So, I have two 1" GSP's that are currently in a 60 gal hex, sg 1.007. I'm getting a 72 bowfront for Christmas (yay boyfriend!) and was hoping to get some input. What do you guys think are the best mechanical filters? What would you use personally for bio-filtration (no live rock yet). I'm sure I've answered other people's posts when they ask these things, it's just nice to hear new ideas! It's hard to review specific products without buying them all first. I'm partial to Aqua clear filters..what do you guys think?
PS: thanks for the idea, Bred!!
Help Lisa spend Her money (haha bred)
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lisalisa
Help Lisa spend Her money (haha bred)
Last edited by lisalisa on Thu Jan 05, 2006 1:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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RTR
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Your long-term plans are? FOLR? That + 24/7 lighted refugium? Or simple mech and bacterial (as opposed to LR) filters plus a skimmer? Sump w/skimmer + refugium? Give us an idea of where you want to end up and we can try to help you spend better and smarter, since you are going to be in a transition period for some time, but then in a stable condition for much longer.
Where's the fish? - Neptune
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lisalisa
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Bred
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I approve of the thread title.What kind of flow-through will you have on the sump? Will you use a deep sand bed, or is it mostly for frag grow out, macroalgae veggie filter?
The most efficient biofiltration is wet/dry. Water runs out of the main tank into the sump via a drip plate which casts water over a semi-submerged compartment containing bioballs. The drip plate keeps the bioballs moist, but the exposure to air promotes the metabolism of the nitrifying bacteria. (There's more to it than this, but I think that's the basic idea.)
Ultimately though the success of an in-sump biofilter depends on how much water is flowing through it per hour, and the volume of the biofilter. Higher flow-through may limit selection of creatures for the fuge.
As for mechanical filtration, this could be accomplished with a cannister filter or even an in-tank powerhead with filter floss wrapped around its intake. The crucial bit is rinsing it frequently.
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lisalisa
haha thanks for the approval!
I have the sump covered i think. I've had sucess without bioballs. On my other tanks I use a DSB macro algae refuge, and I've had good success. Do you like cannister filters? I've never used one. I have the 'quick filter' things around my power heads in another tank. They need to be changed aallll the time because they do such a great job.
I have the sump covered i think. I've had sucess without bioballs. On my other tanks I use a DSB macro algae refuge, and I've had good success. Do you like cannister filters? I've never used one. I have the 'quick filter' things around my power heads in another tank. They need to be changed aallll the time because they do such a great job.
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Bred
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I do like cannister filters because of their "modularity": you can make them do whatever you want them to by adding or subtracting components. They come in nice packaging and are generally quite pleasant to work with.
But functionally speaking, cannisters are no different than specialized sumps. Sumps have the advantage of flexible components: large sumps give you larger media volumes, stronger return pumps give you greater flow than commercially available cannister filters. Working with big-need or special-need tanks, I would rather design a sump to fit my purposes than multi-filter.
The benefit of multiple filters + sump is redundancy, so if one fails the other can hold fast. That said, designing your own filtration systems (which could easily be designed to incorporate a sump and fuge) is more cost-effective and scaleable to fit your needs.
Hope that makes sense. If not, have a couple rum and cokes!
But functionally speaking, cannisters are no different than specialized sumps. Sumps have the advantage of flexible components: large sumps give you larger media volumes, stronger return pumps give you greater flow than commercially available cannister filters. Working with big-need or special-need tanks, I would rather design a sump to fit my purposes than multi-filter.
The benefit of multiple filters + sump is redundancy, so if one fails the other can hold fast. That said, designing your own filtration systems (which could easily be designed to incorporate a sump and fuge) is more cost-effective and scaleable to fit your needs.
Hope that makes sense. If not, have a couple rum and cokes!