Best SW filter
- Thread starter Tmanfish
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
macman7010
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Well if you are planning to use wet/dry filtration I would go with the Pro Clear Aquatics filter line. If you are looking at canister filtraton I would go with an Ehiem Pro II or Ehiem Pro. If you want a simple HOB powerfilter I would go with an Aqua Clear 500.
Jasonanatal
Aquarium Advice Activist
The right filter really depends on the livestock within your tank and the tank size. I'm more preferreably to incorporate multiple filters within my Aquarium. I currently have in my aquarium:
-Marineland Emperor Bio-wheel 400 H.O.T. Power Filter
-Marineland Emperor Bio-wheel 280 H.O.T. Power Filter
-Marineland Penguin 1140 Powerhead Connected to Penn Plaxx Undergravel Filter
-Marineland Penguin 1140 Powerhead Connected to Penn Plaxx Undergravel Filter
-Fluval 304 Canister Filter
Many people are against undergravel filters however, I have been running this setup and my water is almost good enough to drink. If I minused the salt that it.
Plus I have a Volitan Lionfish, Starry Puffer and a Snowflake Moray Eel which are all heavey waste produces.
-Marineland Emperor Bio-wheel 400 H.O.T. Power Filter
-Marineland Emperor Bio-wheel 280 H.O.T. Power Filter
-Marineland Penguin 1140 Powerhead Connected to Penn Plaxx Undergravel Filter
-Marineland Penguin 1140 Powerhead Connected to Penn Plaxx Undergravel Filter
-Fluval 304 Canister Filter
Many people are against undergravel filters however, I have been running this setup and my water is almost good enough to drink. If I minused the salt that it.
Plus I have a Volitan Lionfish, Starry Puffer and a Snowflake Moray Eel which are all heavey waste produces.Rockcrawler
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
What works for me is lots of live rock and water flow
I dump the water out of the overflow, thru a sponge-dacron filter, thru Bio-Balls, then sucked up thru a Protein skimmer, and back into the tank. That's all !!!
I have a 75 gal tank, about 150# of LR
Water is 0's on the NO2 NO3 and Ammonia, trace of Phos, 8.4 pH, Ca 9.5
Coraline and fan worms are growing like crazy.
<<<<< ----- See my gallery for pics.
Did I mention lots of live rock and water flow ?
Good Luck . . .
I dump the water out of the overflow, thru a sponge-dacron filter, thru Bio-Balls, then sucked up thru a Protein skimmer, and back into the tank. That's all !!!
I have a 75 gal tank, about 150# of LR
Water is 0's on the NO2 NO3 and Ammonia, trace of Phos, 8.4 pH, Ca 9.5
Coraline and fan worms are growing like crazy.
<<<<< ----- See my gallery for pics.
Did I mention lots of live rock and water flow ?
Good Luck . . .
Jasonanatal
Aquarium Advice Activist
Definitely live rock. But alittle help from science and technology wouldn't hurt. I also have live rock. Not much but I intend on purchasing more very soon.
seaham358
Aquarium Advice Addict
First you need to tell us a little about what you want, fish only, reef? Size of tank your looking at and do you plan on a sump, wet/dry or just a tank with some hang on back filters.
Live rock is a must have in any tank a min of 1lb per gallon is a good start. Sand bed and no crushed coral is the new school of thought. Underground filters are Old school and are known to trap waste over time and cause problems.
Give us some ideas on what your looking to have and we can better answer your questions.
Live rock is a must have in any tank a min of 1lb per gallon is a good start. Sand bed and no crushed coral is the new school of thought. Underground filters are Old school and are known to trap waste over time and cause problems.
Give us some ideas on what your looking to have and we can better answer your questions.
seaham358
Aquarium Advice Addict
You forgot or sump. It all depends on what kind of money you want to spend. If the tank is not drilled then you will either need to get it drilled or buy a overflow box if you plan on a sump or wet/dry. If you go that route I say go with sump over w/d.
I like the canister over the HOB filters if you go that way.
Its your choice so go with what you can afford and what you can maintain.
forgot.... The sump is a great place to hide the skimmer, heater, carbon and it adds water volume which helps make the tank more stable.
I like the canister over the HOB filters if you go that way.
Its your choice so go with what you can afford and what you can maintain.
forgot.... The sump is a great place to hide the skimmer, heater, carbon and it adds water volume which helps make the tank more stable.
DragonForce
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I would not get any filtration at all except for a good skimmer.
lando
Aquarium Advice Addict
I would look at a LS bed, about 60lbs of LR, good circulation and aggressive skimming. This should meet your filtration needs. If you want to incorperate Mechanical/chemical filtration the Emperor 400 or 280 should work just fine.
lando
Aquarium Advice Addict
A canister will be fine. It will give you a place to run carbon and floss. Remember to clean it often or it can cause increased NO3.
DragonForce
Aquarium Advice FINatic
lando said:
The very reason I run 4 inch sand bed and 50 lbs of rock and a skimmer.
I didn't like dealing with cleaning my hagen powerfilter so I took all the stuff out and added a few pounds of LR.
seaham358
Aquarium Advice Addict
Filtration, the BEST is live rock.
Your asking more about what the best mechanical filtration is and a Canister is better then a HOB IMO. Again if set up properly you will not need a HOB or Canister filter.
If $$ is not holding you back then a Sump IMO is the way to go, either get the tank back drilled or buy an overflow box to use with a sump.
Min 1 lb per gallon live rock and 35-45 lbs of Live sand or a safe play sand would be your natural filtration.
Power heads are not filtration they just add flow to the tank.
Your asking more about what the best mechanical filtration is and a Canister is better then a HOB IMO. Again if set up properly you will not need a HOB or Canister filter.
If $$ is not holding you back then a Sump IMO is the way to go, either get the tank back drilled or buy an overflow box to use with a sump.
Min 1 lb per gallon live rock and 35-45 lbs of Live sand or a safe play sand would be your natural filtration.
Power heads are not filtration they just add flow to the tank.
greenmaji
Aquarium Advice Addict
Tmanfish said:
get a good skimmer and skip the canister filter.. JMHO
G
Guest
Guest
Tmanfish,
I believe the concensus is, don't waste money on filtration devices that are only gong to cause you more maintenance than needed. I as well as many others, I use the this method. I still get strange looks in LFS when I tell them that I use no filtration other than LR, LS and Skimmer.
In a 30 gallon tank, you are going to have more fluctuations in water parameters than say, in the larger tanks, so be careful and test often. Also, water changes are going to be more frequent. at least 45 lbs of live rock should be sufficient and a 20lb bag of special grade reef sand (sand does not have to be very deep) should be good. A good skimmer just as mentioned, will provide the means of getting the DOC's out of the water. So in essence, your Live Rock will be the filter.. The best money can buy....
I believe the concensus is, don't waste money on filtration devices that are only gong to cause you more maintenance than needed. I as well as many others, I use the this method. I still get strange looks in LFS when I tell them that I use no filtration other than LR, LS and Skimmer.
In a 30 gallon tank, you are going to have more fluctuations in water parameters than say, in the larger tanks, so be careful and test often. Also, water changes are going to be more frequent. at least 45 lbs of live rock should be sufficient and a 20lb bag of special grade reef sand (sand does not have to be very deep) should be good. A good skimmer just as mentioned, will provide the means of getting the DOC's out of the water. So in essence, your Live Rock will be the filter.. The best money can buy....
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