Starting Again (filter advise)

[sykomagnet]

Hello. Ive had my marine tank set up for just over 6 months i think.
Ive just had an outbreak of ich that wiped out my whole tank, which was a fish only.
Now i have nothing, im thinking of starting again, only a bit better, now i have a bit more experience. Possibly a reef later on (not sure though, as i like fish that arent compatible with inverts)
I was conned into having undergravel filter by my LFS, which i now highly regret. So im wanting to convert to an alternative method of filteration (internal or external canister) as my tank was subject to high levels of nitrates.
Im also wanting to go for a UV filter to help kill the parasites for future fish, as this outbreak of ich really hit me hard.
Im wondering how i go about it. Would it mean ripping up my whole tank and starting a fresh cycle?
And which makes and stuff are recommended? I dont want to spend LOADS as im not on a great budget (I live in the UK, im only 19) but i want to give the best i can for my fish.

 

[sykomagnet]

*bump*

 

[carshark]

well what size tank do you have? what are your goals? what type of fish do you want? and yes you prolly wanna pull that UGF asap. worthless IMO.

 

[sykomagnet]

Its a 48x12x16 size tank / 30 uk gallon (50 US gal) i would like a fish only tank, Fish would be clown(maroon), damsel. possible blenny, a pygmy or gramma. but not over stocking. Ive read about the use of a UV to help against ICK (which killed everything in my tank (another story) Im not taking advise from my LFS ever again the UGF was a huge nitrate hotel) ANy help here would be greatful :help: :joy:

 

[the reef]

depending on the size of your tank will determine what kind of canisters you want to get
In my case my reef is a 72 gallon and my trigger is 80 gallon on both of these I have two 404 fluval filters I use two because I found it to be more afective in running more media between the two in the fist 404 I have four sponges one bag of cupisorb media just incase any metals get in there one bag of carbon media and 6 bags of nitrate media.
the second 404 I run 4 sponges and 8 bags of phosphate media.
I clean both filters twice a week. as for the media I change the cupisorb every 3 months the carbon every week the sponges half of the sponges every 6 weeks half of the nirate media every 2 months and half of the phosphate media every 3 months
I make shure when I clean my filters that I rinse the media in the watter that was in the filter in keeping it from creating die off of the bacteria colony and change half of the major media to keep from removing to much of the bacteria
any questions about my method of using two canisters rather than one just let me know also you can find better deals on the net for the canisters and the media that I described

 

[sykomagnet]

Would two Fluval 104's External Filters or a single 204 be better? Are they silent running? As for the use of a UV light, is it possible with these filters?

 

[the reef]

Originally Posted by SykoMagnet
Would two Fluval 104's External Filters or a single 204 be better? Are they silent running? As for the use of a UV light, is it possible with these filters?
go buy what they are rated for for example if the 204 is rated for 50 gallon tank and you have a 50 gallon tank then buy two 204s that way you can run a nice amout of media just as I have set up you can run a uv light for my trigger tank I have a 8 watt uv set up on the return tubbing from one of the filters it does slow down the flow a little bit so make shure your amout of watter flow is 20x to 30x gph between your filters and your power heads

 

[sykomagnet]

ok so i need to get two fluval 204's canister filters, these have internal pumps i believe. So i would put one on each end of the tank, making sure theres no dead spots. Will i need any Power heads to move the water, or would the pressure from the filters do the job for me? Its best to get all this straight before i go buy the stuff

 

[the reef]

Originally Posted by SykoMagnet
ok so i need to get two fluval 204's canister filters, these have internal pumps i believe. So i would put one on each end of the tank, making sure theres no dead spots. Will i need any Power heads to move the water, or would the pressure from the filters do the job for me? Its best to get all this straight before i go buy the stuff

check how many gph they will do take your tank size for example you will need 20-30 gph per gallon of watter so if you have a 50 galon tank then you would need between 1,000-1,500 gph so add up how many gph the two fluvals will do put together then just subtract that from the gph that you need then you will know how much more gph you will need with the power heads and gives you better evaluation on wich power heads to buy

 

[sykomagnet]

Now im getting there

a 8W UV would be suitable for my size tank. I take it it would be best to strip the tank down.. Take out everything (Crushed coral and sand) Replace it with just a sand bed of a few inches deep.... And recycle the tank once again?
Is the use of a protein Skimmer still be advisable?
What media would be best to use with the Filters for a fish only?
Thanks for the help so far

 

[the reef]

Originally Posted by SykoMagnet
Now im getting there

a 8W UV would be suitable for my size tank. I take it it would be best to strip the tank down.. Take out everything (Crushed coral and sand) Replace it with just a sand bed of a few inches deep.... And recycle the tank once again?
Is the use of a protein Skimmer still be advisable?
What media would be best to use with the Filters for a fish only?
Thanks for the help so far

yes still use a protin skimer but wait untell after you go threw the cycle again
the fluval will come with carbon sponges and the wite substrate all I did is only use one of the carbons this will help you be able to fit more media in it but with only one carbon you will need to replace it weekly then you can deside how much nitrate and phosphate media you will need and where note that most media requires a bag to be placed in should find a 8x8 bag sutible for the fluval you will only need to run the carbon in one of the filters and like I said it is up to you how much of each media you want to place in each one just dont leve any of the chambers empty.

 

[sensesfail]

Alot of people on here told me a UV Steralyzer will do very little against ick. It might be waste of money if your only getting it for that. hope it helps.

 

[hurt]

I have heard(no personal experience) that canister filters can be nitrate factories. I personally run 2 HOB filters-mainly just for increasing dissolved O2 levels and increasing flow, but I only run carbon in them-no floss. Floss if not properly maintained can lead to problems(nitrate factories). I use a fuge as my main filter. I would invest in a few PH's also to increase flow. And I would definitely invest in a quality skimmer. All of the above is just IMHO of course.

 

[sykomagnet]

Thank you for the advise. Now i need to get the items and im ready to go once again. In the mean time the Current setup of the tank is crushed coral then topped off with sand....Is it posssible to save some of this sand. Sift it all out and clean it so i can reuse it... Or would it be better to Go buy some new sand?
Im not going to use the Crushed coral in the new tank, just a sand bed of 2" or more.

 

[the reef]

Originally Posted by Hurt
I have heard(no personal experience) that canister filters can be nitrate factories. I personally run 2 HOB filters-mainly just for increasing dissolved O2 levels and increasing flow, but I only run carbon in them-no floss. Floss if not properly maintained can lead to problems(nitrate factories). I use a fuge as my main filter. I would invest in a few PH's also to increase flow. And I would definitely invest in a quality skimmer. All of the above is just IMHO of course.
the only time that a canister filter will become a nitrate factories is when it is porly maintained just as your live sand would become a nitrate factorie if it is porly maintaned as well as long as their is a good matinence program in place should be no problem I would admit I had nitrates get between 10-20 nitrates untell I started using the nitrate media now my nitrate is always below 5

 

[the reef]

Originally Posted by SykoMagnet
Thank you for the advise. Now i need to get the items and im ready to go once again. In the mean time the Current setup of the tank is crushed coral then topped off with sand....Is it posssible to save some of this sand. Sift it all out and clean it so i can reuse it... Or would it be better to Go buy some new sand?
Im not going to use the Crushed coral in the new tank, just a sand bed of 2" or more.

if your not going to use crushed coral in the new set up then you will want to get rid of the sand you have I would imagine as small pices of the crushed coral will still get threw even as smaller pices and can be hard on a jawfish or a gobys gills
and about the canister filter as long as you run at lest 4 bags of nitrate media and clean your media twice a week you should have no problems I would have to say these people saying that canisters are bad are looking for a quick fix method and think they would only have to do less as stated above lack of matinence just make shure you keep to a scedual and you will be fine

 

[sykomagnet]

What kinda of media do you recommend? Biomax, Carbon, polywool and some Nitrate media?.... What kinda of nitrate media would be best suited, the only kind i have seen are juwel Sponges so far.

 

[lennon]

Originally Posted by sensesfail
Alot of people on here told me a UV Steralyzer will do very little against ick. It might be waste of money if your only getting it for that. hope it helps.

I agree..According to Fenners book, he suggests that a uv sterilizer should not be on at all times. And that a Quarantine tank is of MOST importance to avoid total wipeouts in a tank.
I was debating getting a uv..but decided that it was not the most important thing.
good luck

 

[hurt]

"and about the canister filter as long as you run at lest 4 bags of nitrate media and clean your media twice a week you should have no problems I would have to say these people saying that canisters are bad are looking for a quick fix method and think they would only have to do less as stated above lack of matinence just make shure you keep to a scedual and you will be fine"
Again, my friend tried to use one, only to keep having high nitrates +20. I read so many posts on here with people having the same problems. He finally got rid of it and began using a HOB without floss(carbon only) and his nitrates have since dropped below 5. So, I guess that is a quick fix method

. I'm not trying to tell you that you can't use one, but if you do be prepared for a lot of maintenance. Canisters are great for freshwater, but saltwater is another story. Also, I personally see no reason to run floss as long as you have a lot of LR. Natural filtration-macro's, LR, LS for me

https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/156963/wet-dry-vs-canister

 

[the reef]

Originally Posted by SykoMagnet
What kinda of media do you recommend? Biomax, Carbon, polywool and some Nitrate media?.... What kinda of nitrate media would be best suited, the only kind i have seen are juwel Sponges so far.
the media I recomend would be some copper remover media, nitrate media, carbon media, and a phosphate media. but the carbon and the copper remover media only need on bag of each of these and replace your carbon weekly