filter mix for 30 gal reef

[jms6w]

I'm rebooting entirely a 30 gallon reef tank and I'm interested in opinions on the right filter mix for a tank this size. My prior tank was doing great for years but a combination of factors made it crash a few months ago and I donated or sold the fish and corals I had. Previously I had live rock/sand, with a penguin power filter and BakPak protein skimmer. I want to upgrade to some kind of canister filter, but I don't have any cabinet space so I either need to get a HOT Magnum or else a smaller regular canister (Rena XP1 or XP2) which would sit on the floor adjacent to and below the tank, meaning several feet of uphill tubing from the filter to the tank.

My question is -- if I have live rock and live sand for the bio filtration and some sort of canister filter for mechanical filtration, do I really need a protein skimmer for a small (30 gal) reef tank? I know you can never have too much filtration, but is doing both a bit of overkill? And is a canister filter even appropriate for something this size? I'm a little concerned it's like strapping a jet engine to a red wagon, and the flow will just stress out the occupants. I've also read a lot -- good and bad -- about the HOT Magnum. Not a fully fledged canister, and a pain to clean, but some people seem to swear by them -- is it likely to do the job for such a small tank? I seem to get a different set of opinions every time I talk to someone at my LFS, which unfortunately is almost an hour's drive away, so I'd like to come up with a good filtration plan up front. Thanks for any opinions or pointers to discussions on this topic elsewhere here.

[scoop]

Welocme to TRT! Actually, most people w/ reefs use live rock for biological filtration and then a good protein skimmer, no canisters. Canister filters tend to collect detritus and become nitrate factories, so if you use one it would need to be cleaned very frequently. What is the reason you want to use a canister filter? It is very important to get a good skimmer. There are quite a few good hob skimmers that will work on a 30 gl tank, do a search and read some of the posts here about people's experiences.

[quick_murdoc]

I agree with scoop. Better to have a good skimmer then the canister.

In answer to your question technically your dont "need" it you can probably get away with a 30 gal tank and no skimmer but you are going to have to be very good about water changes, if your decide to use the canister instead. It's up to you if the cash is a issue look on Craigslist (CL) and you might be able to find a good deal.

Welcome to TRT

[Loverotties]

I agree too!