So the more I read

[mercuryxs]

It looks like cannister filters are nitrate producers? Which I have had a few spikes recently. So would it be better to ditch the cannister and rely on my skimmer, lr and water changes?

I have a 40gl hex with around 40lbs of live rock. The stand it sits on would require a small sump and it's in a corner so a HOB fuge would not fit.

 

[Mariner]

Re: So the more I read

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14190042#post14190042 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mercuryxs
It looks like cannister filters are nitrate producers? Which I have had a few spikes recently. So would it be better to ditch the cannister and rely on my skimmer, lr and water changes?

Yes. Or, you could continue to run the cannister filter if you replace the carbon and filter media regularly (every 2 weeks or so), or run it without the media -- otherwise, it will produce nitrates.
If you stop using it altogether, you might want to remove the media a little at a time over a few days; this will give the biofilters in your LR the opportunity to take over.
HTH,
Mariner

 

[8BALL_99]

Re: Re: So the more I read

Re: Re: So the more I read

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14190071#post14190071 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mariner
Yes. Or, you could continue to run the cannister filter if you replace the carbon and filter media regularly (every 2 weeks or so), or run it without the media -- otherwise, it will produce nitrates.
If you stop using it altogether, you might want to remove the media a little at a time over a few days; this will give the biofilters in your LR the opportunity to take over.
HTH,
Mariner

Pretty much Exactly what he said :rollface: My only suggestion though would be not to run Carbon All the time. IMO I think it pulls to much out of the water. I run a little on the output of my ozone. But I wouldn't run a Canister filter full of it 24/7. If you dose any trace elements or additives like Reef plus you should turn off any carbon also since it will just pull most of it back out.

 

[mercuryxs]

So if I decided to ditch the canister is there anything you would recommend to up the water quality?

 

[8BALL_99]

For a 40 gallon your skimmer and water changes should be enough. A canister isn't a bad thing to have around. I have a rather large Eheim canister filter that I run from time to time. You just don't want to keep it running. You also want to ditch whatever type of Biological filtration it uses.
Look at it this way. Pretty much any reef tank has atleast a few snail, crabs and even fish running around searching for things to eat. You also have a skimmer that collects waste. Some of it are large particles. What your canister filter does is collect most of the same stuff. But it traps it in a place where all the other stuff cant get to it to break it down or remove it. So what you end up with is a bunch of uneaten food and whatever else that is stuck rotting in a filter while you run all of your tank water over it again and again On top of that the biological media in the Canister is taking Ammonia and Nitrite and converting it into nitrates. For a fish only this isn't a bad thing since they can handle the nitrates but not the other stuff.. But with our reefs All of it is bad.

 

[mercuryxs]

Thanks for the info. Well the canister is a pain in the a** so I dont know what I will do.