need GOOD advice..

[judyc]

Im friends & loyal customer of my local pet shop/fish store, and i just dont know if they have given me all of the advice i needed, or if it was "salesman" advice..
They told me the best filter - especially since i was just starting a saltwater tank - was a Fluval 304/404 filter, with a life-time warrenty.. EVERYTIME i clean it and/or change inserts - when i turn it back on it spits out tiny little flakes of something - it fills the whole tank & make it clouded, unvisible for a couple hours until it goes back in the filter. I even emtied it & changed inserts & it still happened, dont know why..
They also never mentioned a thing about sand to me.. I have purchased 100's of dollars in live rocks & crushed coral - but should i have sand? I am noticing some things for sale here that mention they sift thru sand, or bury themselves in sand - does this mean without sand they will not live in my tank? EXAMPLE; sea cucumber..
If i add sand - how do i do it? removed all of these live rocks & then add? under or on top of the crushed coral?
I started my tank in oct. of 2004, and it is still not "right". I was impatient & put in around 300.00 of fish within the first 2 months, against the advice of the store & most of them died.. 4 anenomies died during that time - water has been fine - but then i ventured to another fish store that told me i needed better lights, bought some very expensive bulbs.. that was just a couple months ago & everything lived for months until i out in a lionfish who doubled his size rapidly & ate almost everything.
Bought a tiny rock w/ 3 polyps on it - just to see what would happen - i never had any polyps in there - and it is still closed after 3 weeks... i swished around water w/ my hand
(store told me if they were dead - they would fall off rock when i do this), they stayed attached to rock.
Enough babbling for the moment & I am most curious about the sand questions.... THANKS!

 

[danedodger]

Wow that's a lot of history in a short space!
Ok, you know by now that patience is a virtue in this hobby, add animals slowly, and research the heck out of anything you want to buy before you buy it.
I don't think he was giving you BAD advice or trying to make a quick buck necessarily but he may not know that there are lots of other options out there for you to consider. The Fluval cannisters aren't bad filtration, I use one myself, but whether or not they're THE BEST is up for a lot of debate! Commonly found other forms of filtration are protein skimmers, hang on the back power filters, undergravel filters, and sumps and that's not even going into the other options that are less commonly found in your fish stores. Fenner, a highly respected expert in the hobby, seems to like undergravel filters but most people, me included, just think they're a bigger pain in the backside than is needed. Everything else is going to vary wildly depending on each person's opinion so you might want to read up on all of them before making a decision.
As for crushed coral vs. sand either is acceptable but most people on this board anyway feel that the sand is way superior. Just one point is icky stuff stays on top of sand where it's easier to just lightly vacume just above the top of the sand and get it all out. With crushed coral that stuff works it's way down to the bottom and is a lot harder to get as much of it out with vacuming.

 

[cabot]

I have a fluval as well. My tank fills with tiny bubbles after it looses prime. I was told it is because the return hose is too long.
Anyone else have one with that experience and how often do you clean it. Is once a month enough?

 

[danedodger]

We clean ours out once a month and replace the carbon in it. Right after cleaning it it'll spit out a cloud of bubbles but only at that time. And our return hose has gotta be at least 4-5 feet long considering the size of our tank plus stand and that there's still a loose coil of hose left over! If yours is putting them out constantly maybe the seals aren't good or something?

 

[rev]

That flakey stuff is the build up of gunk inside the ribs on the hoses.To rid yourself of this,get non-ribbed hose.I replaced mine with clear 3/4" hoses,and never had the problem again.
As far as the mini bubbles when you turn off the filter to clean.That is just air that gets in the line.
I use carbon,one week a month.it works great.That coupled with an Aqua C Remora,your water would be perfect.

 

[cabot]

You use carbon?..........Anything else. What kind of skimmer do you have ?

 

[oceanists]

I dont think he gave you bad advice as far as the filter is concerned , a cannister filter is one of the better filter methods for a beginer then wet/ dry , then sump (natural) ,as far as your livestock goes i dont think you could really put him at fault (and no pun intended) as much as your impatience to have a full tank ......... one place i think he did error , and i dont really know if this was his decision or yours , but the crushed coral has got to go , it is a nitrate trap , also the worst thing you could do is take all your rocks and water out , and then just sand on top of it , That is alot of work just for the sand to eventually work it way to the bottom , and then your looking at nasty CC again , also that will be a horrible food trap , also that CC is going to cut your Cucumber up causing stress and disease , and any star you plane on keeping .......... I just changed from CC to sand and my tank is doing alot better, IT IS a chore but well worth it , get ready to devote a saturday to it .....
I dont think he really gave you bad advice overall , there are still good LFS around , especially if its your friend , i dont think he would try to screw you with sales techniques , because really that filter is good for a begginer , one thing you may want to do , is try to leave it alittle dirtry when you clean it