About to loose it with filters...everyone has an opinion!

[drogrant]

So today I went to the aquarium store which was a huge mistake! Employee at the desk was super unprofessional and arrogant beyond belief. Knew nothing about the fish and invertebrate I want in my tank and then tried to sell me some over $300.00 filter system. He then informed me that my aquarium sucks and that my filters are crap....not in these exact words..but very similar! I'm new at this and I've posted a few time on here and you guys are very helpful and informative...please help me out!!
I have a 55 gallon tank..I would like to have a few shrimp, 2 clowns, 1 dominoe damsel (yes I know it can be aggressive), 2 Banggai cardinalfish, 1 burrowing crab, 1 pink pin cushion urchin, and1 bubble-tip anemone.
Crushed coral gravel layered with live sand and live rock.....then later a few coral and kenya trees.
What filter should I be using for this tank? I know lighting is important and will tackle that purchase next week...but what should I buy to filter my tank. Currently, I have the filters that came with the aquarium kit I bought....there are two very simple looking filters that almost seem cheap. Aquarium guy said they were only good for freshwater...but the kit i bought said it should be fine for tropical aquariums. I'm new to this hobby so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Drogrant http:///t/394015/about-to-loose-it-with-filters-everyone-has-an-opinion#post_3506602
So today I went to the aquarium store which was a huge mistake! Employee at the desk was super unprofessional and arrogant beyond belief. Knew nothing about the fish and invertebrate I want in my tank and then tried to sell me some over $300.00 filter system. He then informed me that my aquarium sucks and that my filters are crap....not in these exact words..but very similar! I'm new at this and I've posted a few time on here and you guys are very helpful and informative...please help me out!!
I have a 55 gallon tank..I would like to have a few shrimp, 2 clowns, 1 dominoe damsel (yes I know it can be aggressive), 2 Banggai cardinalfish, 1 burrowing crab, 1 pink pin cushion urchin, and1 bubble-tip anemone.
Crushed coral gravel layered with live sand and live rock.....then later a few coral and kenya trees.
What filter should I be using for this tank? I know lighting is important and will tackle that purchase next week...but what should I buy to filter my tank. Currently, I have the filters that came with the aquarium kit I bought....there are two very simple looking filters that almost seem cheap. Aquarium guy said they were only good for freshwater...but the kit i bought said it should be fine for tropical aquariums. I'm new to this hobby so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Hi, welcome to the site...
Any filter that is large enough for your tank is good... from canister, HOB penguin type, to a sump. The only filter I wouldn't recommend for a SW tank and only freshwater, would be the under gravel filters. A sump system is the best for several reasons. One, the ability to hide equipment, and the other being that the skimmers that go in sump are lots better then any HOB (from my experience anyway) The extra water volume is a huge plus, and you can create a section for a refugium. A canister filter is the quietest, and a spray bar makes water surface movement a big plus. The HOB penquin or Whisper types are great because changing filter media is a snap...I personally use a sump and a HOB Whisper...seahorses are very messy. Oh, and I ran two canisters (I like the Fluval brand the best) on my 90g reef tank for 8 years without a problem.
Don't get the urchin, or the anemone right away...you need a mature tank for the anemone, and the urchins are algae eaters+...unless you have enough algae, it will starve. Nor would I recommend you use crushed coral and sand together...choose one or the other...Just in case you don't know... rock goes on the bottom, you can't build on shifting sand, you risk a rock slide that kills critters, and could bust the tank.
LEDs or Metal Halides (expensive) are needed to keep a Bubble-tip anemone. if you only had soft corals like the Kenya tree and no inverts like an anemone, you could go with T5HO or Power compact lighting.

 

[2quills]

It's a tough call to make for someone else since there are no right or wrong answers as to what is going to work best for you. It can be as simple or as complicated as YOU make it. The best any of us can do is arm ourselves with as much knowledge on the subject as we can to make more informed decisions on what we're trying to accomplish.
I think most folks here would recommend running a sump tank filtration system for a reef aquarium. But that doesn't mean that you can't be successful using a simple canister filter with diligent maintenance and water changes. The cheaper "hang on the back" filters that come with those kits are really not the greatest for fresh or saltwater. Typically, they get noisy after a while, are unsightly and just don't have the same capabilities that other types of filtration systems can offer. But that doesn't mean that they can't work.
I'd recommend keeping it simple for a while, maybe start with a half way decent canister filter to get your feet wet. Then once you have some good experience behind ya, you'll eventually figure out for yourself what it is that you want. Just my .02
Welcome aboard!

 

[snakeblitz33]

Yeah, as Corey said, I think most people around here would recommend a sump setup with built in filtration and no bioballs.
If you want to stay with HOB filtration and find that over time your current filters aren't working well, I recommend an Emperor 400. They are good, solid filters that last years and years.

 

[drogrant]

This was extremely helpful! Thank you. the info I received on this thread was very consistent and you all are clearly experts!! I think I will invest in a canister filter and will definitely hold off on the urchin and anemone until the tank matures. Thanks Snake for giving a namebrand for the HOB filter, do you know one for a canister filter?Do they both have protein skimmers...looking it up now and following all of you!

 

[snakeblitz33]

FX5's by Fluval are pretty common canister filters. I don't recommend canisters because of all the maintenance involved with them. But, that's a personal thing.
As far as I know, neither brand makes protein skimmers. A good protein skimmer brand for HOB is a Reef Octopus BH series skimmer. If you get one of these and decide to have a low to medium bioload, I would recommend to only buy one that is rated for your tank.
Welcome aboard!

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Drogrant http:///t/394015/about-to-loose-it-with-filters-everyone-has-an-opinion#post_3506646
This was extremely helpful! Thank you. the info I received on this thread was very consistent and you all are clearly experts!! I think I will invest in a canister filter and will definitely hold off on the urchin and anemone until the tank matures. Thanks Snake for giving a namebrand for the HOB filter, do you know one for a canister filter?Do they both have protein skimmers...looking it up now and following all of you!
Yep Fluval...they are the easiest to maintain of the canster family that I have found. The most important thing when you run canisters, because they are so compact and quiet, it's easy to forget them. Once a month change the floss and carbon media, and rinse the biobeads in saltwater (I always used the old water I removed for water changes) The white phosphate remover only works in freshwater, so don't bother to use that in any chmbers. Do get the spray bar...that way your power heads can point toward the rock instead of the surface. I made a little tag with a date so I could keep up with how long it's been between cleanings....also only remove half of the floss media at one time, there is lots of good bacteria lost when you remove the floss.
Canister filters are awesome because the media such as carbon has a real good flow through it, which allows it to work at peak performance.
I have an Octopus brand skimmer in my sump, and I love it...if Snake says get an Octopus brand for a HOB, that is a real good choice of brand name.

 

[drogrant]

So which is more expensive to run and maintain a 55 gallon reef tank: A fluval canister filter or a sump? Is one better than the other in terms of water quality?

 

[snakeblitz33]

1: canister
2: sump

 

[bang guy]

Just to throw out another option - The healthiest system I ever ran had no mechanical filtration. Just healthy live sand and a lot of waterflow.

 

[drogrant]

How much experience would I need to pull off something like that (filtration through live rock and sand)? Right now I'm looking up DIY wet/dry sump filters....found a very good video that seems easy to follow. Has anyone here built their own sump?

 

[acrylic51]

Building sumps are super easy.....

 

[noobzilla]

I started my 55 with a canister and after a couple times of tearing into it to clean it, I decided to build a sump. Canisters are a pain in the arse in comparisson. You also won't want the urchin if you plan on doing corals. I just had to toss mine into my QT tank because I caught it munching on my sun coral and candy cane skeletons. I also had bubble tip anemone for almost a year under 2 T5 HO bulbs and it did great, the only bad thing was one of my zoa colonies started growing over the live rock to the BTA's favorite spot and it started stinging them.
You should be able to build yourself a decent sump for under $100, a bit more if you need an overflow box.

 

[elrodg]

Thanks Snake for giving a namebrand for the HOB filter, do you know one for a canister filter?Do they both have protein skimmers...looking it up now and following all of you!
I have used a canister filter for freshwater for yrs. but only recently for salt. I have used pillow stuffing as an awesome material. But I had to clean it once a week. Religiously. Til I bought a sump. Much less maintenance.
The Chinese knockoff canisters on eBay are great. They have a surface skimmer and a uv sterilizer for less than 150