75g Canister run "Mixed Reef" tank

ROOSTER1013

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 19, 2026
Messages
5
Reaction score
19
Location
Dallas
What state or country do you live in
Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Just wanted to post my 75g tank with a canister setup. Wanted to post this as canisters are not popular in saltwater. There is a few reasons why i have a canister and not a sump including not enough space but i have not had any issues and tank is doing great after almost 1.5 years. I have mainly lps/soft and just started adding some sps. Everything is doing great except gsp which ive had the longest it has not grown at all. Hammers are up in size from 1 or 2 heads to like 10. Also i bought 5 trochus snails and now have 200+ 😟😟 turned on lights in the middle of the night to take pictures of them as they usually dont come out during the day.
Screenshot_20260306-224829_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224817_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224804_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224747_Gallery.jpg
20260306_230903.jpg
20260306_224211.jpg
20260306_224148.jpg
20260306_224124.jpg
20260306_224130.jpg
20260306_224141.jpg
20260306_224119.jpg
20260306_224117.jpg
20260306_224114.jpg
20260306_224104.jpg
20260306_224107.jpg
20260306_224100.jpg
 
Your tank is obviously doing fantastic.

I am under the impression that canisters are actually gaining ground in their use on SW systems.

I curiously priced them out recently, and wow they are not as cheap as they were.

Again beautiful tank.
 
Just wanted to post my 75g tank with a canister setup. Wanted to post this as canisters are not popular in saltwater. There is a few reasons why i have a canister and not a sump including not enough space but i have not had any issues and tank is doing great after almost 1.5 years. I have mainly lps/soft and just started adding some sps. Everything is doing great except gsp which ive had the longest it has not grown at all. Hammers are up in size from 1 or 2 heads to like 10. Also i bought 5 trochus snails and now have 200+ 😟😟 turned on lights in the middle of the night to take pictures of them as they usually dont come out during the day.
Screenshot_20260306-224829_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224817_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224804_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224747_Gallery.jpg
20260306_230903.jpg
20260306_224211.jpg
20260306_224148.jpg
20260306_224124.jpg
20260306_224130.jpg
20260306_224141.jpg
20260306_224119.jpg
20260306_224117.jpg
20260306_224114.jpg
20260306_224104.jpg
20260306_224107.jpg
20260306_224100.jpg

Nice aquarium. I too run a canister system for simplicity sake (KISS). And I like shaking up the dogmatic status quo ;-)
 
Nothing wrong with a canister if you keep up the maintenance
 
Nothing wrong with a canister if you keep up the maintenance
That's kind of the beauty of canisters, there isn't much maintaince. I have only cleaned my canister itself once in the past year. I use an Oasa biomaster which has a prefilter that I clean every 2 or 3 months.
 
Just wanted to post my 75g tank with a canister setup. Wanted to post this as canisters are not popular in saltwater. There is a few reasons why i have a canister and not a sump including not enough space but i have not had any issues and tank is doing great after almost 1.5 years. I have mainly lps/soft and just started adding some sps. Everything is doing great except gsp which ive had the longest it has not grown at all. Hammers are up in size from 1 or 2 heads to like 10. Also i bought 5 trochus snails and now have 200+ 😟😟 turned on lights in the middle of the night to take pictures of them as they usually dont come out during the day.
Screenshot_20260306-224829_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224817_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224804_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224747_Gallery.jpg
20260306_230903.jpg
20260306_224211.jpg
20260306_224148.jpg
20260306_224124.jpg
20260306_224130.jpg
20260306_224141.jpg
20260306_224119.jpg
20260306_224117.jpg
20260306_224114.jpg
20260306_224104.jpg
20260306_224107.jpg
20260306_224100.jpg
Looks Fantastic. Doing a similar setup. How much live rock is that?
 
That's kind of the beauty of canisters, there isn't much maintaince. I have only cleaned my canister itself once in the past year. I use an Oasa biomaster which has a prefilter that I clean every 2 or 3 months.
Are you running the spray bar and do you have a skimmer?
 
Just wanted to post my 75g tank with a canister setup. Wanted to post this as canisters are not popular in saltwater. There is a few reasons why i have a canister and not a sump including not enough space but i have not had any issues and tank is doing great after almost 1.5 years. I have mainly lps/soft and just started adding some sps. Everything is doing great except gsp which ive had the longest it has not grown at all. Hammers are up in size from 1 or 2 heads to like 10. Also i bought 5 trochus snails and now have 200+ 😟😟 turned on lights in the middle of the night to take pictures of them as they usually dont come out during the day.
Screenshot_20260306-224829_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224817_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224804_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20260306-224747_Gallery.jpg
20260306_230903.jpg
20260306_224211.jpg
20260306_224148.jpg
20260306_224124.jpg
20260306_224130.jpg
20260306_224141.jpg
20260306_224119.jpg
20260306_224117.jpg
20260306_224114.jpg
20260306_224104.jpg
20260306_224107.jpg
20260306_224100.jpg
Very nice tank! I also have a 75g with a canister and I love how uncluttered my tank and system is. I have the Oase Biomaster 850 canister (with an integrated heater and prefilter) with some powerheads. Successful tanks like ours with canister filters helps lends credibility that canister filters with reef tanks is a viable option.
20260404_083707.jpg
20260404_083642.jpg
20260402_110227.jpg
 
I really liked the idea of having two large canister filters (FX6 or 5e 800, etc.) and just alternating every two weeks cleaning one of them.

Much cleaner look than a sump - and no salt creep, etc.

The only problem is the placement of heaters (unless Oasis, etc.), skimmers, probes, dosing lines, auto top off sensors, etc.
 
Are you running the spray bar and do you have a skimmer?
I use a VCA random flow return and I have an ocean design magnetic overflow box. No skimmer.
 
Thanks ! I was going to use the spray bar for it to cycle then upgrade the tubes. Love to see a picture of the overflow box set up. What media are you using? Matrix?
 
Thanks ! I was going to use the spray bar for it to cycle then upgrade the tubes. Love to see a picture of the overflow box set up. What media are you using? Matrix?

An aquaclear 110 hob with and old hob overflow box modified to use as a surface skimmer. I'm sure something similar could be made for a canister. Just magnets holding it in place.

 

TOP 10 Trending Threads

IF YOU WERE CHOOSING YOUR MAIN REEF TANK TODAY, WHAT SIZE WOULD YOU PICK COMPARED WITH YOUR CURRENT

  • Much smaller

    Votes: 1 2.9%
  • A little smaller

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • About the same

    Votes: 1 2.9%
  • A little larger

    Votes: 13 37.1%
  • Much larger

    Votes: 11 31.4%
  • About the same volume, but different dimensions

    Votes: 4 11.4%
  • I’d keep this one and add a second tank

    Votes: 2 5.7%
  • I don’t have a reef tank yet

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other (Post in the comments)

    Votes: 3 8.6%
Back
Top
Home
Post thread…
Market
What's new