I need advice- cycling now. My LFS has me confused

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prissysmom

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Oct 1, 2009
Messages
69
Location
Yorktown, VA
Hi all,

I'm having an issue understanding if canister filters are needed. My LFS led me to believe I had to have one ($179.00) so I have it running with 80 pounds of LR and a protein skimmer.
Is this overkill?

Can I run my FOWLR tank with only LR and a protein skimmer?
I hear about needing carbon too so I am confused on where that would go. I do not have a sump.


Thank for the advice. I am adding my sand in today. I am going to Petco because the LFS was part of a chain and there aren't any other places near me. Any advice on sand would be appreciated. I'd rather not get taken in again!
 
You don't need a filter but I run them. It gives me a place to put in different media and extra LR rubble.
There are better things to run than just carbon, depending on what you are trying to do. I haven't run carbon in my tanks in over 4 years.
Sand...but dry aragonite sand...don't get taken by the "live" sand.
There are a couple of impressive LFS in Richmond if the drive isn't too far...and you can meet Mike!
 
Question. If you had a canister filter and 80 lbs of live rock in a 75g would you run the canister?


Online I read that the canister would be have to be cleaned daily to keep from being a storage for bacteria
 
Would I? Probably. If it's there, why not use it. It's additional water volume (although not much) but primarily, it's a place to run carbon, phosphate removers, etc.

I run a Marineland 250 HOT on the back of my 46g. Granted, it's not a big cannister, but it gives me a place to run chemical media.

You will need to clean out any sponges/floss/filters in the cannister on a weekly basis to keep your water conditions good. Junk caught in the sponges will just decompose and dirty up your water. That's probably what you read online about them - daily cleaning is not required, but I wouldn't let it go longer than a week without cleaning any filter material.
 
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