Canister Filter

BestMomEver · May 14, 2018

I was at my lfs talking with their reef guy. He has a MS degree in Marine Science and years in the field so he’s pretty knowledgeable. He and I started talking about reef filtration and he recommended I consider a canister filter in addition to my sump/skimmer. He did a 150 set up for a customer a while back which is SPS dominant and she has a sump/skimmer and two canister filters. Do any of you guys use them? If so, what brand?

RobZilla04 · May 15, 2018

Why duplicate filtration? Any mechanical or chemical filtration you can run in a canister you can run in a sump. There is no advantage to duplicating the filtration through say bio pellets in a sump/reactor and bio pellets in a canister. The same goes for carbon, filter mesh or sock, etc.

Keep in mind a large part of the system filtration is the rock work and substrate if you have it.

jd371 · May 15, 2018

I bought a canister filter 3 years ago before I set up my tank with intention of using it, after researching I decided to go with a sump instead. Like RobZilla stated why duplicate filtration, it's just another piece of equipment that would need cleaning on a regular basis. I like the KISS method, keep it simple.
I did find a use for the canister filter. Last year my tank developed Dinos, so I hooked up the canister to a UV. I set it up temporary next to the tank to run at night when the Dinos are in the free swimming stage, it pulled water from the tank and the output was put into the filter sock that was changed out every day. After a few weeks the Dinos were gone and I removed the canister and UV set up. I can set it up and take it down in minutes if I need to use it again.

JoshH · May 15, 2018

For myself a sump with reactors serves the same purpose and is much easier to clean. There are a few systems out there that do run them successfully so it can be done. But as a whole I believe you will find most of us have the same thoughts and that is you're better off not implementing one and sticking with your sump set up:)

BestMomEver · May 15, 2018

I agree with you guys. The only reason I can see that he would set up a system like that would be little sump space for anything more than a skimmer. But I can’t imagine that. If you have a sump you would likely have a sock, a bag of carbon and a skimmer. Live rock/sand would take of tons of stuff. We had a 500 reef and would never had used a canister. Too much stuff to take care of. So.... settled..... no canister.. thanks guys!