converting old canister filter into refugium

[fishnut321]

Hi, im setting up a 25 gall FO tank in my dorm. I have a marineland hob canister filter from my other tank.

I was thinking instead of the usual filter floss and carbon, i would place live rock rubble into it. Would this be useful for added biological filtration?? or would it just turn into a detrius magnet? thanks!

 

[fishnut321]

has anyone tried something similar to this?? everyone please comment!

 

[JmLee]

i would just put LR in the tank. And if your HOB is big enough, put some macro algae and clip on light.

 

[fishnut321]

well i will have live rock in the tank, but wouldnt the extra surface area from the live rock rubble and direct flow through the rubble be more effecient than the larger show pieces of lr?

 

[fishnut321]

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[chrismunn]

ive heard of this before. i cant remember the guy who did it, or if it was effective? IMO more LR never hurt anything. its not a bad idea. if you do do it just remove the LR every week to make sure there is no detritus building up beneath the rock. that could create a problem. like i said though, its not a bad idea, you should give it a shot! let us know how it works out...

 

[fishnut321]

Since i will be using live rock rubble, i dont think that detrius acumulation will be a problem. Combined with the flow through the canister, i think that the flow should be great enough to inhibit the detrius from settling or cloging but be slow enough for the bacteria to process the water. ill give it a try, and im going to make a photo journal of my new tank setup so ill be sure to post it!

 

[ryano]

I have a canister filter that I use live rock for the bio. I think it works fine, and I have very little build up on it. I wash it off once a month in the water Im getting rid of from water change.

 

[rppvt]

I'm doing it with 2 fluval 404's left over from fresh-water days... I removed the foam, packed it with rubble and now have all sorts of sponges growing in there as well as bunches of tasty crawly things which love the detritus and get spit out into the tank on occasion... to the delight of da fishes.

 

[fishnut321]

sweet, about what size chunks do you guys use? I want to have as much surface area as possible but i dont want the system to clog up

 

[ryano]

Mine very in size. Most of them average about 1" chunks.

 

[yeame]

all my tanks have a hob filter with sand and rock rubble in it they are filled with pods and give me more surface water movementmy 125g has a wisper 5(they havent even made them in like 10 years) my 20g ahs an aquaclear 300 and a skilter250 with built in ventri skimmer they all work great filling my tank with little critters (pods only reproduce where sand meets the rock)

 

[mleinart]

I assume you have the H.O.T Magnum http://www.marineland.com/products/consumer/con_hotmag.asp)? If so, I'm pretty sure you'll need to use the carbon container (which wont hold much rubble) and the center tube for it to flow. You'll have to worry about detritus collecting on the plastic screen, or on the foam sleeve if you choose to use it - if you dont clean it often enough, flow will stop completely and you'll end up with some dead rock rubble.

Unless you're willing to clean it dilligently, I'd recommend using the filter for carbon instead like I do. I keep it set up and ready to use it as needed: to remove excess nutrients quickly (in conjunction with skimmer), to do the occational water polishing, or for emergencies (spilled something bad in the tank, powerhead blew up, etc).

 

[scaryperson27]

Is is really enough live rock to supplement the filtration you expect to get ot of it? I think macro algae would be your best bet. You will allready have LR in your tank you might as well add a little diversity in filtration.

 

[fishnut321]

im pretty sure i wont have to use the carbon chamber, as long as the center pipe is installed it should work, ive got it laying around so i might as well try it and see what happens.