgrade on a few of my tanks and wanted to get some opinions on what I should look at for a reasonablly priced skimmer

[albert_dao]

Remoras are a good bet on a low maintanance filter. Like any other injection skimmer, though, the performance is largely dependant on salinity and whether or not the tank is contaminated with oils (KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF THE TANK WHEN USING THESE!).

Other than that, you could go for the Coralife Superskimmers. They're very well priced and can remove quite a bit of junk from the water column. That said, there's a few glaring drawbacks of which I've addressed in a post in the Product Review forums.

I hear EuroReef is working on an HOB skimmer though...

[howdy20012002]

thanks alot for you input and advice.
man do I ever still have a lot to learn
Neal

[Ruth]

You can sometimes pick up a good skimmer used by watching this board and others. Another skimmer that works well is an ASM - bit more $ but a great skimmer - you have to run them in a sump though.
As far as HOB skimmers go I agree (again) with Albert the Remora Pro is a great skimmer although I do dislike the mag pump hanging in the tank.

[howdy20012002]

any not-so-obstrusive HOB recommendations...dont' really want the pump in the tank ..
what about in sump ones? My 90 gallon has the remora C...tank is abit big for it...was looking at taking that remora C and putting in my 77 Gallon FOWLR which doesn't have a sump.
My 90 gallon has a 30 gallon sump and about 24 inches clearance....what should I look at for that?

[safety4fire]

Lol

[albert_dao]

any not-so-obstrusive HOB recommendations...dont' really want the pump in the tank ..
what about in sump ones? My 90 gallon has the remora C...tank is abit big for it...was looking at taking that remora C and putting in my 77 Gallon FOWLR which doesn't have a sump.
My 90 gallon has a 30 gallon sump and about 24 inches clearance....what should I look at for that?

24" of clearance SHOULD give you enough room to run a EUROREEF RS100 ($320ish retail).

The only other HOB's I can think of that don't take up a lot of room in the tank are the Deltec (inconsistant and pricey - not that I've ever tried one, just what I've read by people who have) and the Prizm (terrible product, dont' get suckered in by its cheap entry fee).

[howdy20012002]

what bout Sea clones for a HOB? they are cheap..I have one on my Invert setup..came as a freebie..does an ok job of pulling some stuff out? any input?

[albert_dao]

Yeah, it's probably the MOST THROWN AWAY SKIMMER ON THE MARKET. But yeah, it has the same Maxijet 1200 hanging in the tank as the Remora...

Then again, G1GY has one on his tank and it's kicking ass... Go figure.

[Ruth]

I have never run a sea clone but I have also never read good things about them either. I have 2 Deltec HOB skimmers and am pleased with both of them but they are pricey.
For in-sump I would go with the Euroreef or ASM. For HOB your best bet is probably a Remora Pro and then just aquascape around the pump if it bothers you.
You might also want to look at the bullet type skimmers if it is possible to drill your sump. They are a bit finicky but do pull a lot of crap out of your water.

[howdy20012002]

I truly do appreciate the time you have spent answering my questions.
I will see what I can get
thanks
Neal