ogden10
Aquarium Advice Freak
Gees, I feel like a newbie all over again!
Ok, well for those of you that have not seen my other posts I am in the process of switching on of my 55 gal tanks from FOWLR to full reef tank. So far I have changed my lighting so that I now how 260 watts PC, I have added live rock to total about 60-70 lbs, and raised my salinity to 1.22/23. Now I need to switch over my filters. What I have now on this tank is an eheim canister filter with ceramic noodles and filters in it, and a Penguin biowheel 350 on there. More then enough for FOWLR. Now, the guy at my LFS says that I need to take the biological elements out of there (i.e biowheel, and noodles) in order to keep rates down for a successful reef tank. He suggested taking the biowheels off one at a time (there are 2) then wait a few days and take the other off. Then after a week or so take the noodles out of the canister filter, leaving the pads to trap big stuff. Does this sound right? If I take all those out will things be ok? Also what do I do with the pads in the Penguin as I know they have carbon in them, and he said carbon is bad for a reef tank.
Also if everyone agrees this is the right course of action can I reverse the order. I need to do maintenance on my canister anyway so what if when I do I just don't put the noodles back in there? Also should I put the Ehfistrate (basically little rocks) back in? I guess once all this is out of the filter the only reason to keep it running is to trap big stuff in the pads and for circulation right? Same with the Penguin as I was told to remove all the biowheels and the pads anyway.
Sorry for all the questions but all of this is a little backwards of my other tanks.
Oh yeah also how important do most think a skimmer is a reef tank. I have one on each of my other tanks, but this tank did not have one and I am debating if I need one.
Basically I am just concerned that if I remove all biological filtration, and all carbon, and just leave an empty penguin and canister will the rock filter enough for things to be healthy.....It seems so backwards to me versus my other tanks with wetdrys, bioballs, skimmers, and everything else to just have nothing.
Man sorry to go on and on, just alot to sort out with this setup
Ok, well for those of you that have not seen my other posts I am in the process of switching on of my 55 gal tanks from FOWLR to full reef tank. So far I have changed my lighting so that I now how 260 watts PC, I have added live rock to total about 60-70 lbs, and raised my salinity to 1.22/23. Now I need to switch over my filters. What I have now on this tank is an eheim canister filter with ceramic noodles and filters in it, and a Penguin biowheel 350 on there. More then enough for FOWLR. Now, the guy at my LFS says that I need to take the biological elements out of there (i.e biowheel, and noodles) in order to keep rates down for a successful reef tank. He suggested taking the biowheels off one at a time (there are 2) then wait a few days and take the other off. Then after a week or so take the noodles out of the canister filter, leaving the pads to trap big stuff. Does this sound right? If I take all those out will things be ok? Also what do I do with the pads in the Penguin as I know they have carbon in them, and he said carbon is bad for a reef tank.
Also if everyone agrees this is the right course of action can I reverse the order. I need to do maintenance on my canister anyway so what if when I do I just don't put the noodles back in there? Also should I put the Ehfistrate (basically little rocks) back in? I guess once all this is out of the filter the only reason to keep it running is to trap big stuff in the pads and for circulation right? Same with the Penguin as I was told to remove all the biowheels and the pads anyway.
Sorry for all the questions but all of this is a little backwards of my other tanks.
Oh yeah also how important do most think a skimmer is a reef tank. I have one on each of my other tanks, but this tank did not have one and I am debating if I need one.
Basically I am just concerned that if I remove all biological filtration, and all carbon, and just leave an empty penguin and canister will the rock filter enough for things to be healthy.....It seems so backwards to me versus my other tanks with wetdrys, bioballs, skimmers, and everything else to just have nothing.
Man sorry to go on and on, just alot to sort out with this setup