40 gallon breeder

[Jp813]

Hey everyone I have a 20 gallon cube that my snowflake eel has started to outgrow so I am upgrading my 20 gallon cube in my room to a 40 breeder fowlr tank. I will be running a 250w mh 4 bulb t5,protein skimmer, and around 40-50lbs of rock so my question is

1.should I add a mechanical filter say a canister filter? And

2.would it benefit to put a uv sterilizer on to help with algae?



Thank you for all the help thanks Jason

 

[MrHarvard]

There should be no need for anymore filtration with LR and a skimmer and only running FOWLR tank. You also shouldn't have algae issues if your not feeding heavy and have some water movement. I don't know a whole lot about eels and what they require so this is just general saltwater answers.

 

[bigzman]

jp813,

I have had snowflakes and fed silversides and shrimps. Water was dirty. I had mine to 55 and then moved to a 90 both were FOWLR but LR alone was not covering how dirty they can be. I had to run a canister with Seachem Matrix media to control Nitrate. Phos was easy to control via water changes and skimming. They are great animals to own if you have a tight lid. Tons of fun to watch. I overkilled canister filter size and got one fluval that was rated for 175 gallons and added 2 liters of matrix with 60 pounds of LR.

Hope this helps.

 

[CrazyEyes]

That seems like ALOT of light for a fish only tank for a 40B, obviously that's just an opinion but it just seems like a lot of wasted electricity for nothing. Also, I think you'd be better off without a canister. Unless you want to clean the canister very often.

 

[bigzman]

Crazyeyes,

leaving canister out is a great, (Altough I only cleaned once every 3 -4 months as it was mainly a place for bio media and carbon not for tons of mechincal). If I had to redo it, I would have gotten a larger tank 125 and added tons of rock (As much as I can fit) and skim. I ran regular t12 lights on my predator tank.

I ran it like that for 4 years and never had issues with algea or phos.

 

[CrazyEyes]

I will admit then when I was running a canister filter it was filled filter floss and those little ceramic things and I had to clean mine quite often. IF I was going to ever run a canister again I'd just fill with carbon and one of of those ceramic media blocks.

 

[Jp813]

There should be no need for anymore filtration with LR and a skimmer and only running FOWLR tank. You also shouldn't have algae issues if your not feeding heavy and have some water movement. I don't know a whole lot about eels and what they require so this is just general saltwater answers.

Thank you for the reply I plan on slamming it with LR to help with bio filtration and a wp25 so the flow should be good but to hopefully compensate for my eels messy habits

 

[Jp813]

jp813,

I have had snowflakes and fed silversides and shrimps. Water was dirty. I had mine to 55 and then moved to a 90 both were FOWLR but LR alone was not covering how dirty they can be. I had to run a canister with Seachem Matrix media to control Nitrate. Phos was easy to control via water changes and skimming. They are great animals to own if you have a tight lid. Tons of fun to watch. I overkilled canister filter size and got one fluval that was rated for 175 gallons and added 2 liters of matrix with 60 pounds of LR.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the advice I was looking into the magnum 350 canister and a possibly a uv sterilizer do you think the canister and uv light will keep my levels low and stable? I haven't used sachem matrix before is it media to remove nitrates?
Thanks Jason

 

[Jp813]

That seems like ALOT of light for a fish only tank for a 40B, obviously that's just an opinion but it just seems like a lot of wasted electricity for nothing. Also, I think you'd be better off without a canister. Unless you want to clean the canister very often.

Later on down the road I wanted to try a few anenome is the reason for the light. Do you recommend something better than a canister for my mechanical filtration?

Thanks Jason

 

[shibby1]

Should just drill the 40, silicone overflow box in back, put a sump on it. Boom 10 times easier lol in my opinion of course. You should check out some of the 40g build threads on here. It'll give you an idea for lighting, filtration, etc.

 

[bigzman]

Jason,

Yes it reduces both nitrates and nitrites
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Matrix.html

I use it now on a discus tank for over 2 years.

When I had my eels I used seachem matrix just because I had no more room for more LR on my 55. It was able to filter out a great deal of bio load in a canister with out drilling or getting into overflows and sumps or extra pumps. I did have two mod'ed maxijets for water movement.

After 4 years both my eels grow to 2 feet long and were eating large silversides every other day and a shrimp every other day. It is a lot of waste. No sure about UV side. I tried it once in my 15 years of being in the hobby and can't say if it made life better or worse.

For the size tank you plan to keep them in, I would find a way to either have more rock / water volume /skimmer or some way to use products like matrix or marinePure blocks / skimmer.

I use a Rena XP3 now on my 65 gallon discus tank and its rated for 175 gallons.

 

[bigzman]

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/marinepure-ceramic-biomedia-plate.html

 

[installman]

Just my opinion, but I think the snowflake will outgrow your 40b relatively quicky too. Maybe this is a good excuse to go big on your upgrade.

 

[Jp813]

Should just drill the 40, silicone overflow box in back, put a sump on it. Boom 10 times easier lol in my opinion of course. You should check out some of the 40g build threads on here. It'll give you an idea for lighting, filtration, etc.

I have him in a drilled cube now and he tries to get into the overflow at times so I'm trying to shy away from it at least with this tank thanks for the reply tho it has crossed my mind a few times lol

 

[Jp813]

Jason,

Yes it reduces both nitrates and nitrites
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Matrix.html

I use it now on a discus tank for over 2 years.

When I had my eels I used seachem matrix just because I had no more room for more LR on my 55. It was able to filter out a great deal of bio load in a canister with out drilling or getting into overflows and sumps or extra pumps. I did have two mod'ed maxijets for water movement.

After 4 years both my eels grow to 2 feet long and were eating large silversides every other day and a shrimp every other day. It is a lot of waste. No sure about UV side. I tried it once in my 15 years of being in the hobby and can't say if it made life better or worse.

For the size tank you plan to keep them in, I would find a way to either have more rock / water volume /skimmer or some way to use products like matrix or marinePure blocks / skimmer.

I use a Rena XP3 now on my 65 gallon discus tank and its rated for 175 gallons.

Thanks for the info... will definitely look into those products.wow 2 Ft long nice. I plan to pick up a few more pounds of rock just going to fit as much as possible and would it benefit to run a canister and a biopellet reactor and just drop the uv light?

 

[Jp813]

Just my opinion, but I think the snowflake will outgrow your 40b relatively quicky too. Maybe this is a good excuse to go big on your upgrade.

Thanks for the response and yea they do grow quick. Unfortunately this is the biggest size I can fit in my room and my living room is already occupied by my 90 gallon reef lol

 

[Jp813]

@bigzman both products you recommended both can be reused just need to be rinsed off? that's awesome

 

[bigzman]

Jason,

Be careful. Rinse is not a great idea with freshly mixed water. With Matrix to keep bacteria alive I normally use water (that has not been stirred) I have drained out of tank for water change and remove matrix bin from canister and dip in that water and shake it to remove debris while it keeps bacteria alive. Then place bin back to canister with some water.

other methods I have seen is to use two small canister and clean one per month or rinse matrix as normal and let Bactria regrow since you have live rock. Up to you.

I hope this helps.

 

[bigzman]

JP813 you can upgrade to a 66 gallon as it is higher in size but same foot print. They also like to stay low in rock work. So that might help you from having them explorer top side and add extra rock.

 

[Jp813]

Jason,

Be careful. Rinse is not a great idea with freshly mixed water. With Matrix to keep bacteria alive I normally use water (that has not been stirred) I have drained out of tank for water change and remove matrix bin from canister and dip in that water and shake it to remove debris while it keeps bacteria alive. Then place bin back to canister with some water.

other methods I have seen is to use two small canister and clean one per month or rinse matrix as normal and let Bactria regrow since you have live rock. Up to you.

I hope this helps.

Thanks you've been a load of help. I like the first idea for cleaning matrix and I was looking for a 65 but I like the look of the 40 sounds weird but I believe he will be happy in there.
Jason