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Canister Filters

8K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  grantar2 
#1 ·
I just purchased a fluvial 305. I was wondering how many of you use them and if it would be applical to use bio Balls or just the bio Max ceramic in the Filter
Thanks Carl.
 
#6 ·
Is this going to be a fish only or a reef tank? What is the intention for the canister filter? Most resources are now, and have been for a few years, telling us not to run canister filters on reef tanks. Here's the lowdown. Protein skimmers are so efficient that you really want and need a good one, if you get a quality skimmer it will basically get rid of any need for a filter. Canister filters will fill with detritus, this detritus begins breaking down into liquids as the water continues to flow around it. This waste now saturates the display tank with higher levels of nitrates. They will indeed help in the cycle process of breaking down nitrite and ammonia, however nitrates will abound. Most people want to clean large canister filters once a month or longer. If you have a proper reef set up with a sand bed, live rock, good flow, and a skimmer you will have the equipment to remove wastes from the water column forever and have enough surface areas to promote biological filtration within the tank. If you have a fish only tank without live rock canister filters can then be ran in place of the live rock. Fish can tolerate the higher nitrate levels more than corals and inverts. If you plan to run a canister filter on a reef tank use it only for mechanical and chemical filtration. Use the ceramic rings to trap waste, use carbon to scrub the water crystal clear, and use a phosphate remover to keep the tank algae free. Clean this at least every 2 weeks.
 
#7 ·
I have a 47.5Gallon / 180Litre tank.
I have an Eheim Cannister filter, and i plan on putting invertebrates (hermit crabs) and a pair of Clown fish (Amphiprion Ocellaris).
If i add say 21kg of live rock (according to the Pound per gallon ratio)
with a substrate of either argonite or silica sand, a couple of powerheads and a protein skimmer.

Is it neccessary to buy a trickle filter?? Is there any other problems or recommendations you could give me to make sure my aquarium is as close to optimum as possible? You mentioned before to only use the cannister for mechanical and chemical filtration. How do i prevent it for biological filtration? and i should clean it every month? please forgive any ignorance as i am just starting up my first aquarium so i thought i would be thorough with my research prior to buying inhabitants. :)
 
#8 ·
With a nice reef full of rock work, the rock becomes your bio filter. You can continue to use a canister but plan to clean it every other week unless it is huge and you may go once a month. The idea is to not allow the waste it collects to begin breaking back down. Even skimmers have their weaknesses. They remove large waste (still almost microscopic), if a canister allows waste to degrade far enough as to be let back into the system it is probably to small for the skimmer to remove it. This is the waste that feeds algae like gas to a fire. So a canister on a reef should be kept spotlessly clean and feel free to add a bit of carbon or phosban each time. Trouble is that many people would leave them on for 4-6 months, they begin polluting the tank again at that point. Inverts are very sensitive to Nitrites and ammonia, fish are not as sensitive. That is why you'll see us say that a canister is more for a fish only tank. It really is only said because people are generally lazy and forget things like proper maintenance. Or they become overwhelmed with something else and the filters suffer. There are a few people that this never happens to and if you are one of them, use your canister to your advantage. The same is true of trickle filters full of bio balls. They need to be cleaned often and folks choose not to. Many people are afraid of disrupting the bacteria balance. This was true the years before live rock. The idea is to keep your system stable with the rock so cleaning the filtration does not disrupt the entire system.

With only 2 clowns and a handful of hermits you should be fine with rock, sand, and your current Eheim. If you wish to make your system a little more deluxe you certainly could, and should, add a nice skimmer. I prefer in sump models for so many reasons. Most important is that if it ever goes wonky and gets out of adjustment, the dirty water goes back into the tank, not your floor. Do you need a trickle filter? No, just a sump and return pump to house the skimmer. The thing about a skimmer is that the waste is removed forever and cannot come into contact with the tanks water.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for all that. Just to set the record straight, when cleaning my cannister filter how should i exactly go about that?
.. does one dismantle the entire filter, I just want to know that I'm cleaning it properly without contaminating it in anyway.. and like you said i can add active carbon or phosban.
 
#10 ·
I consider my canister filter to be secondary filtration. As I do not consider it to be my main bio source I rinse everything under tap water until clean. If the floss or foam are ruined I replace. I use cheap polyester batting from Walmart at $3 for about an entire years worth. If I was using as a bio source I'd rinse my ceramic ring or half my bio balls, on Eheim filters (and some others) the fused glass spheres, I'd only rinse in tank water to preserve the bacteria.
 
#11 ·
Canister

I believe you will find the new Marineland C360 multistage canister could be your answer. It impliments a multistage approach with two layers of mechanical filtration, a level of chemical filtration and two levels of bio filtration including bio balls and porclean bio media. The key is near zero bypass. The last mechanical element acts as a water polishing system.
 
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