Canister filter enough for a 20 gallon?

F

Fmellish

New member
I can't be tankless any longer. But I have no desire to have something large.

I want to set up my 20 gallon. But I don't want a sump, skimmer, or halides. This is a 24" long by 12" tall tank. Non eurobraced glass tank.

I'd like to have a 1" sand bed, a few pounds of LR, 1 or 2 nano fish, and a small lump of zoanthid.

I plan on sectioning off a portion of the tank right before the filter intake and filling it with chaetomorpha. This may or may not work.

Anway, is a canister filter enough? The LR will be the BIO filter, and a small Eheim ecco will serve as mechanical filtration. And I'll have some macro algae growing in there to soak up any excess nutrients. I'll use a Tunze nano stream for flow as needed.

Am I on crack?

Josh
 
nothing wrong with canister filters for certain tanks/species of fish - don't believe me, track down calfo and ask him yourself.

if it's only for mechanical filtration you can get buy with a regular old HOB like an aquaclear.
 
Mike,
you have a point, canisters seemed to work well in the old days. And that's basically what I'm thinking of doing again, though without the under gravel filter.

I guess since it worked so well back then there's no reason it shouldn't work now. though without all the airstones and bubble towers I'll need to determine if macro algae photosynthesis and some surface movement will saturate the water with enough oxygen.

The only differences are
1) The rock will be live this time
2) I may add a zoanthid coral
3) I will add a nano stream for flow and some macro algae for a more natural look and nutrient export.
4) I won't stuff 7 medium size fish in a 20 gallon tank, (hey I was a dumb kid back then)

NanoLurker,
I have a nice HOB and used it on this tank before, but I was thinking about going with a canister filter because my HOB filter takes water from the same area it pours it back into the tank. I started wondering if that is efficient. If you think about it, the waterfall coming out of the filter is pouring directly over the part of the tank the input resides in. I figured a canister could perform the same function as a HOB filter, BUT, I could put the intake and output at opposite sides of the tank thus adding some flow across the tank, AND ensuring that the water being taken into the filter is not the water that just came out of the filter. Am I crazy? Because if my concerns are not meritted it means I can save some money and just keep the nice HOB filter I already have.

Steve,
I'll keep the nitrate issue in mind when determining what to put in my canister filter. Maybe just LR rubble and a filter pad for removing particulates. We'll see.

Cheers
Josh
 
I have a 16 gallon that's sumpless, skimmerless, chaetoless, and lighted with normal 15w light fixture that came with the tank. All I have in there are three small fish, about 15lbs LR and 1 inch of LS, and a Maxijet 1200. I do WC every 3-4 weeks, using water from my reef tank, and nitrate is not a problem.

Canister filters are great for water circulation without adding heat to the tank. I used to have a Fluval 304 in there until it broke down a month ago. I used it to run carbon and I also kept the bio media that came with the unit in there. Fluval 304 puts out 180g/h of circulation, so if your Eheim is powerful enough, you might not even need a powerhead depending on what you are going to keep. For now I use a Maxijet 1200 for circulation, it uses 20watts of power and keeps the tank warm enough through the winter without a heater.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9239451#post9239451 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mmoore0803
How will you light it? Also, Water changes will keep your nitrates low ;)
Click to expand...

It will be lit with the bulbs that are currently under the cabinets. Maybe I might add something. I don't know.

What's a water change?


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9240318#post9240318 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by firerock
I have a 16 gallon that's sumpless, skimmerless, chaetoless, and lighted with normal 15w light fixture that came with the tank. All I have in there are three small fish, about 15lbs LR and 1 inch of LS, and a Maxijet 1200. I do WC every 3-4 weeks, using water from my reef tank, and nitrate is not a problem.

Canister filters are great for water circulation without adding heat to the tank. I used to have a Fluval 304 in there until it broke down a month ago. I used it to run carbon and I also kept the bio media that came with the unit in there. Fluval 304 puts out 180g/h of circulation, so if your Eheim is powerful enough, you might not even need a powerhead depending on what you are going to keep. For now I use a Maxijet 1200 for circulation, it uses 20watts of power and keeps the tank warm enough through the winter without a heater.
Click to expand...

I was also thinking the same thing. I could get a powerful canister, position the in and out at opposite ends, and then I'd have my flow. But I am also considering a cnofiguration with a less powerful canister and a nano stream power head.

I'm still kind of wondering if my HOB is enough for a FOwLR tank that maybe has a zoanthid coral in it, then I can forgo purchasing a canister filter. My HOB is rated for a 50 gallon, and my tank is a 20 gallon. It just bothers me that the in and out are in the same area with a HOB filter. At least with a canister I could force the flow to move from one side of the tank to the other.

Cheers
Josh
 
Buy a nice Aqua-Pod 24 gallon. Not to big, all in one with lights, filter, skimmer(it does work if setup right) and add an extra bulkhead for fun and extra MJ900 NICE.
Your have lots of fun and you will enjoy it a lot. With out spending a lot of $$$$$ and time.
JMO
 
You can go either way. If you already have a powerful canister on hand and provides enough water circulation, I'll just use it. If not, I'll go with HOB filter (probably Aquaclear because it is semi-transparent) and a low-power-consumption powerhead. The cost of a canister is not that justified in your application, IMO.

Also, as much as I love Fluval, it surely is powerful, but a pain to clean and is probably an overkill for a 20gallon. HOB is much easier to maintain, and if you search on RC, some people actually modded their HOB filter to hold Chaeto and LR rubbles, makes it an ideal alternative for an inexpensive HOB refugium.

The only thing I don't like about HOB filter is the water splash, which is not a concern if your lights are mounted high enough.

Hope this helps.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9240651#post9240651 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fmellish
It just bothers me that the in and out are in the same area with a HOB filter. At least with a canister I could force the flow to move from one side of the tank to the other.
Click to expand...

I don't think this is a concern since you are putting a good powerhead in there.

Simply, whatever worked as your quarantine tank should work in this tank as well.
 
i agree with firerock, especially since you said you're planning on running the tunze nano streams. honestly, you're probably going to get more than enough flow with the higher rated HOB. i have a couple of 20 highs that run with nothing but a HOB, the water exiting the HOB, for the most part, flows out and around and not straight down. i also put an extra extension on the intake tube, you could even throw an elbow on them if you wanted. for ease maintenance, the HOB's are hard to beat. my 20's house "special needs" fish and while i had a fluval 304 on one of them i eventually swapped it out for two small aqua clears. nothing wrong with the fluval, but i hated the ribbed tubing, and because i need to keep the tank rather sterile (frequently clean media) i went with the aquaclears.

i would probably just set the tank up using the equipment you have, if you don't have the flow you desire just swap the HOB for a cannister.
 
DRC69,
the aqupods are pretty, but I hate dealing with all-in-one setups. I had an eclipse system like this once, and the canopy was so cheaply constructed and difficult to work around. Without taking the entire canopy off I had limited accessibilty. I like the simplicity of my completely open 20 long. THough fish jumping will be an issue.

firerock and NanoLurker,
THanks for the input, it sounds like I'll just keep my Aquaclear 50.

BTW here is the tank in question. I was going to sell it and all the accessories, but now I'm excited to set up a little nano tank.

01062007_030.jpg


Thanks
Josh
 
I'm actually on the same boat, I have decided to downgrade and setup a 20G AGA instead of a 40G. However, I do have a 20G Cube that I am setting up as a refugium so I have a place for my chaeto and some left over LR.

I'm a newb when it comes to reefing and thanks to RC I am picking up new info everyday.

I'm sure the canister filter will work but as said earlier on a previous reply you can get away with it provided that you do water changes at least every 2 weeks to avoid a spike on your nitrates and nitrites which can be harmful to your livestock. I could be wrong when I say this so anyone out there correct me please but a good ruler would be a 4% water change on a 20G that would be 4G's bi-monthly.

Another thing I learned here is lighting, make sure you do enough research on the lighting needs of the livestock you are planning to take care of.

Currently since I am planning on just having some zoo's and mushrooms I'm going with 24" 2X65W PC Retro's.

Good Luck!
 
THanks mangus.

I had a big reef setup that I ran successfully, but I got tired of all the maintenance. SO with this setup I'm going to design it around 0 maintenance.

I had a 20 gallon tank once for a few years on a small canister and never once did a water change :)

I'm going back to that lazy attitude.

Good luck to you :)
 
I agree with nanolurker...use a HOB instead of a canister. Easier to maintain. I've got a 40g softie tank with only an aquaclear HOB filter and LR as my filtration. Almost zero maintenance except for occasional water changes.
 
Another vote for HOB!

Works great for me, I'll keep the one I have and I'm all set.

Now I just need sand and about 15 pounds of LR. I'd also like some pretty macro algae to have in the display.

Josh
 
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