1 Year old Canister "mixed reef tank"

[ROOSTER1013]

Just want to show my 1.5 year old canister run tank. There is a few reasons why i have a canister filter and not a sump including space but canister filters also work. Posting this because there is a lot of people that think canister filters on a reef tank is a no no. I have soft lps and just started to add some sps. Everything is doing and growing great specially my hammers. The only thing not doing well is some gsp whcih is the first thing i added to the tank it has not grown at all while hammers grew 500%. Also anybody need trochus snails? Started with 5 and now have over 200. Turned on the lights in the middle of the night to take these pictures as they mainly only come out after lights out.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I think you should be proud of yourself for having such a nice tank, relying on a canister filter. Obviously you are willing to put in the work it takes to maintain it/keep it clean. "A" for effort and results.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Tank looks great. I'm surprised at the lack of corraline algae in this tank. Maybe the photo is deceptive?

 

[ROOSTER1013]

I think you should be proud of yourself for having such a nice tank, relying on a canister filter. Obviously you are willing to put in the work it takes to maintain it/keep it clean. "A" for effort and results.

To be 100% honest i do not do much cleaning at all. The fluval fx6 is cleaned once every 2 months. I turn it off while feeding and leave it off for about 15min while all the food is eaten or collected by a small surface skimmer so that helps. One of the things i read about canister filters when starting a saltwater is how they become a nitrate factory. My nitrates are at 5 Maybe thats why my gsp is not doing so good as i read they like dirtier water.

 

[ROOSTER1013]

Tank looks great. I'm surprised at the lack of corraline algae in this tank. Maybe the photo is deceptive?

No corraline algea at all. I was upset at first even dosing corraline as i read corraline means a healthy tank but seeing everything growing and doing great im glad i dont have it. I dont like the look of it all over the glass and i dont have to be scrapping it off.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

No corraline algea at all. I was upset at first even dosing corraline as i read corraline means a healthy tank but seeing everything growing and doing great im glad i dont have it. I dont like the look of it all over the glass and i dont have to be scrapping it off.

Very interesting.

It's definitely a double edged sword. I was just intrigued but a seemingly thriving tank not having a spec.

 

[PapaFishRocks]

Tank looks great!

I run an FX-4 on my 90g and like you, clean it every couple of months. Sometimes gone 3 months. I vodka dose, so nitrates are kept low.

It’s really less maintenance, than my previous 180 with a sump. I was swapping and cleaning filter socks every other day.

 

[vlangel]

Just want to show my 1.5 year old canister run tank. There is a few reasons why i have a canister filter and not a sump including space but canister filters also work. Posting this because there is a lot of people that think canister filters on a reef tank is a no no. I have soft lps and just started to add some sps. Everything is doing and growing great specially my hammers. The only thing not doing well is some gsp whcih is the first thing i added to the tank it has not grown at all while hammers grew 500%. Also anybody need trochus snails? Started with 5 and now have over 200. Turned on the lights in the middle of the night to take these pictures as they mainly only come out after lights out.

Hi Rooster1013, another canister user here. My tank is a high nutrient mixed reef with macroalgae. The macros help with nutrients since I don't have a skimmer either.
I bought an Oase BioMaster 850 which is overkill for my 75g tank but its working wonderfully. The Oase has a prefilter that can be cleaned without opening the canister which is why I chose it; and that the heater is integrated in the canister for a clean look in the tank. I just filled the canister with rubble rock, so the prefilter is the only mechanical filtration.

 

[Pico_Reefs]

Hi Rooster1013, another canister user here. My tank is a high nutrient mixed reef with macroalgae. The macros help with nutrients since I don't have a skimmer either.
I bought an Oase BioMaster 850 which is overkill for my 75g tank but its working wonderfully. The Oase has a prefilter that can be cleaned without opening the canister which is why I chose it; and that the heater is integrated in the canister for a clean look in the tank. I just filled the canister with rubble rock, so the prefilter is the only mechanical filtration.

This is the way. It's exactly how I run my tank. I just crossed the one year mark and finally opened the canister and cleaned it. I clean my prefilter ever couple of months.

 

[CHSUB]

My nitrates are at 5 Maybe thats why my gsp is not doing so good as i read they like dirtier water.

GSP, like all corals like clean water…my no3 is 0.26 ppm.

.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

This is the way. It's exactly how I run my tank. I just crossed the one year mark and finally opened the canister and cleaned it. I clean my prefilter ever couple of months.

Just want to show my 1.5 year old canister run tank. There is a few reasons why i have a canister filter and not a sump including space but canister filters also work. Posting this because there is a lot of people that think canister filters on a reef tank is a no no. I have soft lps and just started to add some sps. Everything is doing and growing great specially my hammers. The only thing not doing well is some gsp whcih is the first thing i added to the tank it has not grown at all while hammers grew 500%. Also anybody need trochus snails? Started with 5 and now have over 200. Turned on the lights in the middle of the night to take these pictures as they mainly only come out after lights out.

What is in your canister filter?

I have nothing in particular against canisters and am not sure why anyone does or why folks using them often seem defensive about it. There are all sorts of things I do or don’t do on my tank that others do the opposite.

But that said, are you sure the canister is needed at all? What do you think would happen if you just disconnected it?

There are some things that folks sometimes use in canisters that I think may be detrimental however they are used, such as media designed to promote nitrifying capacity.

 

[Bear22]

I think you should be proud of yourself for having such a nice tank, relying on a canister filter. Obviously you are willing to put in the work it takes to maintain it/keep it clean. "A" for effort and results.

The right canister filter is easier to keep up than most sumps, lol.

The tribal lore never ends...

 

[Bear22]

Just want to show my 1.5 year old canister run tank. There is a few reasons why i have a canister filter and not a sump including space but canister filters also work. Posting this because there is a lot of people that think canister filters on a reef tank is a no no. I have soft lps and just started to add some sps. Everything is doing and growing great specially my hammers. The only thing not doing well is some gsp whcih is the first thing i added to the tank it has not grown at all while hammers grew 500%. Also anybody need trochus snails? Started with 5 and now have over 200. Turned on the lights in the middle of the night to take these pictures as they mainly only come out after lights out.

GSP, can be weird for me too. Example: I have 4 growing patches of it on my back glass. Seldom are all four sections simultaneously extended (polyps) doing their thing. Duncans for me are similar (weird behavior). For comparison, I too exclusively run a canister filter in a mixed reef tank.

There's always a degree of comical "insights" via the polemics from the anti-canister crowd.

 

[Pico_Reefs]

What is in your canister filter?

There are 4 trays total. The first one I keep free for chemical filtration more or less a contingency tray, the other three are full of MarinePure balls. There is also a sponge pre-fiter, not sure the micron.

I have nothing in particular against canisters and am not sure why anyone does or why folks using them often seem defensive about it. There are all sorts of things I do or don’t do on my tank that others do the opposite.

Yeah I think its just constantly seeing the negative stigma surrounding them when its just not true. Is it limited in comparison to a sump? Sure, but that doesn't make it inherently bad either. It's not so much defensive as it is just annoyance of the same things being repeated that just aren't true.

But that said, are you sure the canister is needed at all? What do you think would happen if you just disconnected it?

Yeah it would be totally fine but I wanted to be able to easily utilize contingencies if needed like chemical filtration and UV.

There are some things that folks sometimes use in canisters that I think may be detrimental however they are used, such as media designed to promote nitrifying capacity.

Are you referring to media with the potential for aluminum. If not what do you mean?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I mean that I consider it undesirable to promote nitrifying bacteria or archea by giving them special places to live. I personally would not use MarinePure balls at all, canister or sump. The nitrifiers steal ammonia from corals, and there is some potential for aluminum release.,

What do you hope they beneficially contribute?

 

[Bear22]

I mean that I consider it undesirable to promote nitrifying bacteria or archea by giving them special places to live. I personally would not use MarinePure balls at all, canister or sump. The nitrifiers steal ammonia from corals, and there is some potential for aluminum release.,

What do you hope they beneficially contribute?

Randy are you doing some form of Socratic method here in terms of your questions?

I too am scratching my head trying to make sense of where you are going with all this...

 

[Pico_Reefs]

I mean that I consider it undesirable to promote nitrifying bacteria or archea by giving them special places to live. I personally would not use MarinePure balls at all, canister or sump. The nitrifiers steal ammonia from corals, and there is some potential for aluminum release.,

What do you hope they beneficially contribute?

I just always thought increasing the biological footprint was a good thing and the ideal outcome would be helping manage nutrients.

Is this something actually matters or is it chasing the perfect environment? Like is there a biological density that's optimal and then you reach a point of diminishing returns and/or negative effects?

Tidal Gardens for instant runs a lot of biological media by Polyp Lab in their tanks. I consider them pretty knowledgeable so I just always assumed if people that I am looking to for information are doing something then maybe I should too. Obviously we have vastly different systems but I would assume the logic is the same.

I am also not running and other mechanical filtration other than the sponge prefilter which I only clean once every 2 months or so.

 

[CHSUB]

GSP, can be weird for me too. Example: I have 4 growing patches of it on my back glass. Seldom are all four sections simultaneously extended (polyps) doing their thing

GSP like any coral are never “weird”, they don’t have personalities or bad days. If something is bothering them they will show it.

 

[Bear22]

GSP like any coral are never “weird”, they don’t have personalities or bad days. If something is bothering them they will show it.

I think you took my comments a little too literal...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Randy are you doing some form of Socratic method here in terms of your questions?

I too am scratching my head trying to make sense of where you are going with all this...

I understand. I am challenging dogma that is well entrenched and continually pushed by companies selling bacteria and media to house them and product to treat a false enemy: ammonia at reasonable levels.

I have come to the conclusion that excessive nitrifiers are not our friend. Ammonia is our friend:
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/ammonia-is-our-friend.1062/