Canister filter

Hello
I have 82lbs of live rock in my 70g and a protein skimmer. Do I need to run or use my canister filter?

Thanks

 

Canister filters tend to catch crud and cause nitrates to rise if used for too long or aren't cleaned enough. Most people don't use canister filters either, so I'd say not likely.

 

If you dont have a sump you'll still need it to remove larger particles from the water column. Just keep it real clean to stop nutrient build up.
If you do have a sump it's good to have when you'd like to polish the water, run carbon or gfo.

 

No, you don't need to, but they are good for running some chemical filtration if you want that on your system.

 

i would say most likely no. so long as your skimmer is appropriate for your tank size/live stock.

might be good to keep around to run carbon, of some other filter media once and a while.

if you do use it make sure you keep it clean. (at least once a week if not more) they cause problems when they get nasty...i know from personal experience.

if its running now, make sure to slowly take out filter media over a few weeks untill its empty, then remove it. dont yank the whole thing out at once.

 

+1 on blackraven

if you have adequate rock and enough flow the need for secondary bio filtration capacity is negated

the cannister can make a usefull device for including chemical filter media into a sumpless set up, so for carbon, purigen, chemipure, GFO etc they still serve a purpose IMO
used like this - they still require routine cleaning to keep them crud free
If its currently running bio media- dont just remove it all at once, remove 25% per week over 4 weeks allowing the bacteria in other areas to develop to compensate

Steve

apologies to the others who where typing at same time and said the same , that I did not quote