whooooosh fluval :)

hey everyone just bought a new fluval 305 canister filter. im starting up a 3 ft marine tank and was wondering what the best types of media would be.

 

Hi
A canister filter on a marine tank is not recommended,basically it will become a huge nitrate factory & cause problems unless its cleaned very often.
About the only real use for it is to run carbon.
With a Marine tank Liverock,Sand & Skimmer are your filters.

 

I agree, but be careful talking about skimmers like that. They aren't necessary like a lot of ppl think. There's a lot of tanks here running without them. I have 2 tanks skimmerless.


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I agree also but too run skimmer less requires other means of filtration like Algae scrubbers etc

 

I run only carbon and a fuge. Not ats, no skimmer. It depends on stocking ratios, cuc, which corals you wish to keep, etc. If someone is wanting a fowlr tank, I wouldn't say a skimmer or an ats is needed at all.

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1000+

 

All that's "needed" is something to hold the bacteria that will complete the nitrogen cycle to nitrate. A canister filter can actually hold that bacteria. A skimmer, ats, carbon, etc all just give you a lot more room for screw ups, higher bio loads, and feeding. While a major form of export isn't "necessary" it will save most hobbyists. If you don't have one of those forms, NEVER MISS A WATER CHANGE.

I have maintained many smaller tanks with waterchanges alone. In fact my 150g fowlr at my business is maintained with live rock and water changes. I have two canister filters on it, but I removed the sponges and put rubble in them instead. The nitrate level in there would never support most corals, but my fish don't seem to care that the nitrates are permanently around 50ppm.

 

There is nothing wrong with canister filters and can be a quite useful piece of kit.

Canister filters and wet/dry filters are NOT nitrate factories. The people that run a canister with no maintenance for months on end are the nitrate factories. Leave a canister for months on end where the deterius, gunk & everything else can build up and rot, sure you'll have nitrates. With regular cleaning and media changes canisters can work great.

carbon? works great. chemi-pure? works great. Put them in a canister and people cry devil and gather a posse. lol.

 

I always wonder if the people speaking against canister filters have actually run them or if they have just read what they're preaching over and over until they believed it. Reef tanks are SO diverse that some tanks actually run better with a canister filter than with skimmers and refugiums. Corals don't ALL need, or even want, the ultra clean environment that we all seem to be striving for these days. With that said, if you will be running a canister filter, plan ahead to house some things that it will benefit. Several interesting corals actually like some nitrates and other nutrients in the water like leathers, mushrooms and most other soft corals. Anemones and clams can also process nitrate directly from the water making them good options as well.

As far as media, I woudl run some carbon like everyone else has said. I don't believe in putting bacteria media in any filters because you should have plenty of real estate for bacteria in your live rock. Sponges may be a good option in there also, but I would not allow bacterial growth in them. I think the best rule of thumb for canister filters is to run things that you can throw away and replace. This means that once a month you are refitting the filter with fresh new nitrate free filters.

 

Canister filters are excellent for GAC and contrary to popular belief are good for GFO in small to medium sized tanks. In fact, they are my favorite equipment for GAC. I've run them for a long, long, time, without nitrates. This makes sense as Nitrates are are result of resource imbalances and improper removal of uneaten food. This has no relationship to a canister filter if the canister filter is kept clean and you don't use filter floss/filter pads, or at least don't leave the floss/pads for a long time.

GAC should be changed or at least rinsed every week. When you do so, dump out the water in the canister filter and rinse it out. It's quite simple really. If you do this, a canister filter is just like any piece of equipment and is really very useful.

There is actually fairly well understood reason why bioballs can lead to nitrates, other than trapping detritus (which is the common belief, but only part of it). However, other than trapping detritus (which is a problem easily solved by cleaning), there is no reason a canister filter will lead to nitrates.