29G FOWLR Questions

[jeegan]

I currently have a 29 Gallon FOWLR setup that I plan on adding creatures to again, once I get some new lights. Anyway, I have 40 lbs of LR in the tank. I have like 4 crabs and 1 snail and a damsel in there right now. I use a CPR Skimmer and am adding an Emperor Filter for mechanical and chemical filtration. Anyway, I was thinking about adding the 10-20 gallon clean up crew offered by saltwaterfish.com. I just wanted to know if that will be a little too much. I want to just make sure that I don't sustain a huge alge growth in the tank once I add lights back to it. TIA.

 

[twoods71]

In my opinion the 10-20 gallon size crew will do you just fine.

 

[car guy]

if you are using a cpr back pack you do not need to buy another filter, just fill yours with bio balls or plastic army men

 

[jeegan]

The reason I am adding the Emperor is mainly so I don't have to clean the CPR as much. Cause I have the CPR 2R that has the foam piece in the bottom where the water return starts and pieces of stuff, that might normally get collected in the mechanical filter, collect there and clog it up after a while. A question though, do I not need any chemical filtration? Just wondering, as I have always used Carbon filtering on my fish tanks. Please let me know, thanks.

 

[fish fry]

Are you using tap water or purified water? Either way I wouldn't (and most people don't) use carbon. The only time you might want to use it is if the water is yellow, but your skimmer should prevent that.
The clean up crew should be perfect for your tank.
Tom

 

[jeegan]

I am using purified water for my tank. Is the Carbon bad though? I mean, is a person worse off to use carbon than better? I still plan to use the Emperor for Mechanical filtration, I will just use foam inserts instead of the foam/carbon inserts that come with the Emperor. Thanks for the info.

 

[fish fry]

If you use cheap carbon there is a chance it can leech out phosphates into your water, which can lead to algae blooms.
Carbon is usually used with FO tanks.
With your tank the skimmer should remove most of the organics junk that the carbon would remove.
Later
Tom

 

[blutang]

Be very careful with carbon because of the whole phosphate thing. I would definitely recommend that you get a filter along with the CPR simply because the more movement and filtration you have the better your aquarium. And a power filter can get a lot of uneaten food particles, and things of that nature.
Later!