I was told my setup is no good?

[wickeddroptop]

Ok, I baught a tank that had been running for 2 years, moved it, everything is good, been adding new corals and such. Water is stable an clear. Heres what I got, not including the livestock
55 gallon glass tank/stand
CPR backpack skimmer
Penguin 300 filter hang on back
2 powerheads for flow
390 wats of PC lighting
and I added a fluval 404
I baught some zoos today, and the guy at the fish store said that neither of my filters were too desirable to run the tank? Can anyone point me in a different direction if this is no good or not. Mabye should I look into a hang on back refugium and take out both filters? As long as all the water parameters remain stable and within acceptable levels, should I be concerned?

 

[bertoni]

In some tanks, filters like the Fluval tend to lead to higher nitrate levels. As long as the nitrate level in your tank is acceptable for the animals you want to keep, the filter won't hurt anything. I'd probably phase them out slowly, but since you've had the tank for a short time, probably best to leave well enough alone.

A hang-on refugium is a fine idea, or a free-standing one would be good and likely cheaper, too. Whichever fits your space and budget constraints.

 

[kraze3]

IMO your tank can be run as is. However there are upgrades you could make to improve your setup. Adding a sump and refugium would be a wise choice. You could also upgrade your skimmer and you wouldnt need either filter. I ran a magnum for a while. Make sure you are cleaning them weekly.

 

[mflamb]

I like the cpr for your tank if you take out the bio-bale.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

like bertoni said, canisters, hob's and even wet/dry filters (with bioballs) tend to not be so great in reef tanks cuz they run the risk of high nitrates. Live rock is the way to go for filtering a reef. Its got all the bacteria on it that we try to get on our filter media, bio-wheels, and bio-balls, except it doesnt run the risk of high nitrates. However, you dont wanna just throw live rock in...so if you get it, make sure you 'cure" or "cycle" it before it gets placed in the tank. Otherwise you could be adding amonia and nitrites to a tank thats' perfectly fine (right now).

So imo, save up for a while, buy at least 60 lbs of live rock, cure it in a seperate rubbermade tub or something, and then put it in your tank. Wait a couple/few weeks and slowly begin to take out the media in the filters...dont do it all at once tho cuz that might screw up your tank (too much bioload with not enough established bacteria yet would cause amonia)

And i'd probably get a better skimmer sometime soon too...maybe before you put rock in even (if you do that is). I'd get at least a coralife superskimmer 125, but i like my remora skimmer on my 55

 

[wickeddroptop]

I guess I should have been more specific. Like I said the tank has been running for over 2 years. It has about 2 inches of live sand, and at least 60 lbs of live rock covered in Coraline algea already. There is no Bio balls in the skimmer either.

 

[Vanquishxxxx]

i woudl jsut take the fluval and hob filter off, slowly of course, you have enough LR, that shudl keep water stable by itself, jsut increase your in tank flow. And maybe a better skimmer but other then that i see ntohgin wrong with it.

 

[JamesJR]

I had a similar tank setup like that and with a little tinkering you should have no problem keeping corals in your tank. zoos are really easy and with PCs you should not have any problems.
I had a 30 gallon tank running a fluval 304 a bak pak 2 and 2 or 3 powerheads and 4 95 watt VHO bulbs and I even had sps in it.
Contrary to what they say you can run a canister filter without an addition of nitrates. The trick is that you must clean it regularly and very thouroghly. I would not run bioballs or anything like that in it nor would I run those ceramic beads they give you. These allow the bacteria to grow on them that cause the nitrates.
I would run it with the sponge pads and I would just wring them out in the sink a few times a week. If you don't do that you could at least use your canister filter and run it with just carbon and then take it off when you aren't using it. The current will really help.
What I would do is modify your skimmer. With the CPR Bak pak there is a way you can modify them to make them work much better. I found that the venturi on the rio 600 they supply with the skimmer is too weak and when you open the venturi the flow throught the unit diminishes a whole lot.
I took off the 600 and added the 800 and ran it without the venturi.
I think with a little work you could try something like a maxi jet 900 or something else even stronger. Then get a large vibrating air pump , something rated for a 60-80 gallon tank. It doesn't have to be fancy, but the more air the better. Then buy a wooden air stone and feed it into the skimmer and have the airstone bubbling right where the water comes out the black tube. Raise the cup to where the bottom lip is right where the water line is. this should only cost about 25 bucks or so and will make the skimmer work much, much better. Also to accomodate the heavier flow I would take out the biobale so that you can put on a stronger pump. I found this to work because I think the venturi simply can't push enough air into the skimmer, so this compensates for it.
If your tank has been up for a couple years and you have coraline then there is no reason why you can't have few corals. I would stick with stuff like mushrooms, zoos, leathers and stuff like that.

Happy Reefing!

 

[wickeddroptop]

Well now I am really confused. What you are saying, is I should take all mechanical filtration off, minus the skimmer? I have 2 power heads at each of the back corners, and have 2 more just laying around I could put in the front. Just get a better skimmer, or mabye a 2nd skimmer and thats it?

 

[JamesJR]

No, just keep the mechanical filters clean. I would keep it pretty much the same as you have it, I was Just suggesting a way to modify the skimmer so you could maximize your usage of it.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

What you are saying, is I should take all mechanical filtration off, minus the skimmer

exactly. All the bio-media that is in canisters and HOB's (including bio-wheels if your HOB has that) can build up nitrates really fast...mine took 3 days to go from 2 all the way up to 150 with my canister filter. You only need biological filtration to break down amonia to nitrites, and nitrites to nitrates. Live rock takes care of that, and it even breaks nitrates down further (tho i dont know what it would be called, if anything), whereas all those medias cant break nitrates down further so they just build up sometimes. Why risk it imo if you've got live rock already.

The skimmer will then pull out any waste, food, etc that is floating around which would eventually just cause nitrates...so in a way, skimmers take nitrates out indirectly.

But i'd add those 2 powerheads, depending on how much flow you got now (excluding the skimmer) and how much flow those 2 put out. You want about 20 times total volume turnover per hour...imo more is better. So whatever 20 multiplied by 55 is...thats what you should start with as far as gallons per hour (once all powerheads are added up)

 

[wickeddroptop]

Alright, thanks everyone so much, except if my stuff dies, then I hate you all...LOL, Gonna unplug the Fluval, and wait a few days, and then the penguin

 

[Tang_Cool]

You can leave the canister there, just take all the BIO media out, bio balls ect. these are the things that lead to higher nitrates. You can leave the Mechanical Filtration in there, such as filter pads, as long as you rinse them out once a week. I would keep the canister, IME its and easy place to run Carbon and creates extra flow.

 

[bertoni]

Okay, I wouldn't unplug the Fluval suddenly. With 60 lbs of live rock, that might be safe, but I'd probably remove the mechanical and biological filtration media slowly, so as not to risk an ammonia spike. That said, if the nitrate level in the tank is okay, you don't really need to change anything, just keep the filters clean. That's really a personal choice, no right or wrong way.

What kind of powerheads are in the tank, and what is their rated flow? The normal rule of thumb would be to have at least 550 gallons per hour of circulation for the tank. The Fluval and Penguin can be very useful for flow and activated carbon, as stated.

 

[serpentman]

I would NOT do anything yet. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. You really just need to make sure you are keeping up with routine maintenance. If you want to go with a sump etc, do like Sirdude and Bertoni said, start running it with LR and THEN disconnect your other filters.

There are a million ways to run a reef tank. However, each one of use has done something rash because someone said we should. Let your livestock tell you what it needs. Your corals will tell you if things aren't right.

 

[barjam]

If it ain't broke don't fix it. If you do change something do it gradually.

 

[MyCatsDrool]

IF EVERYTHING IN YOUR TANK IS HAPPY, DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING.

drastic changes can devistate your reef. and a drastic change like removing that much filtration all at once would be a drastic change.

If I were you:
start by removing 1/4 of the biomedia (bioballs, cylinders, ceraminc media, filter floss, sponges, etc) From the canister filter today. leave it alone for a week.

then next week do another 1/4 out
then the next week do another 1/4 out
then the 4th week remove what is left.

Keep the canister running the whole time. and i would also suggest keeping the cansiter. you can use it to run carbon. and that is a good thing. I run an HOB on my sump for carbon only.