I have been back and forth on forums, as well as other sites on getting ready to set up a freshwater, to brackish to marine.
Originally I wanted to replace my bio wheel (penguin 150), with a canister filter (something for around a 50+ gallon), but someone pointed out that using Live Rock with a skimmer would be less expensive and less maintenance in the long run. Well, I though, great! But the more I look into it, the more money it will end up costing. I currently have a 30 gallon, and would need about 40lbs of rock, after everything is purchased and installed, my puffer in the 30 gallon will have the swimming room of a 10 gallon, doesn't seem right, and I really have no more room for a larger tank, plus, larger tank, more live rock.
I understand that overall in the long run, the live rock will help with less water changes and provide good beneficial bacteria, and so on, but would it be ok to continue the weekly water changes with a canister filter and such? I also heard that canister filters can cause high nitrates.
Originally I wanted to replace my bio wheel (penguin 150), with a canister filter (something for around a 50+ gallon), but someone pointed out that using Live Rock with a skimmer would be less expensive and less maintenance in the long run. Well, I though, great! But the more I look into it, the more money it will end up costing. I currently have a 30 gallon, and would need about 40lbs of rock, after everything is purchased and installed, my puffer in the 30 gallon will have the swimming room of a 10 gallon, doesn't seem right, and I really have no more room for a larger tank, plus, larger tank, more live rock.
I understand that overall in the long run, the live rock will help with less water changes and provide good beneficial bacteria, and so on, but would it be ok to continue the weekly water changes with a canister filter and such? I also heard that canister filters can cause high nitrates.
