Canister Filters

[younngballa88]

I have a fluval on my tank that has some coral in it and i was wondering if i should consider taking the media out and putting live rock in it

. If so please explain what the reason would be and why the media should not be used unless i change it every 2 weeks minimum. Im a little bit of a newbie to the reef aspect of the hobby. Any and all info is appreciated. My last tank was a 90 Folr tank. I have added a picture of my setup now just if anyone is interested.

 

[bountyhunter23]

Idk i have a fluval too and i never had anything in it. I have a bigger fluval on my freshwater too but that has carbon and everything in it. The one on my saltwater tank has nothing in it except Seachem Matrix Carbon. I have heard of ppl using live rock but live rock only does really well if there is light. You could use a bio material if you really wanted too. I just use mine for more water and to keep nitrates down.

 

[younngballa88]

Originally Posted by Bountyhunter23
http:///forum/post/2921853
Idk i have a fluval too and i never had anything in it. I have a bigger fluval on my freshwater too but that has carbon and everything in it. The one on my saltwater tank has nothing in it except Seachem Matrix Carbon. I have heard of ppl using live rock but live rock only does really well if there is light. You could use a bio material if you really wanted too. I just use mine for more water and to keep nitrates down.
I just put everything in that it came with??

it works real well i just wanted to make sure that the carbon and other media was cool with coral.

 

[woody189]

Originally Posted by Younngballa88
http:///forum/post/2921883
I just put everything in that it came with??

it works real well i just wanted to make sure that the carbon and other media was cool with coral.
From my understanding, if you don't clean them out often, then all the detritus and the junk that gets cleaned out, winds up getting stuck in the filter. Then it decays and pollutes the water. They call canister filters "nitrate traps" because of this.
i think the media that comes with it especially holds the nitrates, that's why they say to replace it.
i have a canister also, (Eheim) and I use everything it came w/ and LR.
I took all the media out of the middle chamber and put that media into the 1st and 3rd chamber. I then filled the middle chamber w/ LR rubble.
I usually run carbon for 1 week, then clean out the filter. The I run the filter w/o carbon for about 2-3 weeks, then clean it again and put more carbon.

 

[socal57che]

I run a Fluval, an Aquaclear (as a HOB fuge) and a HOB skimmer. Yes, I have a lot of stuff hanging over the back of my tank.
Your setup looks pretty fresh, so I wouldn't bother adding the carbon at this time. It removes unwanted chemicals. If you didn't introduce any, then your carbon won't be doing much. I use the media that came with it. Service the filter every 2-3 weeks. Don't forget to rinse the media in saltwater from a water change to avoid killing off beneficial bacteria and organisms. Service the filter every 2-3 weeks to avoid buildup of food and waste regardless of whether you use LR rubble or the manufactured media. I prefer the man made media because it does seem to trap more waste than LR rubble. It traps it, then I remove it from the water column by servicing the filter. If your media does not collect waste then it is allowing the waste to return to your display. Be religious with your service intervals and you won't have a filter related nitrate issue. Did I mention to clean the filter out every 2-3 weeks?

 

[socal57che]

I have a TON of useful info to share. If you are interested just shoot me a PM or email socal57chevy @ yahoo.com

 

[younngballa88]

Thanks for all your help. Right now my setup is pretty new but everything if florishing and im so happy.

My coral is growing already.