removing emporer 400 and switching to reef

[bbreaux1]

i am considering removing my hob filter from my 55gal and adding more live rock for filtration and switching to more of a reef set up. currently i have about 40lbs of tufa rock which about 1/3 is under the sand and has been set up like this for about two years. current inhabitants are a pepermint shrimp, skunk cleaner shrimp, bicolor bleenie, sixline wrasse and a false perc clown. the only other filtration is a prizm skimmer. will this skimmer be able to handle the filtration for my tank the only other fish i plan on adding is another 2 fish, a clown and maybe a dwarf angel or a blue reef chromis or should i think about diying a bigger skimmer.also within the next two weeks i will be adding about a 13gal sump and maybe a small refugium if i can find room behing my tank. for removing the filter should i leave it in till i get a few more pounds of live rock in there then remove the bio wheels one at a time a few weeks apart or should i remove one now then the other one with the rest of the filter? the live rock will be added a piece at a time and spread out a few weeks between pieces. also on placing the live rock should i use some more base rock under it pushing it down into the sand, some pvc pipe beneath the sand, or just rest it on the sand? thanks for any help

 

[kevin j]

I did the exact some thing you did but with my 75 gallon reef. You dont need that filter infact DO get rid of it slowly though one week one bio-wheel then next week the other and so forth. Then I would get a better skimmer especially since you are getting a sump go with a euro reef. You cannot belive with this skimmer pulls out. I use to have hair algea then did what your going to do and now I have none. Good luck Oh yeah some more live rock couldnt hurt.
kevin

 

[temple2101]

I did the exact same thing too! I have a 55 gal tank and had an emporer 400 filter and then switched to a sump, and added more LR. It was definitely a good idea. You should definitely wait a few weeks to remove the emporer. I waited a month before I removed mine and everything is doing fine. I have hair algae too and have not seen the problem go away yet, but hopefully I will! As far as the rocks go, I just have mine set on top of the sand, maybe a half inch burried or so. HTH

 

[bbreaux1]

thanks. never really had any algae problems but then again never had more than three fish. i think ill try supporting the rock with some pvc bipe if i can get it into and beneath the sand without stirring it up tomuch i have a bicolor bleeni thats starting to dig alot. i dont mind though he made a cool little cave on a flat bed of sand by turning a large turbo shell somehow and digging a crater in front of it kinda puzzled me at first how the shell and crater got like that but then saw him hide and moving sand around in hismouth

 

[the claw]

HMMMMMMm on my 55, I left mine. It helps in removing partical matter, improves circulation, redudant biofiltration, and acts as a mini-refugium.(Ever see how many pods and worms make their home in the filter pad.) It is also a convenient station to add carbon or chemical filtration if needed. My vote is leave it unless you need the room.

 

[bbreaux1]

well im gonna need the room as soon as i add the overflow for a diy sump. ill have a sponge on the overflow outlet and possibly dump it into a 100micron filter sock before it goes into the sump and ill find a media bag to throw some carbon in there.

 

[the claw]

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