Newbie 65 gallon saltwater filter questions

Lucyintheseawithdiamonds · Dec 31, 2019

So I am moving my eel and fish from my 40 gallon saltwater tank to a 65 gallon. My questions are if I should get a canister filter or an RODI filter or is it better to get both. I'm not 100% against having a sump tank but Would rather go with a canister or RODI filter or both. Also would i need a protein skimmer as well? My black edge moray eel is about 10-11 inches and my clown fish are around 2 inches each. Also any suggestions on tank mates for my eel? Oh and a side note, i'm moving to a 120 gallon tank after this one. I just want to not overstock it and also want the best water quality and comfortable spaces for each of my species. I am also working towards getting the tank ready to start slowly at creating a reef tank environment for them also. So please let me know what will work the best thank you.

Biokabe · Dec 31, 2019

I think you might be confused as to some of the terminology...

An RO/DI (Reverse Osmosis/DeIonizing) filter isn't something you put on your tank. It hooks into your home's plumbing supply and is used to create 100% pure water to make your replacement salt water. I'd consider it an absolutely essential piece of hardware for reefkeeping, but it doesn't hook to your tank directly or filter any of the water in your tank. That said, if you don't already have an RO/DI filter, get one no matter what. You'll thank me later.

Canister filters aren't really a great fit with saltwater tanks. You can use them, but they require significantly more maintenance to keep them functional. Your best bet, especially if you want to turn your tank into a reef, is to start off by adding a sump to your tank, and putting a protein skimmer in with it.

Basically, there are three kinds of filtration at work in most reef tanks: Biological, mechanical and chemical. Biological filtration is by far the most important, and that's largely handled by your live rock plus any other media (Marine Pure blocks, for example) that you've added to your system. Mechanical filtration covers things like filter socks, filter floss, strainers, etc.; basically, it's using some kind of media to physically trap contaminants in your water. Finally, chemical filtration uses chemical reactions to bind and trap various harmful compounds out of your water. Activated carbon is an example of chemical filtration.

A protein skimmer doesn't really fall neatly into any of the categories, but it handles elements from all three. You don't have to have a skimmer, but they are probably the most versatile and powerful single filtration element after your live rock. So, all that said...

If you were going to just do one thing, I'd get an RO/DI filter to make sure that your water quality is the best that it can be to start off with. That'll improve the quality of your water changes, and if you do nothing else, then stepping up your water change schedule can compensate for some holes in your filtration system.

If you do two things, get the RO/DI system and a HOB protein skimmer. If you don't want to add a sump, you can skip it for now, but you will definitely want one when you upgrade to your 120. If you really want to use a canister, you can, but be aware that you'll likely need to be doing maintenance on it at least 1-2 times a week.

Be102 · Dec 31, 2019

I also have a 65 gallon and I originally went canister filter. I listened to my lfs as they made a fortune off of me... I got all live rock (think it was 9.99 a lb...!) they had me get canister filters and basically they didn’t tell me anything else they said the canister would be enough and to just clean it a few times yearly..

Fast forward a few months and my tank was horrible.. everything started live (live sand and live rock ) so it wasn’t a start up it was just the setup.

I opened my canister filter and was so disgusted! Algae.. backup...sand.. nothing good. Took that offline and then everything started to improve

Fast forward even more and I built myself a stand, added a sump and have been extremely happy ever since! It increased my surface area along with water volume. It helped with all different issues. Helped me hide equipment and everything

I’d look into some of the brs videos about setting up a Tank. Will clarify a lot of stuff from ro/di to salt mix to just about everything else

One word of advice from someone who didn’t listen.. go slow. Nothing happens fast in a reef tank .. let me correct that.. only bad happens fast in a reef tank.

Lucyintheseawithdiamonds · Jan 1, 2020

Thank you everyone for the feedback, going to take all of your advice and find the best system, price and such. I've learned the harder way that in this hobby you have to research research and then double check and then ask for help. If anyone has ideas on stocking i'd appreciate it.