Filtration

reefrookie379 · Feb 25, 2021

Hello everyone,
I currently have a canister filter for my 40 gallon breeder which I regret and don’t want to currently spend the money converting to a sump as I already have a HOB skimmer and refugium. My question is it possible, and recommended, to replace the media from my filter with the Marine Pure ceramic bio filter media spheres or is it too late? Canister currently has fine filter pads, sponge pad, ceramic rings. Bio balls, activated carbon, and UV light. Thank you!

brandon429 · Feb 25, 2021

You dont need anything inside, the less detritus traps the better.
whatever you like to run inside is different, that’s fine.

but nothing is required. if you removed all media instantly the reef will not cycle, so you’re dealing in fully optional surface area in the choice. To have the filter full of current media, or empty, or not even ran at all doesn’t change any params in your reef. Its live rock carries the setup no matter what we do to surrounding surface area. While not always the case in freshwater, it’s always the case in reefing as long as established live rocks are in the loop.

is is very hard to imagine that a reef tank gains no benefit from the extra surface area nor is linked to it in anyway. You could hook it up and unhook it as many times as you want, the surface area is a neutral impact to your reef, there’s plenty without it. The tendency is to pack filters full but it serves no benefit in reefing. We had a guy add twenty clownfish all at once to a 45 the other day, same play on these rules. His rock just handles them fine, he required no extra filtration to go from no fish to twenty, all at once, in the chem forum.

reefrookie379 · Feb 25, 2021

brandon429 said:
You dont need anything inside, the less detritus traps the better.
whatever you like to run inside is different, that’s fine.

but nothing is required. if you removed all media instantly the reef will not cycle, so you’re dealing in fully optional surface area in the choice. To have the filter full of current media, or empty, or not even ran at all doesn’t change any params in your reef. Its live rock carries the setup no matter what we do to surrounding surface area. While not always the case in freshwater, it’s always the case in reefing as long as established live rocks are in the loop.

is is very hard to imagine that a reef tank gains no benefit from the extra surface area nor is linked to it in anyway. You could hook it up and unhook it as many times as you want, the surface area is a neutral impact to your reef, there’s plenty without it. The tendency is to pack filters full but it serves no benefit in reefing. We had a guy add twenty clownfish all at once to a 45 the other day, same play on these rules. His rock just handles them fine, he required no extra filtration to go from no fish to twenty, all at once, in the chem forum.

So you think I will be able to get away with shutting down and removing my canister filter and just relying on my 58 lbs of live rock(40 gallon tank) and protein skimmer ??

brandon429 · Feb 25, 2021

100% certain its avail for disconnect right now, then some other form of flow in replacement

since I know web posts are sources of crazy claims I thought this post might help show prior application/less risk etc.

man's entire remote dsb in the sump removed. it has ten times more surface area than any filter, yanked:

Removing remote deep sand bed

I setup a removable deep sand bed in my sump 9 months ago but now I’d like to remove it to give me more room in the sump. What do you think the impact to tank chemistry might be and how to mitigate any negatives?

www.reef2reef.com

*where filtration removal goes bad is some sort of upwelling of the media in line, pushing waste out in the tank. its never a lack of bacteria. we can easily remove your whole sandbed, the filter, add a few more fish, remove your live rock down to 20 pounds and it would all still skip cycle just the same, live rock is simply this powerful. not an overstatement...that action right there is the whole sand rinse/tank transfer thread we do surface area reductions combined with bed removals or swaps all at once, all day long.