Cannister Filter + Saltwater Tanks

[Ben H]

Greetings All,

Love the site - been around for a couple of months now. I have a question that has been bugging me ever since I started this hobby and not suprisingly I can't get a definate answer. I am starting this thread not to get an answer one way or the other because I know that won't happen - but to decide once and for all.

I've been using am Eheim 2329 (marine ver.) wet + dry thermo cannister filter for over a year now, on my 90gal FOWLR system. I have roughly 25kg Fiji + Javen live rock, and 25kg ocean rock which is beginning to become colonised. I have a 2" live sand bed, with crushed coral mixed in (not much though!) All water perameters are great - but occasionally I will get a very small ammonia spike every few weeks. I'm using x3 MJ 600's and a Deltec MCE600 skimmer. The tank is lightly stocked.

My question is even if the tank wasn't likely stocked is there really any need for the cannister filter? It does drag some serious waste out, and I've figured it is generally a useful addition - but now I fear this may actually be causing more harm than good. It doesn't have the bioballs, but those substrat pro balls - they are like little balls of cereal!

Thanks!!

Ben

 

[Anonymous]

My experience says no you don't need it. Do you have a sump? For the most part people who use a CF only put carbon in it and run it for a short time. If they are not cleaned often they can become a nitrate factory.
JMO.

 

[Anonymous]

:welcome:

If you keep up on the maintenance, a canister filter in a FOWLR can work fine. Yes they can produce some nitrates if you left them get gacked up but that is not as critical with fish only, as opposed to a reef tank with coral.

That having been said :lol: I'd pull the bio-whatever media out and use it for mechanical filtration and activated carbon dosing, and think about adding a skimmer which IMO exports far more gack and will let you stock more in your tank.

 

[Ben H]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice - I shall think about not using it! Lawdawg- I do use a skimmer, Deltec MCE600 which gets one hell of a lot of waste out the water, thanks for your advice

Any other opinions?

Thanks!

 

[K9coral]

I used one for a long time. They get filthy fast and therefore become a factory for bad things (maybe). Great for running carbon though. I would not use one again mainly for maintenance issues.

 

[Ben H]

Excellent - thanks K9. Oh by the way, just to add to this post - I do not have a sump, and run RowaPhos in the Deltec.

Interesting so far - looks like I may be getting another £300 worth of live rock after selling my filter and spare

I need a few more opinions before I make this leap though - the stuff which the filter removes, where will all that go? Skimmer and I guess the rest will have to be taken out by siphon off the LSB surface?

Thanks again!

Ben

 

[K9coral]

The tank I was talking about previously didnt have much as far as filtration. It was a single 46 gallon tank with only a skilter filter, live rock, live sand and the canister which I ended up removing. I didnt notice a difference after removing the canister. I did water changes every month sometimes more often.

 

[Anonymous]

IMO a camister filter is nice to have for running carbon and the like, but not good for general filtration.

 

[Semilarvatus]

Is your model the 2229? The 2227 and 2229 are the only wet/dry canister filters from Eheim. I have the 2227 myself (it's really a quality filter).

I don't think adding the filter to your tank would cause harm unless you don't do regular maintenance. Then the ehfisubstrat pro, cereal balls :lol: become a nitrate factory. Do make sure that when you clean the balls do it with old tank water.

BTW the filter is designed for only biological media, but I bet you can fit mechanical/chemical media as well. The canister filter also has an advantage over a sump setup in that it cannot overflow.