newaqua Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hello Everyone. I am just wanting to confirm what I am thinking here. You don't need to run a cannister filter with live rock, as the live rock does the filtration. However, if you were to run one at the same time as having the live rock, the live rock would still work, it would just effectively give the system more media for the bacteria, is this correct? If you are to have fish only, can you run a cannister filter instead of live rock? Or have some live rock (less than reccomended) and run a cannister filter? Just having a chat to a friend today, pretty sure we got it down, but thought id ask these questions to cement what we are thinking. As at the moment I only carbon in my cannister filter (sometimes). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 to be honest i wouldnt even use a cannister filter with live rock in it , it will still become a sediment trap and who can be bothered cleaning it every couple of days the live rock will perform just as well in the tank if not better. all good to use it for running carbon temporarily . even for fish only its still more hassle than its worth get a decent amount of live rock and a decent skimmer and you will be well on your way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newaqua Posted June 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 This was just more theory than anything. I was meaning use something like ceramic or sintered glass for the media rather than live rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 Canisters, hang on filters, trickle filters, and other highly aerated filtration types used in fresh water tanks, should NOT BE USED in marine tanks for biological filtration, although they can be used to hold carbon or similar. The reason is that nitrate reducing bacteria cannot function in a highly aerated environment, and use of these filters will result in a build up of nitrate to levels that are harmful to many reef dwelling creatures. In a marine tank use live rock to house the bacteria. Deep within the pores of the rock, where there is less oxygen, the nitrate eating bacteria can do their job and keep nitrate levels low. Retrieved from: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/?p=1513 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 Less oxygen or no oxygen? if anaerobic then nitrate will be converted to nitrite, no? even worse. Just trying to understand what this quote really means, can someone marine explain please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougstark Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 Have been running a 90lt marine tank with a canister filled with live rock for a year now. The intake on the canister is connected to a ventura style skimmer. I have 5 fish in the tank as well as shrimps and hermit crabs. I also have some soft corals which have grown so well that I dont know what to do with it all. I clean out the canister filter about every 3-4 months, the only hassle being not losing baby starfish and pods down the sink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 Less oxygen or no oxygen? if anaerobic then nitrate will be converted to nitrite, no? even worse. Just trying to understand what this quote really means, can someone marine explain please? it's similar to freshwater with an extra step ammonia---> Nitrite----> nitrate ----------> nitrogen gas ( bubbles to surface is displaced by oxygen due to water movement) (<----Aerobic bacteria--------->) ( anaerobic bacteria) the live rock is really porous so has a lot surface area exposed for the aerobic bacteria but more importantly has a lot of surface area not exposed for anaerobic bacteria . its getting a balance of the bacteria that counts otherwise you end up with an excess of nitrates which cause algae issues and are harmful to inverts in small amounts and fish in higher amounts. so you want to minimise media that is designed to harbour aerobic bacteria like sponge, noodles, sintered glass even filter wool to keep a good balance of anaerobic bacteria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 Good explanation Thanks Spoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmxmatt Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 I run a canister filter on my setup, but its for PO4 remover and carbon (or whatever else I feel like putting in it). Also useful as I run an intank skimmer (Tunze 9002) and so I've fitted a surface skimmer to the inlet of the canister filter to skim the film off the top of the water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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