tips on using a canister filter for a reef aquarium
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Kingofnintendo
New member
Are you still active on this site? I have a question about the canister filters. I have a 150 gallon tank I will be setting up and I have two 100 gallon canisters.... How well did yours work, are you still using it, can I leave what comes stock in it or should I change it and how often should I clean... And when I do clean is tap water ok to clean? And am I just emptying waste from the bottom... Sorry lots of questions but you are one of the few who are using a canister.... Thanks for any help! Any tips over all regarding canisters and what else you might use with them like skimmers etc.
billdogg
Well-known member
Although I no longer need to use my canister filter, I still think they are a viable option, especially for chemical filtration (carbon and/or GFO) if they are kept clean. I certainly have not forgotten mine, however. It is very useful for major cleaning days when a bunch of gunk gets stirred up in the water. I just stuff it full of polyester pillow stuffing and let it run for a day or two to clean up the mess for me.
Would I use one like I did in the past? If I needed to, You Betcha!
Would I use one like I did in the past? If I needed to, You Betcha!
Clown Town
New member
Im using dual canister filters and although its not a sump I really like the dual outputs. I find it helps with dead spots. Like others have said I found its not worth having polishing pads or anything like that unless you want to clean them weekly. They do suck up quite a bit up gunk but to me cleaning them more often is worth the dual outputs, less money to set up, the very low noise level, and the clarity i have in my water. NOTE: I have never used a sump and im also not a SW veteran...
StevieK
New member
Been running a reef for greater than fifteen years with a sump. This I believe is quite viable now that we know quite a bit more than in the past. Again, not for me for a buddy in close quarters.
Inline heater, no skimmer, monthly Water changes, carbon and GFO. Not sure why it wouldn't work flawlessly. I will not let go SPS, but fancy clowns with great softy's why not?
Inline heater, no skimmer, monthly Water changes, carbon and GFO. Not sure why it wouldn't work flawlessly. I will not let go SPS, but fancy clowns with great softy's why not?
What is GFO
What is GFO
Howdy Folks! It's a pleasure sharing this board with all of you. I am hoping to gain a lot of knowledge in the hopes of keeping my tank and fish thriving. First of all, I have four days of experience with saltwater aquariums. My first question (there will be many!) is; What is GFO?
What is GFO
Howdy Folks! It's a pleasure sharing this board with all of you. I am hoping to gain a lot of knowledge in the hopes of keeping my tank and fish thriving. First of all, I have four days of experience with saltwater aquariums. My first question (there will be many!) is; What is GFO?
cloak
New member
On our 30 gallon we do not have room for a sump. We are using a auqamaxx HOB skimmer, one vortex mp 10, live rock and sand. Also running a marineland c-360 canister filter with small amount of carbon and all the sponges plus bio rings that came with the unit. Foe awhile we did put a bag of Phos ban in there to get the phosphate under control. Never had any issues with nitrates using the filter this way. We do clean it out very well every time we do a water change, about every three weeks. Even cleaning it every three weeks it does not get very dirty the polishing pad gets it the worst and I can still rinse that out well enough that we only replace it 2 to 3 times a year. In the canister we always find a good amount of small bristle worms and other good cleaners, so many we add them to the larger tank as it was set up with life rock and dry sand. Still re thinking that one. But have had no issues what so ever with using the canister not sure if it's due to what has been living in there or just been luck as up to now. Never kept the Bio balls due the articles read about the negative affects about them not sure if they would add to the nitrates if we kept them.
Our 73 gallon tank (just about 4 months old) we are running a sump with skimmer and filter socks.. Have not had issues with nitrates with those as well but do clean every other day and have 3 pairs to swap out with.... Plus a vortech 40. The water is clean but not as clear as the smaller tank so I did order another canister to use a mechanical and may be carbon like we do the other set up. Will probably seed it with critters from the other canister as well i think that may be why we do not have the nitrate issues others are having with canisters.
The new canister will be delivered tomorrow will set it up this weekend. Will run it for a couple months and try to update this post as it is hard to find good posts regarding this issue or to help others make a decision on trying to run one or not.
We have had great results with the canister for filtration plus water flow for the tank. Made the purchase from Amazon so if the Fx6 doesn't do what we want will send it back and add purchase another vortech 40 for better flow as that to can help keep the water clearer.
Our 73 gallon tank (just about 4 months old) we are running a sump with skimmer and filter socks.. Have not had issues with nitrates with those as well but do clean every other day and have 3 pairs to swap out with.... Plus a vortech 40. The water is clean but not as clear as the smaller tank so I did order another canister to use a mechanical and may be carbon like we do the other set up. Will probably seed it with critters from the other canister as well i think that may be why we do not have the nitrate issues others are having with canisters.
The new canister will be delivered tomorrow will set it up this weekend. Will run it for a couple months and try to update this post as it is hard to find good posts regarding this issue or to help others make a decision on trying to run one or not.
We have had great results with the canister for filtration plus water flow for the tank. Made the purchase from Amazon so if the Fx6 doesn't do what we want will send it back and add purchase another vortech 40 for better flow as that to can help keep the water clearer.
tennesseebob
New member
i had an old marineland c150 i thought of using as a carbon reactor...dunno, ill keep letting that stew in my head lol
I'm chiming in a little late on this one but here goes. My tank is a 37 gal column and is 4 months old and im running the Aquatop CF 400 canister with UV. I clean it once a month and I'm currently using the stock filter pad and fine pollishing pad with a bag of carbon. I ditched the bioballs that came with it and used a bag of ceramic rings instead. My other tray is runnimg with phos-zome and a chemi-pure blue pack. I can clean my canister in 20 to 30 min with little trouble. Haven't found any brittle stars in mine yet but I do have a brittle in my tank so we'll see. Honestly I read all the horor stories about these filters and I haven't had any of those problems yet. My nitrates are undetectible with any test and my water is clear. Granted my tank is still new so time will tell with nitrates but so far so good. I am not curently using a skimmer but I do plan on one down the road so I can add sps to my tank. My water quality is very good with the canister but not good enough for sps imo. One nice thing about the canister is the ability to add and change out different media to suit your tanks neads. Big plus over most HOB. If I could afford a sump system with ro/di top off and a refuge I'd have one but for the budget I'm working with this canister is doing a great job for my nano. My live stock consists of cuc of mixed hermits and snails and an emerald crab, brittle star a blenny and clown pair for fish, green finger leather, large kenya tree, large frogspawn and small frogspawn, xenia, green pagoda cup coral, alveopora and some mushrooms. All are doing well. Hope this helps.
I'd like to add that while I'm using ceramic rings at this point they aren't really necessary considering I have nearly 50lbs of live rock in a 37 gal tank. I will probably get rid of them when I have the need for a different media and need to make room for it. I used them in the begining because I set my tank up wih dry rock.
I'd like to add that while I'm using ceramic rings at this point they aren't really necessary considering I have nearly 50lbs of live rock in a 37 gal tank. I will probably get rid of them when I have the need for a different media and need to make room for it. I used them in the begining because I set my tank up wih dry rock.
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Just wanted to follow up on this old thread. It's been 5 months running the canister and still no issues with nitrates at all. It may be the fact that I will not let the canister go more than 5 days with out cleaning it. When I do clean it there are many pods in there so they may be helping a little.
So what it takes to make the canister work for my system I have decided it just isn't worth the extra time it takes to maintain it. My water is crystal clear with it but I decided to pick up a carbon/GFO reactor and add more flow with another MP 40 that should be delivered this week.
Already have the Fluval FX6 sold only lost $50 on it and will need to put in $75 for the MP 40 so at least it isn't a total loss.
I do notice when I have the canister off the skimmer cup collects a lot more. So the canister is helping collect some of the proteins out of the water but just doesn't add as much benefit vs maintained time.
I really wanted to try to keep the canister going for a month with out cleaning it but as much as it was collecting in the 5 days I did not want to risk it.
My feeling on having a canister added to your tank is not a bad thing if you are willing to keep up with it. Our 30 gallon sump less tank is doing fine with a canister plus HOB skimmer and only cleaning the canister monthly, but we only have 4 corals and 5 fish in there as to the 75 gallon with over 30 corals and 7 fish (will be adding more fish just have been gathering more corals than fish lately).
I guess it just depends on the time you have for maintenance if a canister will work for you. I was able to run canister filtration with keeping the water quality cherry in both tanks for more than 6 months just in the long run if you have a sump and good mechanical filtration and keep up with it you do not need a canister. The time it takes to clean a few filter socks vs a canister just seems more reasonable to cut the canister out of the picture. If you are thinking of a canister for media a BRS single reactor and a Sicce silent 1.5 will run you about $140 vs what a good canister my cost in my case $300.
So what it takes to make the canister work for my system I have decided it just isn't worth the extra time it takes to maintain it. My water is crystal clear with it but I decided to pick up a carbon/GFO reactor and add more flow with another MP 40 that should be delivered this week.
Already have the Fluval FX6 sold only lost $50 on it and will need to put in $75 for the MP 40 so at least it isn't a total loss.
I do notice when I have the canister off the skimmer cup collects a lot more. So the canister is helping collect some of the proteins out of the water but just doesn't add as much benefit vs maintained time.
I really wanted to try to keep the canister going for a month with out cleaning it but as much as it was collecting in the 5 days I did not want to risk it.
My feeling on having a canister added to your tank is not a bad thing if you are willing to keep up with it. Our 30 gallon sump less tank is doing fine with a canister plus HOB skimmer and only cleaning the canister monthly, but we only have 4 corals and 5 fish in there as to the 75 gallon with over 30 corals and 7 fish (will be adding more fish just have been gathering more corals than fish lately).
I guess it just depends on the time you have for maintenance if a canister will work for you. I was able to run canister filtration with keeping the water quality cherry in both tanks for more than 6 months just in the long run if you have a sump and good mechanical filtration and keep up with it you do not need a canister. The time it takes to clean a few filter socks vs a canister just seems more reasonable to cut the canister out of the picture. If you are thinking of a canister for media a BRS single reactor and a Sicce silent 1.5 will run you about $140 vs what a good canister my cost in my case $300.
reefbroao
New member
I just don't see why anyone would run a canister filter. Seems like a waste of money and their are other devices that will be more function anyways. They will eventually become anerobic and you'll end up pumping nitrates into your tank. There are just A LOT of better alternatives than canister filters.
CStrickland
New member
Can you explain that part a little more? I don't get it
Flagg37
New member
I have a canister filter on my 30 gallon tank along with a skimmer. I was always told that I was crazy and it was a bad idea and it would cause problems. I'm glad to finally hear that maybe that's not the case. I could never understand the logic that a person with my identical setup that didn't employ the canister filter was fine but as soon as I add it it would be bad. My bio load is fairly small as it is and both my skimmer and canister filter are rated for tanks more than twice the size of mine so I end up cleaning the filter about every other water change and it still doesn't get very dirty.
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.
I have run a canister filter on my 40G Breeder for over a year now. If I could go back and "unbuy" it I would. With that being said it has caused me zero issues. It came with some biomedia, ceramic rings, blue sponge, and white filter floss material. I clean it once per week. I replace the white filter floss every time and I rinse everything else in the discarded tank water. I don't have a nitrate issue whatsoever. I also added a carbon pad that I replace every few weeks. The best thing for me is the surface agitation the spray bar creates. Without the spray bar there isn't much surface agitation.
So as long as you keep up on maintenance they are completely fine. I was doing every other water change but saw my nitrates go up to 10 ppm so I went back to every week. They are now undetectable on my test kit so Id guess they are around 2 ppm.
I say I wouldn't have bought it because it was a pricey purchase that could have been spent elsewhere. Also I do think it helps my tank but not as much as other equipment I could have gotten.
I also run a skimmer, 40 #s live rock, 60#s sand and recently added a hob Refugium.
So as long as you keep up on maintenance they are completely fine. I was doing every other water change but saw my nitrates go up to 10 ppm so I went back to every week. They are now undetectable on my test kit so Id guess they are around 2 ppm.
I say I wouldn't have bought it because it was a pricey purchase that could have been spent elsewhere. Also I do think it helps my tank but not as much as other equipment I could have gotten.
I also run a skimmer, 40 #s live rock, 60#s sand and recently added a hob Refugium.
I have a 2 year old 55 gal with nothing but a hang off filter that is rated for a 30 gal tank. IMO protein skimmers are a huge waste of money unless you have 100+ gallon tank. As long as you have good surface movement you shouldn't need a skimmer. I don't think you would even need a filter on an established 30 gallon as long as you do regular water changes.
