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I need to know what is a good canister filter and other equipment and were to buy on line.Can any one help.
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Anonymous
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Can't tell you where to buy (ThatFishPlace, maybe?), but Fluvals are, in my own experience, damn near as good as Eheims, which are top notch.
check out www.marinedepot.com I order from them ALOT.
well...I rushed this setup without putting much thought into it. It is a FOWLR (fish only w/live rock). I have a Eheim 2229 wet/dry canister filter along with Red Sea Berlin Turbo hang on skimmer and a AquaC Remora Pro hang on skimmer. Lighting is 400 wts of hamilton pc's. Ater many lessons learned, I built my 60 the way I wanted it. The 60 has a 30gal sump with Euro Reef CS8-2 skimmer. I have four bulk head fittings in the rear along with a build in corner overflow. One of the bulkhead fittings is the return from the sump via a Sen900 pump. Of the three remaining bulkhead fittings, one is the intake for a closed loop being powered by another Sen900 pump and returning via the two remaining bulkhead fittings. Lighting for the 60 is dual Ice-Cap 175 wts MH's with 12,000k Sunburst bulbs. Here is a rear pic of my 60...I am debating of buying a new 100 gal to replace my current 100 gal and do the same install as my 60. Here is a rear pic of my 60. I must say it was quite a bit of working on the 60..but well worth every second invested...my goal was to have a clean looking aquarium with no powerheads and no filter tubes...mission accomplished 
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Nice plumbing MB. I personally HATE fluvals (haven't used an Eheim). They are a pita to run, open, clean, etc... Many people believe that cannister filters encourage nitrates unless they are cleaned very often. Opening and cleaning a Fluval daily is not my idea of a good time. If you're looking at the cannister as primary filtration IMO you would be much better off getting yourself a good skimmer if you don't have one already. If you don't have a sump you could use a little hang-on filter to place carbon or whatever.
Unless your tank is extradorinaly nasty with floating nutrients in the water columm (and or you run your canister while feeding) Cleaning more than once a month should not be necessary.
It takes all of about 3 to 4 mintues to unclip a fluval, take the top off, pull out the contents, rinse the sponge change the carbon fill it up and connect it back. Ok maybe 5 minutes total.
Nitrate factories? Only if it is the sole source of biological filtration in an overstocked tank and (like I mentioned) you enjoy letting it aspirate your fish food. Of course-just about anything could be called a "nitrate factory" under those circumstances.
As long as there is plenty of live rock/live sand/ etc etc. The fluval it and of itself would not alter your chemistry levels in any drastic sort of way (just my opinion).
It takes all of about 3 to 4 mintues to unclip a fluval, take the top off, pull out the contents, rinse the sponge change the carbon fill it up and connect it back. Ok maybe 5 minutes total.
Nitrate factories? Only if it is the sole source of biological filtration in an overstocked tank and (like I mentioned) you enjoy letting it aspirate your fish food. Of course-just about anything could be called a "nitrate factory" under those circumstances.
As long as there is plenty of live rock/live sand/ etc etc. The fluval it and of itself would not alter your chemistry levels in any drastic sort of way (just my opinion).
What Allen said, with bells on. I've found Fluvals to be far easier to use than Eheim, in part because they're based not on metric measurements, but on good ol' inches. Makes nicking plumbing parts from another application much easier.
The bit about "nitrate factories" I also agree with, it really doesn't matter what you're using to perform the ammonia oxidation cycle, the end result is ALWAYS nitrates, and I feel it's fallacy to believe that one method will produce more nutrients (nitrates) from the same amount of "food" than another. For instance, argument against using wet-dry methodologies of nitrification, some folks claim that this method "makes" more nitrates. More than what? Undergravel filtration? Bio-filtration via Biowheel or similar method? Bio-filtration within a canister filter? These methods make no more nitrates than others, what is lacking in these methods is a means (other than water changes) to remove or convert nitrates, that's all.
As far as I know, we have available to us several methods of nitrate control--copious good quality live rock; algal filtration (requires removal of algae to control nutrients); water changes; foam fractionation, and deep sand bed/plenum methodologies. None of these issues were factored in to the original question (I am spending quite a bit of my days answering questions).
The bit about "nitrate factories" I also agree with, it really doesn't matter what you're using to perform the ammonia oxidation cycle, the end result is ALWAYS nitrates, and I feel it's fallacy to believe that one method will produce more nutrients (nitrates) from the same amount of "food" than another. For instance, argument against using wet-dry methodologies of nitrification, some folks claim that this method "makes" more nitrates. More than what? Undergravel filtration? Bio-filtration via Biowheel or similar method? Bio-filtration within a canister filter? These methods make no more nitrates than others, what is lacking in these methods is a means (other than water changes) to remove or convert nitrates, that's all.
As far as I know, we have available to us several methods of nitrate control--copious good quality live rock; algal filtration (requires removal of algae to control nutrients); water changes; foam fractionation, and deep sand bed/plenum methodologies. None of these issues were factored in to the original question (I am spending quite a bit of my days answering questions).
IME, the only canister filter that gave me worse problems than Fluvals was the Rena Filstar. Neither of these brands is carried by my LFS anymore because so many people had problems with them.
I have no experience with the larger Eheims but that would be my choice if I ever had the need again for a canister filter.
I have no experience with the larger Eheims but that would be my choice if I ever had the need again for a canister filter.
I believe the theory is that detritus/nutrients will accumulate in the various compartments in the cannister filter that would normally be left to be processed by skimming or DSB. So if this were true, cannisters do not "create" nitrates, it is just too efficient and by design traps and converts all nutrients, while protein skimming will remove nutrients before they go through the nitrogen cycle. Hence the need for very frequent cleanings. DSB's on the other hand release nitrates as harmless nitrogen gas bubbles. So if you take two identical tanks one with a cannister, one with DSB/protein skimming , the cannister filter system will likely have higher nitrates than the DSB/protein skimming system. Did it "create" the nitrates"?- no. Maybe nitrate warehouse is a better term. :wink: JMO.
Like you said SM all this is theoretical in the sense we have no idea what kind of system Seawiz has.
Like you said SM all this is theoretical in the sense we have no idea what kind of system Seawiz has.
Save_the_Expos":325zirxe said:
But if both of those identical tanks also have ample live rock, a DSB (maybe a plenum) and a large protein skimmer...Ill wager neither tank will have a nitrate problem. But the one with the canister may have better water circulation lower ammonia/nitrites and an easy method for circulating carbon or phosphate filters. Well thats the philosophy behind my setup and my pink tipped anemone, feather dusters, corraline, and fish are thriving....without the algae problems... (Heck I havent been doing water changes except about every 6 weeks lately)
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