Nitrates

[melosu58]

The only bad thing is when you clean the foam you will kill the bacteria in the foam.

Not if you wash it out in SW. Do a PWC and save the water you took out and wash the foam in that water and then discard. If you wash in FW you`ll kill off the nitrifying bacteria but not SW.

 

[David S]

You can also get hang on back sumps if you don't have the space,sumps are also used to enlarge the volume of salt water in your system which also helps you control all the parameters a lot easier and more forgiven if you have a problem,but first i would invest in some Live Rock for your DT then maybe a hob sump.just keep asking the questions and you'll get plenty of answers on this site.

 

[kdogg85]

I was thinking that most people sqeeze the daylights out of the foam and it would expell a great deal of the bacteria(even if washed in water taken from the tank). Is there any credibility whatsoever to that logic or am I dead wrong? And the hob sump would accomplish the same as what I showed you in the pictures.

 

[cmor1701d]

Bacteria coat a surface. The filter material is very porous and most of the bacteria live within the filter material, not on the outside detritus. Rinsing in sw will only eliminate a small portion of the bacteria.

 

[pat8you]

The thing you really want to watch out for in the canister filters is not the filter media but the sponges they put in them. They trap food and waste that then breaks down very quickly and puts nitrates back into the system. I would take the sponges out and just run them periodicly for a day or two at a time as you feel is required. If you would like to keep them make sure you clean them out often to help avoid this. At least once a week, more if you can.

Also, if you have between 1-1.5 lbs of live rock per gallon then you don't need the bio balls since you already will have enough surface area from the live rock to provide space for the beneficial bacteria. Make sure you give your bio balls an ocasional cleaning as well if you would like to keep them. They tend to trap all sorts of nasty things as well.

 

[Gloomisboy]

Can a system be ran with only live, rock live sand and power heads?

 

[cmor1701d]

Yes, though a quality skimmer will help too. And yes, you still need to do regular PWC's

 

[foamythesquirrel]

Can a system be ran with only live, rock live sand and power heads?

I have had a 29 gallon for almost a year now, and I have been running without any filter system except for a protein skimmer. I do bi-weekly water changes with 15% volume. I also have roughly 40 lbs of live rock along with 2 bags of live sand.

I also have to agree with the comments on having foam, since they can trap things. I have a small foam piece on the outlet of my skimmer and have to clean it out every week. It gets pretty loaded.