am i a lunatic?

michelleolds

michelleolds

Member
while shopping for some new coral for my tank yesterday the LFS person was asking about my set-up, size, lights, etc. and when she asked about my filtration i told her and she looked at me like i was a lunatic. what i have is a 55 with 75 lbs. live rock, 4 powerheads and a protien skimmer that i have some carbon at the overflow. she said "you have no filtration we believe in filtration here big time." i thought the stuff i have along with water changes was filtration. ive been set up for 7 months and after my cycle was done my water params have been damn near perfect. all of the corals ive put in (ive only had them in for about 2 months) look good and are growing. so am i a lunatic? is something bad going to happen with it this way?
 
nitschke65

nitschke65

Member

Originally Posted by IBEW41
http:///forum/post/2800541
change lfs

This is, by far, the best, most concise advice I've ever read on this site.
If you don't have another choice for a lfs, stick to your guns! Say, "Live rock and circulation are filtration! What would you like me to do, buy your biggest canister filter and load it up with activated carbon? Gee, then I could filter everyting I've been working to build in my tank out in just a few hours!"
 
keebler

keebler

Member
You are a lunatic in their eyes because they failed to sell you a filter. If the filtration you have now works (and it sounds like it does), then don't change it. I personally would rather have an lfs with knowledgable people and spend extra on their products.
 
haus

haus

New Member
I never listen to my LFS i just use them for product and fish my thoughts are if it is not broken do not fix it
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
yeah, they were probably gearing you up for a nice, expensive filter. meanwhile, i don't think any mechanical filter with or without activated carbon is going to hurt your tank. the trouble with them is they accumilate detrius very quickly and don't process it. it just sits there until it starts producing nitrates. using a cannister or HOb filter and washing it out regularly is not a bad thing at all. but like stated above, if your system is exporting nutrients effectively the way it is, there is no reason to change anything.
 
shrimpi

shrimpi

Active Member
you dont need a filter if you have substantial LR and flow.
I run a 24g AP with no filter.. its been happy for almost 2 years and all levels are great.
They are just trying to get you to do what they want..
Just say 'ok' and ignore their advice.
Jess
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
actually, if that lfs didn't try to sell you their filter, they made their points about having a good filtrating sys.
I've running my 55g reef/fish mixed and it's packed with corrals with a good number of fishes. I use 2 HOB Marineland BIO-wheel 350. I took the wheels out and used them just as to filter out all the debris in the tank. On top of that, I designed to take advantage of my 125g coralife skimmer return and direct it to the other side of the tank and made a filter box with mirco filter pad to filter out debris. I have to go in and clean out all filter pad and replace new micro filter pad every 3 weeks and they are dirty.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
My filtration 180g tank has 250lbs of live rock, 4 powerheads, a sump, and a protein skimmer for filtration (there's some chaeto and live rock in a chamber in the sump, but not everyone goes that far). On occasion I throw a bag of carbon in the sump. I've got all sorts of LPS/SPS in the tank and they're all doing great. The LFS just wants to sell you something.
 
ibew41

ibew41

Active Member
Originally Posted by vince-1961
http:///forum/post/2801424
My only LFS is going out of business.
I sometimes forget how lucky I am to have 2 sw only stores that are both excellent stores plus 3 mid grade stores (I dont count ***** as a store) so we here dont get as much bs as other areas
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
Originally Posted by robertmathern
http:///forum/post/2803022
And to answer your question. Anyone who spends this much $$ to see fish swim around in a glass box is a lunatic lol


Hey, hey, hey guy! Is youze talkin' about me?
 
meadbhb

meadbhb

Member
Hiya,
Okay, not to really hijack this thread, but I've got a 75 gallon HOB filter on my 42 gallon bow front. I was having issues with nitrates, so my LFS told me to take out my bio-wheels that they were causing my nitrate problem as well as put more flow into my tank. I've done this and now have phospahte pad in there. I thought I read somewhere that someone had put rubble rock and snail shells in thier HOB filter as a small fuge? Is this possible? I only have about 65 lbs of LR in my tank and it's been up for just over a year. I was worried about not having a filter on my tank. Oh, I have a shitty prism skimer too.
I guess my question is do I need to use the penguin HOB filter as a filter or can I use it as a fuge?
Kim/Meadbhb
 
innercirclepro

innercirclepro

Member
i had to redo my tank 6 months after setting it up a while back the alk was so high eveything dies instantly after putting it in the tank. this was due to the lfs selling me any and everything they could. i leanred and sicne read as much as i can and try to support the lfs as little as possible. now with the advice from here and books my tank is up and running for a year now with no problems. beautiful as ever... good luck.
i just have filter felt on my wet dry with lots of lf and a cheap protien skimmer, and my levels stay right
 
meadbhb

meadbhb

Member
Originally Posted by stdreb27
http:///forum/post/2804770
What did they suggest?
I like mechanical filtration. But it isn't needed.
Hiya,
Not sure if this was in response to my question. They told me to remove my two bio wheels and leave the HOB on there for water flow and to move my surface. They also said to add another powerhead to add more flow. This did fix my problem, besides a couple weekends of 30+ gallon water changes. I did add some phospad to the HOB to help control phosphates. Would it be a good idea to put some rubble in there for more bacteria to live on? I've got plenty of that, but no money to buy more LR.
Meadbhb/Kim
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
if you want, it won't hurt. you could remove the filter completely as well, providing you have enough flow in the tank.
 
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