I asked for some advice on another forum, and what they told me was shocking. Long story short, basically I dont need to have any mechanical filtration besides my skimmer, if I have a very established tank with enough sand and LR?
55 gallon, running 2+ years
2 inch sand base
60lbs tonga branch LR full of coraline
CPR Backpack skimmer
Big Clean up crew
What they told you at that other site is more or less true. Adequate flow through healthy live rock along with a skimmer is really the only filtration necessary for a happy healthy reef. The skimmer isnt even necessary if you wanted to change tons of water....but for most realistic purposes...it is necessary.
Most other mechanical filters become detritus traps uinless you clean them every couple of days and can do much more harm thatn good
Three months ago I was just like you except I had a tank that was way out of whack. I slowly removed all my bio balls and media from my canister and bought a new skimmer and ro unit. I will be honest with you removing all the bio balls and media was one of the scariest things I ve ever done. Three months later and all my test are the way they should be the corals and fish have never been happier.
Good luck and welcome to trt!
Patrick
Welcome Wicked!! You will love it here at TRT.....I know I do !!!!!!!
I agree with all of the above statements....Good skimmer and water changes....or bad skimmer and lots of water changes......or no skimmer and a ton of water changes.......
Get rid of the bio-balls and any mechanical filtration it is a safe haven for phosphates and food to promote algae growth!!!:bawling:
Patrick, I remember that thread...it feels just like yesterday ....oh know here it comes....:bawling: I get all emotional remembering back then...when even I had bio-balls......:lol:
Wicked you will learn so much information reading the threads here!!! It makes keeping a reef so much easier when you have a great support group like here. I know I have learned a ton of information here over the last year that i did not know.....and I've had fish tanks and reef tanks for most of my life...
Thank you so much everyone, I am going to unplug the Fluval today, and wait a few days, and get rid of the hang on back. God I hope nothing gets screwed up. Heres a picture by the way. The tank was overrun with Kenya tree frags and Aptasia. I pretty much got rid of the majority of Aptasia (ongoing battle) and kept the few choice Kenya's
You can keep the fluval for added flow or adding carbon. Just be sure to remove everything in it. Also if you run carbon replace or remove it every 2 weeks or so!
You can keep the fluval for added flow or adding carbon. Just be sure to remove everything in it. Also if you run carbon replace or remove it every 2 weeks or so!
I love your tank and welcome to TRT. Like mentioned above you can keep your fluval. I kept my ehiem i use it for flow. I also kept my hang on. Just remove all the media and they will be fine. You can always use them for flow. I didn't go with the carbon because I was afraid I would get lazy and not remove it every few weeks so i just left mine empty. I did put a cpl of lr in my hangon it problem doesn't do anything but it's there.
Patrick
Ps Bill your too funny!
I asked for some advice on another forum, and what they told me was shocking. Long story short, basically I dont need to have any mechanical filtration besides my skimmer, if I have a very established tank with enough sand and LR?
55 gallon, running 2+ years
2 inch sand base
60lbs tonga branch LR full of coraline CPR Backpack skimmer
Big Clean up crew
Welcome to TRT.
yes keep the hang on going for now with just carbon running in it.
you can hill the aipt. with kalk paste and a syringe. a direct shot to each one with do it. you can give the perrerment shrimpa buzz if you want to do it a bit slower. they did work for me a whiel back. just dont pick at them your self.any small piece will turn in to a new one
So then, I could just take out all the filter media from my hang on back one, and throw a couple bags of carbon in it, or some LR rubble, and everything will be good. And get a new skimmer.
Welcome! Yeah remove all the stuff from it and continue to use if you want the extra flow. I use carbon a day after cleaning just to clear things back up and then ditch it.
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