55 Gallon canister reef tank build

[Canned55]

Hello R2R. I am starting up a 55 gallon mixed reef tank and I wanted to share my experience. I know a lot of people in the reef community do not trust canister filters, but I want to give it a shot.
These pictures of where I am right now.
Here is a list of things that I have done so far not including the tank and stand:

• Marineland Magniflow c360 from a previous freshwater tank.
• aquascape from dried live rock that I had from another tank. Used Aquaforest Stonefix mortar.
• A 3d printed surface skimmer that I made myself out of PETG filament since there was not one that would fit on this filter that I could find.
• F-zone ato.

I will be updating this thread with my progress.

 

[Homebrewer]

Hello R2R. I am starting up a 55 gallon mixed reef tank and I wanted to share my experience. I know a lot of people in the reef community do not trust canister filters, but I want to give it a shot.
These pictures of where I am right now.
Here is a list of things that I have done so far not including the tank and stand:

• Marineland Magniflow c360 from a previous freshwater tank.
• aquascape from dried live rock that I had from another tank. Used Aquaforest Stonefix mortar.
• A 3d printed surface skimmer that I made myself out of PETG filament since there was not one that would fit on this filter that I could find.
• F-zone ato.

I will be updating this thread with my progress.

I’ve been running a reef tank on a canister since 2006. Let me know if you have any questions, and good luck!

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I am very curious to see how this goes for you! I have a 90 g that has been cycled for about a month now, my goal is also a mixed reef! I have 2 Marineland magnum 350 canisters, a Coralife 125 skimmer, and a Marineland HOB 400. So far so good! I plan to turn my lights on around Christmas, and start adding corals after new years. Good luck!

 

[brandon429]

It’s not that we don’t trust them, it’s that using a canister filter doesn’t make any difference to not using one. It’s ok to run six of them on a reef, or zero, the ammonia control will be the exact same. no benefit is gained with them and no harm either.

 

[Jedi1199]

I had a beautiful 55g that ran on a canister for over a year. I finally upgraded to the current 135 because I wanted more space...

Build Thread - Jedi1199 55Gallon conversion

Greetings everyone!! Here is my build thread as I convert my 55G tank from fresh to salt/reef. First, let me show you my existing freshwater tank. The tank is made by Aquarium Design, purchased used wayyyy back in 1990. The stand is custom built by me (I was a custom cabinetmaker in my late...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[RedoubtReef]

I am very curious to see how this goes for you! I have a 90 g that has been cycled for about a month now, my goal is also a mixed reef! I have 2 Marineland magnum 350 canisters, a Coralife 125 skimmer, and a Marineland HOB 400. So far so good! I plan to turn my lights on around Christmas, and start adding corals after new years. Good luck!

Keep a close eye on that skimmer. They are notorious for overflowing.

 

[Cell]

It’s not that we don’t trust them, it’s that using a canister filter doesn’t make any difference to not using one. It’s ok to run six of them on a reef, or zero, the ammonia control will be the exact same. no benefit is gained with them and no harm either.

I disagree. There are potential benefits. Something as simple as adding a bag of carbon or other media can improve the quality of water, for instance. The issue people have with canisters is the level of maintenance required to keep them clean and effective.

 

[brandon429]

That’s only if someone would run carbon in a reef tank, I never would. There’s no setting big or small where I would run carbon or gfo or any media at all / those are elective moves / not required for reefing


they can be ran in place of power heads to make flow as a helpful aspect but I would never need one packed with media for any reef tank large or small

 

[Cell]

That's personal preference though. There are benefits to be had.

 

[brandon429]

How would running carbon help my nano, would sps grow faster

I recall reading where it’s use is associated with lateral line disease in fish

 

[Cell]

Something does not have to be necessary to be beneficial.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Keep a close eye on that skimmer. They are notorious for overflowing.

Yah I agree! I have to dump it often even when dry skimming, but it works very well and I already had it on hand from years ago, so I figured why not.

 

[kevgib67]

I ran a successful mixed reef tank for 16 years with a canister filter and good husbandry.

 

[Canned55]

I ran a successful mixed reef tank for 16 years with a canister filter and good husbandry.

Have any suggestions for hardware or what kind of media to run in them?

 

[Mikeltee]

Your live rock is doing the heavy lifting here once it is stable. That is all one really needs to be successful. I ran without a skimmer for over a year and my Phosphates and Nitrate stayed in check. I recently added a Fluval FX4 to a 40g spare tank. I am running Matrix inside of it. Carbon will keep the water clean until your live rock has a chance to do its job. I had to run it becuase of all of the algae in the water column. I couldn't even see the fish.

 

[Homebrewer]

Have any suggestions for hardware or what kind of media to run in them?

I run, in this order, the following: coarse sponge -> fine floss -> SeaChem Matrix -> Marinepure Gems.

A lot of canister manufacturers will suggest running the fine floss media last. That is a mistake. That withholds a lot of the detritus causing it to build up on the biological media that precedes it. If you run a coarse filter first, that will take out any big chunks that may get sucked up. Then use the fine floss to take out anything that passes the coarse floss. THEN stack your biological media. This keeps the bio media “clean” and able to do its job, rather than getting gunked up with decay.

Now, yes, in the order I described the gunk will still build up… but that’s an easy fix … rinse the coarse filter and replace the fine. I have a very mature tank and I do this only once a month.

This is essentially the same logic behind why a drain line to a sump pours into a filter sock first, not last.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Hello R2R. I am starting up a 55 gallon mixed reef tank and I wanted to share my experience. I know a lot of people in the reef community do not trust canister filters, but I want to give it a shot.
These pictures of where I am right now.
Here is a list of things that I have done so far not including the tank and stand:

• Marineland Magniflow c360 from a previous freshwater tank.
• aquascape from dried live rock that I had from another tank. Used Aquaforest Stonefix mortar.
• A 3d printed surface skimmer that I made myself out of PETG filament since there was not one that would fit on this filter that I could find.
• F-zone ato.

I will be updating this thread with my progress.

I can not fault cannisters filters and have used one for the last 6 years with no problem. I clean mine every 2 weeks to a max 3 weeks.
I would recommend pipe cleaner (Amazon drain/plug 1 meter) to clean out pipes, filter wool for ponds (select grade you require, I buy 5x5 meters then cut to fit media trays)
Bottom tray is bio balls, middle ceramic rings, top is carbon bag. even as an additional filtration I think these are great for the heavier waste. I always blow my sand bed 'crap' towards the canister filter basket before a cannister filter clean/ maybe an hour before

 

[kevgib67]

Have any suggestions for hardware or what kind of media to run in them?

@Rick's Reviews nailed it before I could respond. Best of luck.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

How would running carbon help my nano, would sps grow faster

I recall reading where it’s use is associated with lateral line disease in fish

As I run a large softie tank where chemical warfare among coral is real, carbon DOES have it's place. You shouldn't use your situation alone as gospel to others.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I disagree. There are potential benefits. Something as simple as adding a bag of carbon or other media can improve the quality of water, for instance. The issue people have with canisters is the level of maintenance required to keep them clean and effective.

This. I hated the canister maintenance, i preferred a wet/dry in my FW days because it was simple to change out the filter pad every 10-14 days. I always feared tearing apart the ol fluval for maintenance because one nicked o-ring was a water leak from hell.