Filtration (NEED ADVICE!!)

dannywwhite

dannywwhite

New Member
Hi there! So my 60 gallon reef tank just broke out in ich killing a bunch of my fish :( so every fish is in quarantine at the moment. So right now, I have redecorated the rock design, and such. I was wondering if I can get advice on filtration. Right now I'm using crappy H.O.B filters that are annoying as hell. I wanted to just use a canister filter. I used to have a sump/overflow with my 40 reef, but it was not only loud and obnoxious, but it was just a pain in the ass, so I changed when I moved it all into the 60. What are your opinions on canister filtration? Should I? Should I not? What is a much more attractive and easier form of filtration I can do? Please let me know!! Thank you :)
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by dannywwhite http:///t/396483/filtration-need-advice#post_3532730
Hi there! So my 60 gallon reef tank just broke out in ich killing a bunch of my fish :( so every fish is in quarantine at the moment. So right now, I have redecorated the rock design, and such. I was wondering if I can get advice on filtration. Right now I'm using crappy H.O.B filters that are annoying as hell. I wanted to just use a canister filter. I used to have a sump/overflow with my 40 reef, but it was not only loud and obnoxious, but it was just a pain in the ass, so I changed when I moved it all into the 60. What are your opinions on canister filtration? Should I? Should I not? What is a much more attractive and easier form of filtration I can do? Please let me know!! Thank you :)

Hi,

Sorry about the ich problem...8 weeks no fish is the only way to be sure it's gone from the display...a quarantine for all future purchases will go a long way to not having such a problem again.

Shame you don't want to go with a sump system, it really is the best choice for filtration, adding extra water volume, and a place to add a small chamber for a refugium which would be ideal for a reef. I think a drilled tank is best with a sump system, my overflow is a pain the butt as well...I happen to like the noise however, but it's not for everyone.

Since you consider overflows too noisy...canisters are silent running. In fact they are so quiet it's easy to forget to maintain them once a month. As long as you keep up on water changes and maintenance, you won't have a problem. Calling a canister a nitrate factory is a myth, unless you don't maintain it, and lets face facts....any system not maintained properly is going to have nitrate problems, and then some.

I used a canister filter on my reef for 11 years without any problems at all. Snakeblitz thinks they are horrible, I'm almost certain he will chime in...LOL
Anyway the only warning, is to take the system off-line if you have a longer then 24 hours power outage. Fluval IMO is the best brand.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Thanks Flower, yes, I will chime in...

Canister filters are great for small freshwater systems. I used to use canister filters on every freshwater tank I ever had that was 55g or less. I started to use them on saltwater tanks and maintaining them at regular intervals (~30-45 days). Then I had a power outage for a couple of days - I added a battery operated air bubbler to the tank to help keep o2 in the water and I wrapped the tank up with insulation and towels and monitored the temp... did everything I could. The fish, corals and inverts survived! But, when the power came back on and my canister kicked on, I noticed a bad smell coming from the tank. The next thing I knew, almost everything was dead. SO.... I like redundancy, ease of use, and things that aren't going to kill my inhabitants.

You can possibly have an overflow on your tank. It's very possible to drill the side of your tank for an overflow, if you partially drain the tank and go slow and easy. With one hole in the side of the tank, you can add a bean animal style overflow - they run absolutely dead silent, because they run on siphons and open channels - not open-channel alone. It even has a built in emergency overflow - so you never have to worry about your tank overflowing if the first two channels get clogged. 3x redundancy is very nice.

Another idea is an e-shopps overflow fitted with a maggie muffler...
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
There's a good bit of planning that goes into a beananimal overflow, but it was one of my favorite projects and also one of the best upgrades I've done to my system. I doubt I will ever have a tank without one
 
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