Filtration

[bradym]

Hey everyone I’m a new reefer here, I have. 75 gallon tank running for about 2 months. I’m unable to have a sump so I’ve been running 2 tidal 75 HOB filters. My tank always seems pretty dirty. I find myself cleaning the glass every other day and a good amount of algae that is all over my live rock. I only have a dwarf angel and a pair of clowns so my bio load is low and I have a good clean up crew going. I keep up on frequent water changes and husbandry and I just added a UV sterilizer to help with the cloudiness. I’m wondering if it’s my filtration. Should I consider a canister filter or is my filtration not the issue and it’s due to being a new tank? TIA

 

[jft]

Try adding Seachem Clarity follow directions and a Eheim 2217 Classic filter if you can, Worked well for me for all my tanks which number 3. Good Luck.

 

[Bucs20fan]

If its new, its not filtration, They dont call it the ugly stage for nothing! It will get better, just needs to mature. I use Tidal on my reef tanks and it will pass trust me.

 

[LeftyReefer]

rather than a canister filter, I'd run a HOB skimmer.

on my sumpless 40b, I run a tidal 110 filter and an Aquamaxx HOB 1.5.
nutrients on that tank stay so low that I have to dose nitrates and phosphates to keep them from completely bottoming out.

 

[Bucs20fan]

I have a 110 on my 60 breeder and can confirm that it along with my skimmer keeps nutrients low enough I have to dose.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

a hob or canister only provide mechanical filtration (grabs peices of floating debris out of the water), so it wont improve the algae or dirty water situation. Do you run carbon in your filter? Carbon will help clear up 'dirty water'.

i would suggest a protein skimmer if you dont already have one, and start getting into regular testing habits (with a very good testing kit) to keep the nitrate and phosphate low. Nitrate/Phosphate is what feeds algae, so become a nitrate/phosphate pro.

Increasing flow also helps a system overall. But a mechanical filter does very little overall for the tank's benefit.

 

[Jim Gomoll]

I also have a 75g and only running 2 HOB filters with an Instant Ocean SeaCone 100 HOB skimmer. Totally agree with other posts the need for a protein skimmer. Night and day after I added mine 6months in. With your tank only 2 months old you’re in the ugly stage. Hang in there, it will pass. Don’t over feed, get the excess nutrients out of the water column. Water changes vacuuming at least every other time at minimum, and change your filter pads at minimum once a week. Another factor not mentioned is lighting. If you are running allot of light, and/or natural sunlight is hitting your tank you'll be fighting algae blooms.

 

[bradym]

I also have a 75g and only running 2 HOB filters with an Instant Ocean SeaCone 100 HOB skimmer. Totally agree with other posts the need for a protein skimmer. Night and day after I added mine 6months in. With your tank only 2 months old you’re in the ugly stage. Hang in there, it will pass. Don’t over feed, get the excess nutrients out of the water column. Water changes vacuuming at least every other time at minimum, and change your filter pads at minimum once a week. Another factor not mentioned is lighting. If you are running allot of light, and/or natural sunlight is hitting your tank you'll be fighting algae blooms.

Appreciate all the responses for the help, I will hang in there and am going to get a skimmer asap. Do you prefer filter pads or floss? And I’m terms of lighting, how many hours a day being on is ideal?

 

[LeftyReefer]

Appreciate all the responses for the help, I will hang in there and am going to get a skimmer asap. Do you prefer filter pads or floss? And I’m terms of lighting, how many hours a day being on is ideal?

I use both coarse and fine sponges, along with floss in my HOB tidal filter. I rinse out the sponges and replace the floss. I also run a bag of seachem matrix in the HOB filter, along with a bag of carbon from time to time. I don't run carbon 24/7, only when needed.

as far as lighting, I run basic 12 On and 12 Off with a ramp up/down, just like nature at the equator, where the majority of corals live. I just have it so that my 12 hours ON are during the hours I am around to enjoy the tank. I'm at work all day, so I only get to enjoy my tank in the evening when I'm home, so I have my "day" hours from noon till midnight.

Seachem makes both coarse and fine (polishing) sponge filters for their Tidal filters, or you can make/cut your own out of something like pinky filter floss. I buy pinky filter floss by the roll and cut pads to the shapes/sizes I need.

 

[Jim Gomoll]

Appreciate all the responses for the help, I will hang in there and am going to get a skimmer asap. Do you prefer filter pads or floss? And I’m terms of lighting, how many hours a day being on is ideal?

I prefer the Cut to fit Bonded, and 100micron Polishing Filter pads.
Also under the skimmer return I have a square of Bonded that grabs extra crap I change every week.
I'm running a 12hr ramp up and down light cycle since I have a mixed reef vs your FOWLR. Fish dont need allot of light so untill you start adding corals I'd back off on light intensity and/or 8hrs or less.