Using canister filter with live rock?

[0000]

would it be effective if I took all the media out of my fluval filter and put live rock in there? would it work like a sump?

an actual sump is not possible because it will not fit into the stand design that i have.

IF not live rock, can I put anything else in the canister filter?

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

i think that can become a "nitrate factory" pretty quick because it will build up so much detritus over time. you want the nitrogen cycle to be at a natural speed. having rock in a place such as a canister filter will get everything trapped and this cycle will be happening so fast it will only cause problems later on.

 

[wmdick_2007]

It will work --- you will need to filter the water well before the rock, or the dirt / waste will fill the holes in the rock and denitrification will not take place there. There will always be some denitrifying bacteria in the filter.

I have canisters and they are all on the return from the sump to the displays. The water is fairly clean when entering the filters. I do have two of my four stages full of filter material then charcoal then ceramic media. There is a low oxygen environment in the last stage due to aerobic bacteria in the previous stages. This helps the formation and survivability of the denitrifying bacteria in the pores of the rock or ceramic media.

If a tank is mature the food and waste gets broken down quickly. I see little change in my total nitrates --- others find issue though.

 

[b85511]

sounds amazing

 

[Chris27]

If your tank is filled with rock already, there is no need for the canister filter unless you're using it solely for chemical media (activated carbon, phosphate removal media, etc...)

Rock, water movement, and protein skimming is your filter, it's how most all tanks are filtered these days (Berlin Method).

FWIW, a sump is not a filter, it's merely another box of water that the main tank drains into. It's a convenient place to hide equipment, and useful for maintaining water level in the display, but it does nothing for filtering.