do i need my 405 in the tank?

[rjmayes34]

hello,
looking at pics of other people tanks and dont see the canister filter lines in and out of their tanks? I have a reef aquarium,120 gal-5ft long,18" wide,25.5" tall and was wondering if i could put my fluval 405 canister filter in my 30 gal sump tank(thats in my stand) instead of in the main tank?
Would it be just as effactive, or effactive enough as to where i could?
I have mainly corals, but fish-wise i have two clowns,a watchman goby,,a yellow tang,two yellow tail damsels and a six line wrasse. then i have a BIG serpent star,various crabs(2 emeralds,sally lights foot,horseshoe,few blue legs hermits(stay small)) and a bunch of snails,conchs,a sea cucumber, banded shrimp,two cleaner shrimp,im asure i imssed something
Just putting what i have as far as fish and invertabres because arnt they the ones in need of the canister filter?
thanks ahead of time!!!:beer:

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

One nice thing about having it in tank is that it draws water from the mid level, so less buoyant particles are more easily filtered out.

 

[magdelan]

I don't know enough about canister filters, but I think these are more beneficial to a Fish Only Tank. With the CUC that you have in there along with denitrifying and anerobic bacterias, I don't see much of a need for a canister filter.

But I could be wrong. If it's not broke........

 

[pascal32]

What purpose are you using the canister filter for? Do you have liverock in your system? Some alternatives to consider which are easier to clean is a filter sock on the return to your sump and a powerhead for flow.

I believe the concern is debris accumulating in the filter and causing an increase in nitrates.

I swap my filter socks out once a week, chuck them in the washing machine with a bit of bleach and air dry. In the mean time I run my spare set.

I'm sure someone who knows more will chime in

 

[tmz]

I use my fluval 404 for carbon and purigen . I rely on the skimmer for the rest.

Are you using a skimmer? Are you using the canister to provide mechanical filtration? Are you using ceramic media ,etc as well? If so frequent cleaning of the filter material is necessary.
In any case running it off your sump is probably ok if you have a good rate of water exchange between the tank and sump.

Running it in and out of the tankdwill help pull more particulates from the tank than teh overflow alone and the return gives extra flow saving a powerhead.

 

[rjmayes34]

i just had the canister filter becouase when i bought the set up the guy had it in their already. I have plenty of flos with out the filter being in their and yes i have a protein skimmer in my sump.

Magdelan-Lol thats what i thought also was they are more for fish only tank,or heavly loaded reef aquarium that contain lots fish. If it aint broke.....put it in the sump and keep your eyes on it

Blurry-I like your idea and im going to be getting another sock filter to change mine out once a week also. I was doing once a month taking it off and rinsing it but i like your approch better!!!! Yes i have a bunch of live rock in my system

TMZ--Yes i have a protein skimmer with carbon and the cermic media in it. I rinse this out once a month and rinse the carbon every month and replace half the carbon every other month or so. I have a lots of flow going to and from my tank and sump.
I do weekly water changes of 25 gallons. So each month thats about 80% water change every month(not counting the couple of gallons of water that i top it off with each week,I vac out the sand each week so i think i would be fine putting it in the sump, Since i clean it weekly. I also use a little tube and syphonm debree off the rocks every other week(left over food and any thing else that looks like it should not be their)

Thanks for all the input from everyone!!! If i run in to any problems in the next few weeks do to the change in postion of my canister filter i will post about it. If it is negative in any way i dont want other people making the same mistake!!!!

 

[EllieSuz]

Protein Skimmer?

Protein Skimmer?

TMZ--Yes i have a protein skimmer with carbon and the cermic media in it.

Do you mean you are putting something inside your protein skimmer? If so, it's the first time I've heard of such a thing. I can't imagine that having carbon or anything else for that matter, would benefit the skimming. Please elaborate on this so we can be sure what you mean.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I believe they mean the chemical and biological media are in the can filter; I toy with using one for a mid level syphon, and if I had one I would use it. Any open cell foam in it, if any, should be rinsed out well more often than once per month.

 

[rjmayes34]

EllieSuz,lol good catch,i did not relize i stated it like that!! No i have it in my canister And my cuc is a like an army camo color with the tenticals that come out to collect the sand and is a sand sifter. Right behind him are the pellets of clean sand he poops out as he goes about,lots of BIG piles(i couldnt imagine if he was the size of my great dane!!!) that with a little water movement break down and are back to nice clean sand that you never knew got pooped out!!!! It takes him about a month and a half to make his way around the whole tank. He is anywhere from 5 1/2" long to 9-10" long depends on how he is,moving or what not. He is very cool but just the beauty of the tank!!! He does a great job at sifting the sand as well as my horseshoe crab and snails that bury themselves. So after hearing what people say I feel confident that i can move it.
And my sand bed is about 2" deeo give or take depends on how they've moved it around, i know that has to be factored in somewhat also.

 

[rjmayes34]

Mr.maroonsalty, how often should i be rinsing it out? every other week or once a week when i do my water change/cleaning or even more often than that?? If i put it in my sump do i still need to rinse it as often since it wont have quite as heavy a load? thanks

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I clean my two filter sponges every week, and get a load of detritus out; its the last thing I do when doing my weekly maintenance. I use the waste water to rinse them out hoping not to kill off the beneficial bacteria. Mine are easy to get to, one is in the overflow, the other is in an hob in my sump.