tips on using a canister filter for a reef aquarium

[pro68camaro]

hey I'm going to be running a eheim professional 3e canister filter on my 30 gallon Im setting up to be a reef. Now before you even say it i know they are known to be nitrate factories. the reason im using it is because im cheap and I already had it from my old fresh water tank. i'm just looking for tips from poeple that use them on there reefs and have good luck. like how often you clean them, what media you run, etc.... thanks

 

[MrGoodbar]

welcome to RC! glad to see a fellow member from wisc. I had one and didnt have good luck with it. I was told to clean it every month so i did for a while and then got a sump. It was so long ago that i dont remember what i had in it. Whatever it came with is what i used. I have heard they can be nitrate factories but as long as you clean it there shouldnt be a problem.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Not to sound like a broken record.......... I would Craigslist it. They really do nothing to help maintain a reef tank.

 

[tony53176]

Not to sound like a broken record.......... I would Craigslist it. They really do nothing to help maintain a reef tank.

I actually have to disagree with you here, I am using a reaction 4 canister filter but this is not my main source of filtration. My live rock, sand and protein skimmer are my main points of filtration. I am using my canister filter as a media reactor. I had a canister filter available and rather than spend the money on a reactor I decided to utilize the filter, I took out the big sponges. I am running activated carbon in it right now cause my tank is a bit cloudy (still cycling) and will most likely be changing over to Pearls and carbon in the future.

While canister filters do nothing to help a reef tank as a main source of filtration I do believe that they can utilized as a reactor.

 

[billdogg]

Not to sound like a broken record.......... I would Craigslist it. They really do nothing to help maintain a reef tank.

I would disagree as well. I have been using a canister filter on my 60g cube since I set it up, and have never had an issue with it. Yes, you do need to clean it (monthly for me, when I do water changes), but otherwise it has been a great addition to the tank. Mine is a fluval 405. I have it set up with the sponges, a bag of carbon, two trays of LR rubble, and then another bag of carbon. Every time I clean it I pull out dozens of mini brittle stars and more pods than you can shake a stick at. They all get spread out among the other tanks, helping the biodiversity of my systems.

Are there other (better?) ways of doing the same things my canister filter does? Sure, but for my situation (sumpless/skimmerless) it works great.

Oh - and just so you know - this tank has been in continuous use since 1992. Don't even try to tell me it won't work - it does.

 

[sporto0]

It's the same old story here, "nitrate factory", "not good for reefs", baloney people! They are great mechanical filters, you remember those? Filters floating debris? Promotes better flow? Allows for chemical filtration? So the lazy reefer who decided he didn't want to take it apart & clean it decided it was a nitrate factory? Let me explain something, again, nitrates need a source of nitrogen & ammonia, this is not produced by the filters!!!!! This comes from fish waste, uneaten food, etc., so if your bio load is too heavy for your bacteria & tank, your nitrates will be high, the only difference is with porous live rock filtration, some of the nitrates will be converted to nitrogen gas so the concentration of nitrates will be a little lower than if you just employed a canister with ceramic rings lets say, understand that it will not produce MORE nitrates, it just does not allow for nitrogen gas conversion. High nitrates & phosphates are best taken care of in our closed systems by WATER CHANGES, these equiptment bashers were lazy, don't blame the equiptment, blame the lack of husbandry.

 

[ecupcar]

You still probably need a skimmer, but with good husbandry you can probably get away with it. We all have some form of nitrate collection, dead spots etc, so this should work for mechanical filtration. I think i would clean it out once every two weeks to get the detritus out of the bottom as i recall mine from years ago collecting in the bottom. Personally I wouldn't run one on my reef.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I use a canister filter for GAC and GFO and think that is a fine use.

 

[Saltydrip]

I'm also running a canister. I'm not crazy experienced with SW like thera guys but it makes Sence to run one in my mind.

I'm running a Fluval FX5. It dwarfs the 405. I have the factory filter sponges that arnt very fine, 1,500grams of biomax, 1.5lbs of kent marine nitrogen sponge (ammonia & nitrate absorber), 300grams activated carbon. Just load that sucker up with reactor goodies and you should be good.

 

[jnad]

Hello!

I have had great sucsess using an canister on my nano, the caniste was filled with Matrix.

Take a look at this reefer:
http://www.sreef.fi/sReef/sReef.html

jnad

 

[briankmarsh1980]

I used to use a canister with w water polishing filter.... But I had to clean the filter every couple of days cause it would clog up it was a real pain that and I had a few siphon accidents lol. I didn't use it for very long before I just removed it.
Since you have it already I would set it up to run media like GFO or Carbon as others stated.

 

[Saltydrip]

Avoid polishing pads!! They are a bandaid. A healthy tank doesn't need them. They are too fine and will clog creating a slower flow and creating a mass of nastynes just growing junk and not braking down. You need a high flow firer sponge so it doesn't clog up too fast. Your live rock and CUC are your best defense against the smaller particulates floating around. Dont use live rock in your canister. Use the correct media for the filter. Rock is totally random size and shape and isn't your best bet. Get bio media. It's meant to do the job and keep even flow threw the filter. I would use your top 2 chambers as you would a reactor and keep the bio media in the bottom. I'm a neub in the SW world but when it comes to FW where I have about 20 years of DIY big tanks canisters are king so trust me on the canister set up.

Just keep it clean and keep an eye on you chemistry. If your finding your building nitrates don't blame the filter. Blame the media. Change things around inside and see how it goes.

 

[biecacka]

as with anything in this hobby it just takes a little maintenance, so if you clean it when you do water changes or what not you won't have a problem using a canister filter..
oh yeah WELCOME TO REEF CENTRAL
corey

 

[aleonn]

I have a spare Eheim canister filter lying around (otherwise I wouldn't bother getting a canister filter) that I put to use as supplemental filtration. I placed rubble LR, GFO, and carbon inside, and clean out every water change as well.

 

[symon_say]

Regular cleaning, that's all you need for then to work nice, a canister is just like a big reactor.

 

[lemmy_k]

I, too, have the 405. I have 2 running in my 180 as a supplement. I clean them with every water change, and change the carbon every 5 to 6 weeks. My nitrates run about 10ppm.

 

[cloak]

There more trouble than their worth IMO. Everything they can provide can be accoplished by easier means. Passive would be an example... (carbon)

 

[GPB]

I used a Fluval 405 for several years on my last tank. Here's are my take aways from the experience.

1. I didn't clean it our often enough. It was a pain to empty the water out of it and change the media.

2. The sponge or floss media required changing / cleaning also. It was necessary to keep the crud out of the GFO and GAC.

I didn't have a sump at the time so the canister used water directly from tank.

Here's what I would change if I did it today:

I would make sure I used a 100 micron sock on the water going to the sump.
I would use the canister drawing in water from the sump and empyting it back into the sump. There should be minimal amount of detritus going into canister. I would eliminate the sponge or floss from the media basket. One less thing to hold debris.

 

[pro68camaro]

thanks everyone for the advice. it helps hearing what you think. i kinda knew id have to clean it alot. i was going to every water change. the tank been running for a few weeks and is cycling my liverock. heres a pic.

 

[y0ung0ne]

I run two on my 90 and my tank is running great they were both on my 45 as well before I got my 90. As long as you clean them you should be fine atleast I have been. JMO