I am new to the hobby and this will be my first salt water / reef tank. I have a 36 gal bow front. I was curious about filtration. I dont have the room for a sump and was told canster filters can cause issues. Has anyone used a HOB like a AquaReady Complete Filtration System, 20 to 60-gal and would this work better than a canister. Also I am currently cureing some reef rock. Is it better to seed it with pink and purple algee and beneficial bacteria, or get maybe a pound or two of live rock from my local pet store and risk hitch hikers? Or do both? Thanks in advace for the advice.
Setting up a new saltwater / Reef
- Thread starter Cheshire
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I am just starting the hobby, and I have a few questions. It's going to be a 36-gallon bowfront. I don't have enough space for a sump, so that leaves me with a HOB with a skimmer or a canister filter. I was thinking about a Fluval FX4 but heard that it can cause issues in the long run. I came across an AquaReady Complete Filtration System rated for 20-30 gallons. Which would be better for a novice? Also, I am currently curing some reef rock. Would it be better to seed it with purple and pink algae and beneficial bacteria? Or pick up a pound or two of live rock from the pet store to seed it and risk hitchhikers? Or do both? Thank you for your help.
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Welcome to Reef2Reef!
There's lots of different ways to setup a successful tank. You can absolutely use a canister filter they are powerful and move a lot of water, which is very important in saltwater. However, I believe personally that if you want to use a canister filter you should load it mostly with rock rubble and very little in terms of mechanical media. The reason is that the mechanical media will trap and hold detritus, which will decompose in the filter, unless you're willing to clean the canister about once a week. If you load it with mostly rock rubble, it won't require as much maintenance.
@FUNGI has a tank setup like this with a canister filter.
Personally, and this is just me, but I don't care for canister filters. I find them a chore to clean (so I don't do it enough), and I have had them leak on me too.
I prefer a HOB filter, and specifically I like the Fluval AquaClear filters even over the also popular SeaChem Tidal filters. Get the largest AquaClear you can afford (the 110 would be ideal). Again, you want A LOT of water moving through a saltwater tank, much more than a freshwater tank.
The reason I like the AquaClear filters so much is that they have been around forever and are very reliable and efficient on their own, but there's also a lot of tips, tricks, and mods people do with these filters to make them even more efficient for saltwater. For example, many use an AquaClear filter as a refugium, which is a protected area for beneficial organisms to grow that will help your tank, such as copepods or macro algae.
I'm sorry, I am unfamiliar with the HIB filter you mention, but I'm sure others will know
You can seed your tank with bottled bacteria or live rock (or sometimes both), and each has some potential ups and downs. This is also the kind of thing that many have a strong opinion on one way or another. Personally, I believe the benefits of using some to all real, wet live rock from a good local fish shop or from a mariculture facility like Tampa Bay Saltwater far outweighs the chances of getting a bad hitchhiker, most of which are easy to deal with anyway.
You don't really need to seed the pink/purple coralline algae, it comes on its own, though there are products you can buy. Even so, I wouldn't worry about adding anything just yet, coralline starts to grow as the tank matures, typically in a few months or so, not when it's brand new.
To get your rock cycled, you'll need a source of seed bacteria (live rock, sand, and/or bottled product) and you'll want to provide the bacteria with some ammonia to process so they can reproduce to the level that will be able to process your livestock waste down the road. To add some ammonia, you can use a fair amount of fish food, a piece of shrimp from the seafood market, or bottled ammonium chloride or even food grade baking ammonia. I prefer to add some type of bottle ammonia product (so do, but don't use cleaning ammonia from the supermarket, it may include impurities) like ammonium chloride, it's easy to get the ammonia where you want to start the nitrogen cycle, and there's no chance a rotting piece of shrimp will stink up your house
If you're brand new to saltwater, we like to suggest this guide:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/
I personally I think this beginner series is worth a watch too:
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cont...BYHbHhccCRU-hqbjjsvm9-jCCpRqSgjcoA6QbJ_w_O7WD
I hope that helps! Please post back with any further questions, and good luck with your build!
There's lots of different ways to setup a successful tank. You can absolutely use a canister filter they are powerful and move a lot of water, which is very important in saltwater. However, I believe personally that if you want to use a canister filter you should load it mostly with rock rubble and very little in terms of mechanical media. The reason is that the mechanical media will trap and hold detritus, which will decompose in the filter, unless you're willing to clean the canister about once a week. If you load it with mostly rock rubble, it won't require as much maintenance.
@FUNGI has a tank setup like this with a canister filter.
Personally, and this is just me, but I don't care for canister filters. I find them a chore to clean (so I don't do it enough), and I have had them leak on me too.
I prefer a HOB filter, and specifically I like the Fluval AquaClear filters even over the also popular SeaChem Tidal filters. Get the largest AquaClear you can afford (the 110 would be ideal). Again, you want A LOT of water moving through a saltwater tank, much more than a freshwater tank.
The reason I like the AquaClear filters so much is that they have been around forever and are very reliable and efficient on their own, but there's also a lot of tips, tricks, and mods people do with these filters to make them even more efficient for saltwater. For example, many use an AquaClear filter as a refugium, which is a protected area for beneficial organisms to grow that will help your tank, such as copepods or macro algae.
I'm sorry, I am unfamiliar with the HIB filter you mention, but I'm sure others will know
You can seed your tank with bottled bacteria or live rock (or sometimes both), and each has some potential ups and downs. This is also the kind of thing that many have a strong opinion on one way or another. Personally, I believe the benefits of using some to all real, wet live rock from a good local fish shop or from a mariculture facility like Tampa Bay Saltwater far outweighs the chances of getting a bad hitchhiker, most of which are easy to deal with anyway.
You don't really need to seed the pink/purple coralline algae, it comes on its own, though there are products you can buy. Even so, I wouldn't worry about adding anything just yet, coralline starts to grow as the tank matures, typically in a few months or so, not when it's brand new.
To get your rock cycled, you'll need a source of seed bacteria (live rock, sand, and/or bottled product) and you'll want to provide the bacteria with some ammonia to process so they can reproduce to the level that will be able to process your livestock waste down the road. To add some ammonia, you can use a fair amount of fish food, a piece of shrimp from the seafood market, or bottled ammonium chloride or even food grade baking ammonia. I prefer to add some type of bottle ammonia product (so do, but don't use cleaning ammonia from the supermarket, it may include impurities) like ammonium chloride, it's easy to get the ammonia where you want to start the nitrogen cycle, and there's no chance a rotting piece of shrimp will stink up your house
If you're brand new to saltwater, we like to suggest this guide:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/
I personally I think this beginner series is worth a watch too:
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cont...BYHbHhccCRU-hqbjjsvm9-jCCpRqSgjcoA6QbJ_w_O7WD
I hope that helps! Please post back with any further questions, and good luck with your build!
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