New guy with question :)

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Kafer

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Feb 3, 2006
Messages
6
Location
Florida
Hi everyone. I have been lurking around the message board for a few months now and have finally joined. This site seems to be a great place for information so that’s why I’m here. :D

My tank so far consists of
- 75 Gallon tank
- Live rock – I’m not sure how many pounds because it was given to me with the tank but it does take up a good portion of the back of my tank
- Live sand – I don’t remember what the weight was but when I bought it there was 2 bags in each box – total of 2 boxes
- 1 Seabae Clown
- 1 Singapore Angel
- 1 Small bright red starfish – It’s about the size of a quarter
Wet/Dry Filtration
A Magnum 350 Canister filter
Coralife lighting
(I do plan on buying a UV Sterilizer as soon as I get a little spare cash)

Yesterday being new to aquarium stuff I decided that the tank had been set up for long enough with no real maintenance done on the tank just due to the low amount of life going on in the tank. I took apart the Magnum filter, cleaned it, put it all back together, hooked it up and it doesn’t seem to want to bring water in from the tank to the filter. I was speaking with a friend of mine and he told me that sometimes this brand of filter can be a pain and he has experienced this same issue on his setup. If the Magnum filter is going to give me this kind of problem every time I take it apart to clean it am I better off purchasing another kind of filtration system? My friend had offered to purchase my magnum filter from me which would help pay for a new filtration system if I choose to take that route.

My questions for you is
- Do I scrap the Magnum and by something else that might be a little better suited for saltwater?
- If so which kind/brand of filter do you recommend and why
- I don’t really know much about protein skimmers but will one filter as well as the magnum?

:D Thanks in advance :D
Kafer
 
Welcome to AA!

I've never owned a magnum, due to stories I've heard.

But a protein skimmer is NOT like a normal filter...it doesn't mechanically filter the water of particulate matter...rather it uses foam fractionation to trap organic compounds, then deposits them in a cup.
Skimmers produce so little flow, that you can't count them towards total circulation in the tank.

From the sounds of it, you don't have enough circulation as it is. A reef tank should have 10x per hour turnover for circulation. No idea what you have on the wet/dry for a pump, but I doubt even with the magnum you had enough.

I'm going to move your post to the General Saltwater forum so it gets more exposure, and replies. Many people don't look at the hardware section.
 
It probably needs to be primed.

Get a skimmer instead of the UV. It will do a lot more good. AquaC Remora Pro is a good one, unless your wet-dry has a spot for an in-sump skimmer

when you get a skimmer you don't have to stop using the canister, but you do need to clean it every month or so.
 
Yeah you have to "burp" (prime) the magnum fill it with water before you hook it back up. They are a pain, I ended up upgrading to an eheim.
A filter is no replacement for a good skimmer (I learned the hard way)
Good Luck
 
how many members here use UV sterilizers, are they needed or just an extra addon if you have extra money kind of deal
 
I think they are needed but that is IMO. Have not had an algea problem or ick problem in 6 years I `ve had UV. I definitely agree to get a skimmer but not at the cost of no UV.
 
malkore said:
Welcome to AA!

I've never owned a magnum, due to stories I've heard.

But a protein skimmer is NOT like a normal filter...it doesn't mechanically filter the water of particulate matter...rather it uses foam fractionation to trap organic compounds, then deposits them in a cup.
Skimmers produce so little flow, that you can't count them towards total circulation in the tank.

From the sounds of it, you don't have enough circulation as it is. A reef tank should have 10x per hour turnover for circulation. No idea what you have on the wet/dry for a pump, but I doubt even with the magnum you had enough.

I'm going to move your post to the General Saltwater forum so it gets more exposure, and replies. Many people don't look at the hardware section.

Thanks for moving this to the General section. Any help I can get is appreciated. At the moment the tank is just FWLR. Do you guys think I still need more circulation even though it’s not a reef tank?

davebailey46 said:
A filter is no replacement for a good skimmer (I learned the hard way)
Good Luck

But is a skimmer a good replacement for a canister? Should I ditch the canister all together or should I purchase a different brand canister and use it as well as a skimmer?

What other kind of filtration is available to me that might be worth while checking in to?
Thank you all for your suggestions and patience for “the new guy” :p
 
You have a w/d and what sounds like enough LR to be your filtration. A canister is not needed on your set up. What size pump do you have as the return pump to the tank from the w/d?
I would look into a skimmer and sell the canister filter. If you return pump does not push enough water look into a power head or 2 for added flow in the tank.
UV lights are not needed, they have there place but you can have a sucessful tank without them. Never had one on my fowlr and have not had one on my reef for about 3 years. Both taks are running great.

check into a good skimmer, do your homework on them before buying one, there are a lot on the market that are crap.
 
I stopped running my eheim canister filter after I moved up to a sump and a skimmer. I am keeping it in case of emergency (to run carbon, phosban, chemipure, etc.) A canister is not needed but I did like having carbon running all the time and especially for the water polishing factor!
So heres my opinion:
Skimmer-must have when you see what it pulls out
UV-Optional (Use one if you have free floating algae or ick/parasites). I am actually looking into getting one currently
Canister-Optional (unless you have a reason to run carbon or clear up cloudiness)
Just my opinion though from what I have been through so far...and in the grand scheme its not that long
 
seaham358 said:
You have a w/d and what sounds like enough LR to be your filtration. A canister is not needed on your set up. What size pump do you have as the return pump to the tank from the w/d?
I would look into a skimmer and sell the canister filter. If you return pump does not push enough water look into a power head or 2 for added flow in the tank.
UV lights are not needed, they have there place but you can have a sucessful tank without them. Never had one on my fowlr and have not had one on my reef for about 3 years. Both taks are running great.

check into a good skimmer, do your homework on them before buying one, there are a lot on the market that are crap.

The pump in the wet/dry system is labeled as a Powerhead 802. Is this enough for the tank or should I get more/larger pumps? I don’t know if this is a quality piece of equipment or not but it doesn’t seem to have any issues pumping the water back to the top of the tank. My friend has offered to give me 90 dollars for the magnum, which is a little high if you ask me, but that is a good start towards the cash I would need for a skimmer if I choose to buy one.

Is there any brand or size skimmer that any of you would suggest?

Is there any brand that I need to stay away from?

I have seen talk of using a sump system as well. Where can I find details on exactly what you are talking about? Will the sump system work with the wet/dry system I already have or would I need to upgrade that as well?

Sorry I have so many questions that probably seem like normal everyday issues to some of you but thank you for your patience. I’m just trying to do what’s right for the tank and not get off on the wrong foot. :p
 
I went to the LFS to ask about skimmers and sumps and the guy there suggested that if I truly want a good piece of equipment to go with the Euro Reef brand skimmers. I asked him how much they cost and he said that I could expect to pay around 300 for one for a 75 gallon aquarium. He wasn’t trying to sell me anything they had in the store but he did point out that Euro Reef skimmers were what they used on all of their salt water tanks. I described the size of my wet/dry system and he said that I might want to get a larger one so I could go with an in sump style skimmer. When I got home I jumped online to see what I could find as far as prices go and HOLY COW he wasn’t kidding about prices.

The prices I found were 248.00 for the CS80 (80 gallon skimmer) and 448.00 for the CS100 (100 gallon skimmer). I was looking at the larger skimmers just in case I actually go with a larger sump.

What other brands are worth looking in to that will be equally as good. I’m trying to make a 1 time purchase but I’m also trying not to break the bank

Thanks again for all the help :D
 
Back
Top Bottom