Ehime Canister ?

[Angela Short]

My freind with a 55 is running a ehem (sp?) canister filter the store set her up with before she asked me. I would have told her to spend the $160 on something else and now she doesn't know wether to run it or not. She did have alage issues her last go at SW but was also using tap water. Do you all think she should ditch the canister and go with just live rock and good flow or keep it running? She is wanting to go full reef as soon as she gets some lights. I think trapping the food on filter floss and letting it rot is worse than just letting the food find a crack and the clean up crew eat it. Can she just run carbon in it to polish the water? Will that not also trap deitrus and cause the same problems? What should she do with this thing? Thanks!

 

[Sir Knight]

Angela,
As a primary filter with floss not a good idea. As a chemical filter with carbon and or phosban it will work very well. She will need to clean it every few weeks or so. I have done this with great success in the past and am planning on setting something like this up again on my 40. I currently have a sump with a hang on the back overflow. I am getting a remora skimmer and a canister filter for carbon and phosban. I have hardwood floors and after a few months of worrying about an overflow of water on the floor I am going back to this setup. my tank is almost 100% sps with only two LPS. It does work and work well. I also have about 70 lbs of live rock and BB.

 

[Angela Short]

so how do you keep the carbon from blowing into the tank? A pad but would that not trap food/deitrus? I am not a big fan of them either but this is what she has going right now. Thanks!

 

[turboex901]

in my opinion theres many different ways to skin a cat. since its bought, let it rip. is it optimal....no, but if shes realistic with her stocking goals and doesnt want a full blown sps tank i think the extra filtration wont hurt. if she replaces the media twice as soon as reccomended im sure the nitrates wont be as much of an issue as one would think. ive also seen modded eheims where the top panel has had a square cut out of it and replaced with a plexi window. then they put a small desklight over it and fill it with LR and chaeto and it makes one serious refugium. all in all i think it would work just fine. <~~~steve

 

[Sir Knight]

quote:so how do you keep the carbon from blowing into the tank? A pad but would that not trap food/deitrus? I am not a big fan of them either but this is what she has going right now. Thanks!

Answer: By placing the carbon in a media bag

Joe W.

 

[Nashvegas]

Angela...I bought the Eheim first...same situation (bought then did more research)..I have it going to this day..over 2 years...I'll be honest and say I have probably cleaned this thing 5 times since I have had it (never replaced medium inside..I took out the carbon and put a phospagen pouch inside that I clean periodically..now I also have LOTS of flow and tons of Rock...which we all know is doing the real work for my tank..I don't even have a skimmer...now what I believe to be my saving grace is faithful water changes every two weeks ...probably missed this twice but all in all faithful..
so I could probably take this eheim away but hey its working so I'll leave it. If she can get a full refund then I would probably remove it ...if not then let it roll it should be ok..

 

[jfolley67]

You know I run my tank on one and so far so good!! I do, however have alot of live rock, but I can justify taking it off because the tank has been pretty successful. The filter pads I told everyone about at the meeting(I will PM to you) will help her in her algae problem and it is a pad that you can cut to fit right into the cannister and they are not expensive at all. Oh yeah, and by the way....sorry, I have been meaning to call you, I know you wanted directions and I did not get home until late late late!! sorry was not around to help!

 

[Angela Short]

Thats fine Julie a gas station always can give help I found my way
I didn't know you ran one Nash or Julie and your tanks look great. I just had read where they give more trouble than help. Since she is short on flow and she can use it for more than one application I will tell her to leave it in place. It was bought well over a year ago also the firsttime she tried SW so no refund for sure. Thanks for all the great ideas!
Joe... I never thought of a bag :lol: Thanks!