ok i wanna do a salt tank but i cant really do a sump i know there best and i know that most salt water guys will say that canisters are a nitrate trap but what if a guy broke up live rock and used just that in the canister?? eliminating the sponges aswell?? its gonna be a FOWLR for now just to get me into it then once my 2500gal is built in the garage for all my cat fish and rays ill convert my 8ft 240 gal drilled tank to salt aswell but i've been waiting long enough to set up salt lol. oh im gonna really try and sell the 55gal that i wanna convert to salt but selling fish stuff even fish for that matter in my area is really hard to do so and i dont want to just give everything away so if i cant sell the 55 ill just use it. and i know a deeper width would be better in say an 80gal and up but oh well thanks guys!! and ill do a hang on skimmer too. how important is the skimmer if im only gonna keep a few smaller fish???
saltwater + Fluval 404???
- Thread starter slednex11
- Start date
You don't need the skimmer on an FOWLR system. Do your water changes once a week. I have a Ceylon Puffer in a 55. I run a Fluval 304 full of rubble. Works great.
Its not really the media that is a nitrate trap, its the fact that there is lots of waste in there.
LR can trap waste as well. I would just buy a bio media like the cintered glass balls that ehiem sells. It does the same thing as the LR, but does a better job.
Skimmers should be on all SW tanks IMO. Theres really no reason not to, they prolong the time in between h2o changes, they remove waste directly from the water without the mechanical filtration that can cause "Nitrate Factory" and are one of the top 3 most necessary pieces of equipment that I own.
Look into AquaC's skimmers. Great service, great product, easy to use, and cheap.
LR can trap waste as well. I would just buy a bio media like the cintered glass balls that ehiem sells. It does the same thing as the LR, but does a better job.
Skimmers should be on all SW tanks IMO. Theres really no reason not to, they prolong the time in between h2o changes, they remove waste directly from the water without the mechanical filtration that can cause "Nitrate Factory" and are one of the top 3 most necessary pieces of equipment that I own.
Look into AquaC's skimmers. Great service, great product, easy to use, and cheap.
Thanks Fleshy for the tips, i was hoping you would chime in for me, it seems like your a main man around the salt section here. Just from what ive been reading lately in the SW game! I just dont want to use an ugly Hang on Skimmer looks bad i just want a simple set up for now kinda thing
slednex11;4747018; said:
I agree with fleshy, I think they are a must as well. I do not think they look ugly either, especially if you get the overflow box that you can get for aqua c remoras. Then they look like any other overflow. If you very lightly stock it you should be ok with a good maintenance schedule. Think weekly water changes and at least weekly cleaning of the canister. Being that the tank if temporaryn you could then save your money for a very good skimmer or skimmers when u convert top the 240. Think aqua c ev400, I have one with a mag drive 18 and it is awesome. What kind of stock list are you thinking? This will make a big difference and we can help you get the right amount and capatabilty for your 55. Either way skimmer or no, you will need a couple good powerheads for flow. These powertheads could then be transferred to the 240. Think koralia 4s.
oh ya for sure ill be doing power heads and for stock i dunno yet really but id like to get some tangs like a blue hippo, a mandarian,huma trigger as it seems to be a common trigger to use in a community tankmate! which i thought all triggers were predetor ,still gotta research all the stock im still studying the chemistry of the water and equipment
I have HOB skimmers on the backs of my smaller tanks & they are barely seen. I used to keep rubble in a HOB Aquaclear but I found them to clog quickly with detritus & became a PITA to constantly clean. I would think cleaning out canisters would be worse.
Depends what kind of canister you have.
Marinelands are terrible, and not getting better.
Cleaning my eheim is a joy to me...it must be how people feel when they wash their sports car.
Skimmers, especially nice ones like AquaC, are such nice things to have. I cant imagine working SW without skimmers.
Marinelands are terrible, and not getting better.
Cleaning my eheim is a joy to me...it must be how people feel when they wash their sports car.
Skimmers, especially nice ones like AquaC, are such nice things to have. I cant imagine working SW without skimmers.
ya ill have to check out the AquaC HOB skimmers ya i dont mind cleaning the F 404 i dont enjoy it as much as i do as washing my Vette ha ha but its easy compared to the FX5's lol but gotta sell off the livestock currently in the tank first then hopefully i can just sell the tank and get a 80gal plus and hope that its drilled or just drill it myself