Carbon & other chemical media in a canister

[Nandez13]

I have a 15 gallon tank with about 22 pounds of live rock and 2-3? of live sand. Where I have it placed, I don?t have room for a sump or multiple reactors so I ended up setting up a Hydor canister filter (160 gph filter circulaton/190 gph pump outlet). I know its not the ideal filtration for a reef and many people here hate them but space was limited. I?ve been removing the bio porous media that came with it a little bit at a time since I have enough rock/sand for bio filtration. I do weekly water changes of 10-20% with Red Sea Coral Pro salt /RODI water and rinse the coarse/fine filter pads in saltwater once a week as well.

I want to add carbon in a mesh bag and place it in the basket where I?m removing the bio media from. I?m considering buying the BRS ROX .8 based on the great reviews its received. Since all carbon is different, is this a good choice to place in a canister? Their website says its fine but I?d rather hear from someone that?s done it before. I?m hoping to order the carbon in the next couple of days in case anyone has better brand suggestions.

I also wanted to place GFO in the canister since the amount of carbon I?ll need won?t be much but I see that they have different flow requirements and it may not be effective. Is there some other media I can place in the canister next to the carbon that will help control algae (would be running both 24/7)?

Current livestock: 2 clowns, 1 firefish, CUC and about 25 frags (mostly softies/LPS).
Feeding: 1 or 2 times a day with either frozen myssis or pellets

Thanks for any advice

 

[rambler67]

it can be done. maintenance is key they will become nitrate factory if you don't clean then all the time. get rid of the sponges it it also and use floss pads and change them weekly. gfo and carbon is fine to run in it. you should cut down on the feeding to like ever other day.

 

[Nandez13]

maintenance is key they will become nitrate factory if you don't clean then all the time. .

Agreed, I plan on continuing doing the weekly water changes and filter cleaning

Would 100 or 200 micron mesh bags work best to keep the carbon and GFO? Also, I plan on rinsing these when I replace the media but how often should the mesh bags be replaced?

 

[KathyC]

No reason to cut feeding to every other day with 3 small sized fish in a 20G tank..as long as he doesn't increase the bio-load.
Feed only as much as they will in in a couple of minutes and be sure to rinse the Mysis before feeding.

 

[Nandez13]

I'll keep the feeding to once a day. I'm going to order BRS bulk ROX carbon and GFO.

Tank is looking good, just trying to make the water look a little clearer and get rid of the little bit of glass film algae.

I'll see how the change does for a month or so. I may also consider adding a nano HOB skimmer.

 

[blue2337]

I'm in the same situation as you with a 36 bowfront. No room for sump & 3 small fish and plenty of coral. I have an aquaclear 70 hob that I use for carbon and phosban when needed. It works well but needs cleaning frequently.

I've done this on this for this tank about 8 months and haven't noticed any problems. I also shut it off during feeding.

 

[Nandez13]

Anyone know where i can buy the mesh bags in bulk besides ebay??