Hang on filter

[jamest0o0]

atm I have a hang on filter and a skimmer on my 55 gallon tank I only have one zoanthid, a clown pair, 1 fire shrimp, 1 royal gramma, one yellow damsel, 2 fairly large snails, about 10 small hermit crabs....

my question is do I need that hang on filter? I have lots of live sand and about 40 lbs of live rock (plan to get more)....

 

[kokob007]

As long as you keep up with water changes you wont need any filteration except for live rock and sand.

 

[jamest0o0]

I have heard that hang on filters can build up nitrates, is this true?

 

[kokob007]

I've hear this before, about biowheels, wet/dry etc. if you have the pads just replace the pads and your good to go.

 

[masonicman]

I had a HOB 110 aquaclear and a BIO wheel filter got rid of all my mechanical filters due to nitrates. All is fine now. My canister has live rock in it now.

 

[jamest0o0]

until I get my refugium and sump would it be good to replace the pads and carbon in my hang on with live rock? or is that not needed and just take down the whole thing?

 

[jamest0o0]

hmmm

 

[jsimpson123]

your hang on filter will work fine aslong as u change the pads once a month! ive had one on mine for three years now and it works great and u NEVER have to worry about some kind of overflow like this!

 

[trdofwrkin]

Re: Hang on filter

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11663287#post11663287 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jamest0o0
atm I have a hang on filter and a skimmer on my 55 gallon tank I only have one zoanthid, a clown pair, 1 fire shrimp, 1 royal gramma, one yellow damsel, 2 fairly large snails, about 10 small hermit crabs....

my question is do I need that hang on filter? I have lots of live sand and about 40 lbs of live rock (plan to get more)....

I have a 55g bow front...I ran a hob filter and hob refugium for 6 months. I recently took the filter off because changing the pads got to be a pain and a little pricey for me being a single mom. I bought a hob skimmer for $50 and I now use that instead of the filter. Everything is great. I have 50 pounds lr and 60 pounds ls.

 

[trdofwrkin]

sorry i forgot i have2 true percs, 1 6 line , 2 chromis, 1 sand sifting diamond back goby, 1 coral beauty, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 coral banded shrimp, 3 peppermint shrimp, about 100 nassarius snails, and a few frogspawns a rbta hairy mushrooms numerous zoas...never had nitrate issues. everything has always registered 0.

 

[jamest0o0]

so either way I should be good?

 

[trdofwrkin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11665247#post11665247 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jamest0o0
so either way I should be good?

yep just stay on top of the maintenance.....check water parms.....change the pads regularly and do your water changes. heres my tank. pic taken 2 days ago. I just got my new lights. the shadow down the middle is my center brace. I need to switch it out with clear acrylic.

 

[jamest0o0]

nice tank!

btw I have one more question I have 2 aquaclear powerheads at opposite sids of my tank, are those powerheads fine and is 2 good or sohuld i ahve more in a 55 gal reef?

 

[trdofwrkin]

Thanks. Im still new at this saltwater but i think it depends on the amount of water that the pump moves in an hour. I have 2 koralia's a number 3 and a 1. but i also have the return from the hob refugium for movement so maybe 1 more will do it for you. better safe than sorry especially with a reef tank.

 

[jamest0o0]

okay thanks 2 more stupid questions in this thread = ] where would you suggest I place a third, the first 2 are on opposite sides of the tank and can too much flow be bad for fish?

I lied 3 stupid questions... this one has nothing to do with pumps.... for my tank I first got crushed coral.... then i found it it wasn't that good to have... so I put live sand over it( about 40 lbs) but the back of my tank behind the live rock seems to have some crushed coral still... where i missed covering the bottom with live sand.... my fire shrimp loves to hang out back there and it doesnt seem to have anything caught in it... should I spread the sand out over there or is it fine to just let it be?

 

[trdofwrkin]

third pump in the middle pointing to the front of the tank. Im not sure about the flow for the fish. You can watch them and if they have problems getting around then i would say do away with the 3rd pump or get a smaller one to lessen the flow. As for the sand it will be ok. it will eventually work its way together. you could always get a sand sifting goby. he will move the sand around to where he likes it.

 

[JENnKerry]

We run Aqua clear 500's on our 125 purely for water flow on the surface. They help out tremendously. There is a piece of sponge in one of them. Never a nitrate issue. They get cleaned every few months.

 

[brians4671]

i suggest you keep the filter just make sure it stays clean. i cut the filters apart and upgrade the filter pad. rubberbands keep new pad in place perfectly.