Whats worse?

[Travis55]

Whats worse, a canister filter, or a hob skimmer? I just tore down my 55 because of an algae outbreak and i hear canisters are bad news. So, can my tank thrive with just a skimmer and a few powerheads?

 

[carey]

I used a fluval 305 canister on my 55g with success. It's just a matter of maintaining it. You should have some sort of mechanical filtration in my opinion, like a hob filter, a sump setup or a canister.

 

[Travis55]

I used a fluval 305 canister on my 55g with success. It's just a matter of maintaining it. You should have some sort of mechanical filtration in my opinion, like a hob filter, a sump setup or a canister.

I want a sump but cant drill my tank. its all tempered. Plus no mkney for a sump and pump. Might be getting a 20 long sump for $20 tho. Id rather use the cascade 1000 on my fw. I have a fluval 305 with carbon, LR, and filter floss on my nano. Being that my nano is a ten gal should i put the skimmer on that, put the fluval on the fw and put the cascade back on the 55 fowlr? Would the red sea prizm skimmer be enough with a small ph on my ten gal?

 

[Patrick93]

Whats worse, a canister filter, or a hob skimmer? I just tore down my 55 because of an algae outbreak and i hear canisters are bad news. So, can my tank thrive with just a skimmer and a few powerheads?

There's nothing wrong with canisters they work well I use a 305 and fx5 and non became nitrate factories and yes I also run a sump system wit a refug. Please do research and self experiment with it trust me u won't be disappointed with them

 

[carey]

The prizm skimmer might be enough on a 10g depending on stocking and some other factors. I',m still a big fan of having some sort of hang on back thing going. You can get aquaclear filters for like $25 on amazon and you can run carbon or gfo in there if you need to. Plus you can run just polyfill to clean up the water when needed.

Swapping all these filters around might cause mini cycles in yoru tanks, don't forget. So you might wanna take the easiest way out and just use what's being used now.

In a perfect world I would use the fluval on the largest tank and work it that way. You don't need the filter to do that much in the saltwater tank, just catch particles of gunk floating around and to run chemical media.

 

[Travis55]

The prizm skimmer might be enough on a 10g depending on stocking and some other factors. I',m still a big fan of having some sort of hang on back thing going. You can get aquaclear filters for like $25 on amazon and you can run carbon or gfo in there if you need to. Plus you can run just polyfill to clean up the water when needed.

Swapping all these filters around might cause mini cycles in yoru tanks, don't forget. So you might wanna take the easiest way out and just use what's being used now.

In a perfect world I would use the fluval on the largest tank and work it that way. You don't need the filter to do that much in the saltwater tank, just catch particles of gunk floating around and to run chemical media.

My 10 gal has a small clown and some corals.

My 55 sw is empty and my 55 fw has a lot of fish. Lol 2 irridescent sharks, 2 red tailed sharks, a pleco, groumi (sp), and a cory cat.

So bioload wise would def be fw, sw, nano. So put the fluval on the fw, cascade on the sw and skimmer on nano. I can add cafbon and sruff to the skimmer. Its got a compartment that has a carbon pad.

 

[carey]

I'm no expert but that's what i would do. use the best filter for the tank that needs it the most.

 

[Travis55]

I'm no expert but that's what i would do. use the best filter for the tank that needs it the most.

So my filter swaps has come to an end... selling the fluval and cascade. Hob skimmer is on the nano for now. Tore down the 55 fw. I got a 20 gal sump. $20. Quite one 4000 for $30. And a 2 bulb 175w metal halide retrofit with 2 36" vho light for $15 so im on a run!