why shouldnt i use a canister filter?

[Myaj]

I think we need some clarification here...

My assumption was that if you use a cannister for water movement (no mechanical filtration, maybe just some rubble), the skimmer will still pull the wastes out like it should. And even if you do put in some media, the skimmer will still do a lot of good, but yes, they'll be battling each other.

Either way, I would say if you are going 1.018+, aim for a skimmer as the best option.. then I *think* you can still use the cannister for water movement, but its best if you remove the media that will trap debris.

[xmikebrock]

yeah lol
im trying to get around the whole
LR thing, save some $$

ill prolly gonna go fw even tho i have the GSPs
how well do you think they will do?
i know its not the best for them but im not going to be able to handle the upkeep

[Dadof4]

I'm on a tight budget too. What I did is started in low brackish with a canister filter and an slowly working my way up saving for LR and I bought a used skimmer from the sale section on Reef Central. You can also buy a smaller amount of LR and buy base rock or make your own rock. I tried making it and it turned out awesome!

[Jase]

yeah lol
im trying to get around the whole
LR thing, save some $$

ill prolly gonna go fw even tho i have the GSPs
how well do you think they will do?
i know its not the best for them but im not going to be able to handle the upkeep

Please don't keep them in FW. short term is fine if they are small, but they need salt as they get bigger.
Just save up while you slowly raise the salinity, then by the time you're ready for a marine tank, you'll have the money for it...

[xmikebrock]

ok
thats wat im prolly gonna end uo doin
feel bad about the fw


how did you make your own rock?

[Myaj]

Freshwater will do a lot of harm to them long term.

What I would do with the live rock is just find a place with "base rock". Its the same type of rock as live rock, very porous, etc, just dry and nothing living on it. Over the next year or two or whatever, buy a piece when you have some extra $$, rinse it off and put it in your tank.

Later on, when you finally get up to saltwater levels, you'll already have a nice big pile of rock that's fully seeded with bacteria. Then you just buy yourself one or two small chunks of live rock and use those to bring in the "bugs" and little critters and coraline algae, and there you go.

Making your own live rock is a possibility as well, but it involves a lot of messy concrete and takes forever to leech out all the crap that will change your water parameters. A friend of mine did do it and he actually ended up putting the rock in his toilet tank (not the bowl obviously, the tank) so every time someone flushed the toilet it got a water change, hehe. Again, its possible to do it, just a lot of work.

[LilGreenPuffer]

Making your own live rock is a possibility as well, but it involves a lot of messy concrete and takes forever to leech out all the crap that will change your water parameters. A friend of mine did do it and he actually ended up putting the rock in his toilet tank (not the bowl obviously, the tank) so every time someone flushed the toilet it got a water change, hehe. Again, its possible to do it, just a lot of work.

WOW! That's awesome!!!!!

[Dadof4]

Making your own live rock is a possibility as well, but it involves a lot of messy concrete and takes forever to leech out all the crap that will change your water parameters. A friend of mine did do it and he actually ended up putting the rock in his toilet tank (not the bowl obviously, the tank) so every time someone flushed the toilet it got a water change, hehe. Again, its possible to do it, just a lot of work.

WOW! That's awesome!!!!!

Heh, that's how I did mine too. I got the idea off an article that was posted on Reef Central....The rocks actually turned out real good. I used the rock salt method and #1 Portland cement. The cement work was fun (yes it was messy) and the initial curing takes 72 hours. You have to cure it in water for at least 30 days to make sure the chemical reaction is complete and the rock salt is totally gone. I was thrilled with the results though, hard to tell the difference between the natural base rock and the homemade stuff!

[xmikebrock]

cool beanns

does anyone have a "recipe" LR that theyve used?

[LilGreenPuffer]

Making your own live rock is a possibility as well, but it involves a lot of messy concrete and takes forever to leech out all the crap that will change your water parameters. A friend of mine did do it and he actually ended up putting the rock in his toilet tank (not the bowl obviously, the tank) so every time someone flushed the toilet it got a water change, hehe. Again, its possible to do it, just a lot of work.

WOW! That's awesome!!!!!

Heh, that's how I did mine too. I got the idea off an article that was posted on Reef Central....The rocks actually turned out real good. I used the rock salt method and #1 Portland cement. The cement work was fun (yes it was messy) and the initial curing takes 72 hours. You have to cure it in water for at least 30 days to make sure the chemical reaction is complete and the rock salt is totally gone. I was thrilled with the results though, hard to tell the difference between the natural base rock and the homemade stuff!

But did you do yours in the toilet?

Is it cheaper?

[Dadof4]

Yup, cured mine in the toilet tank, worked like a charm. Cut down on the water bill too....I spent maybe about $100 total.

[luvmyfish]

I use canister filters on all of my Display tanks. 2 have sumps with skimmers and one tanks only filtration is the canister. I clean them every 4-6 weeks and I have never had a problem. They keep the water crystal clear which isn't always to easy when ya have 6 10+ inch fish swimming around in a 215 gallon tank. The only true thing that causes nitrates is the lack of maintenance. I put a sticky note on the canister to remind me when to clean it. once every 4-6 weeks isnt a lot of work. I do suggest using as big as u can get I did use a Fluval 204 on a 90 gallon tank but the bio load wasn't real heavy. I now use a Fluval FX5 on the 215 a Marineland 360 on a 150 gallon and an Odyssea 4 on a 90 gallon and they work great.

oh and on a little note when going elsewhere to look for info mostly you will find reefer boards and it is a whole lot different from fish only Corals require a lot more filtration then fish

[splitadams]

ok this may have already been answered in some indirect way but,
why does a canister filter acctually become a burden

i mean ive read "because the debris get caught and not taken out of the water then rot creating no2,no3 and ammonia"
but surely a canister filter works in the exact same way in a fresh water or brackish tank
if you have it running it will catch debris exactly like in a sw tank and capture them while they eventually
rot and create the exact same problems, sounds like the exact same process to me

maybe if it was something to do with the salt i might understand but apparently they can be used with brackish tanks

so if i was keeping a brackish tankjust under marine salinity levels with a canister filter, and i move it up by say 0.002 into marine levels
why in such a small change would i need to change the filter, why does the canister filter acctually become obsolete?

ive heard so many conflicting storys about canister filters for and against marine tanks that its starting to sound like an old wives tale

[Idontknow]

Basically what was explained to me was that no matter if its fresh, brackish, or marine, you will still need to change the cotton media and clean the sponge media often. So yes, I think canisters being a nitrate factory in just marine is a wive's tale. It will be a nitrate factory in any case if you don't clean it.

However, with fresh and low brackish, if the nitrates get high you can just simply do a huge water change. With high brackish and saltwater it is not economically feasible to keep doing huge water changes.

In a saltwater tank you can use live rock and a protein skimmer which you won't be able to use in brackish or fresh. Live rock will start to die around SG 1.018 and skimmers need 1.020 to effectively work.

Anyway, I just wanted to make use of my canister that came with my tank, so I followed the advice of the experienced here on PF. It has worked out really well.

[Idontknow]

This article cleared it up for me a little more.

http://www.aquaristsonline.com/blog/aqu ... -aquarium/

From the article...

"The canister filter is having oxygenated water pumped through it, which means that the nitrogen cycle can only progress as far as the production of nitrate. Live rock, for example, will hopefully complete the full nitrogen cycle, breaking down the nitrate into gas that is released from the aquarium"