# canister filter for marine



## jakk (Jan 22, 2008)

Hi all

Basically i have been reading and reading and reading about marine and i have a totally passion for it now and have decided i need one in my life! assuming my plan will work 

i already have running a 75ltr frash water tank but it is getting a bit old a ropy now and i am pretty much loosing interest in "normal" fresh water tropicals so im thinking of stripping that down and using that tank. now as it will be a very small marine set up do you think I could get away with using a marine canister filter rather than putting together a sump? i would have live rock in there and an inch or so of live sand. im aware that marine aquariums are not some thing that you cut corners on i just wanted to know what you though of the idea. 

Many thanks 

jack


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## Pearson Design (Jan 21, 2010)

hi Jakk,

firstly welcome to the salty side  youll love it here! lol

secondly, i have kept marine fish for over 15 years, both fish only setups and full reef ones.

In all my time of keeping them, i have never used a sump. 
My reef tank is running an external eheim pro 2, large canistor filter. A TMC UV steriliser, the tank is a juwell tank so also has the internal box filter for particle filtration, and the powerhead for flow. I also have 2 koralia fans for increased flow over the rock etc.

Now, without going too technical, your best friend in marine tanks is Live Rock. 
This acts as a filter in itself. Some people say you can have a sucessful reef tank without a filter and use just Live Rock, im not doubting that at all, but i wouldnt ever try it myself.

so, bottom line is, yes, canistor filters will be fine 

just remember, if your using the same tank for marines, and want corals etc, you have to make sure you didnt use any copper containing treatments in your freshwater setup.
Im pretty sure (but dont quote me on it) that you can just clean to tank and accessories thoroughly to eliminate traces of copper, but its a concern to be looked into.

Once again, welcxome to the best side of fish keeping and if you have any more questions, please go ahead and ask.

No questions are stupid, and you are correct when you say you cant cut corners in marine. Patience, dedication and planning are all you need to have a beautiful and rewarding marine aquarium


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## jakk (Jan 22, 2008)

Pearson Design said:


> hi Jakk,
> 
> firstly welcome to the salty side  youll love it here! lol
> 
> ...


thank you for such a nice reply! 
good to here i could pull it off with a canister i have found a couple that will give adequate filtration to my little tank. I've always wanted to go with the live rock and sand route as i like the idea of having a natural eco system not to mention the benefits of using them. I will totally gut the system and sterilise it all before doing any things else. I also found an internal filter by eheim that says it would work for marines as well what do you think? another question lol! protein skimmers im looking at hang on pack style as im not going to be having a sump sound ok to you? finally lighting i know that corals need a certain kind of light output etc to grow will i get this from flory tubes or do i need to go stronger? 

thanks for all your help and reading my essay posts lol 
:2thumb:


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## Pearson Design (Jan 21, 2010)

jakk said:


> thank you for such a nice reply!
> good to here i could pull it off with a canister i have found a couple that will give adequate filtration to my little tank. I've always wanted to go with the live rock and sand route as i like the idea of having a natural eco system not to mention the benefits of using them. I will totally gut the system and sterilise it all before doing any things else. I also found an internal filter by eheim that says it would work for marines as well what do you think? another question lol! protein skimmers im looking at hang on pack style as im not going to be having a sump sound ok to you? finally lighting i know that corals need a certain kind of light output etc to grow will i get this from flory tubes or do i need to go stronger?
> 
> thanks for all your help and reading my essay posts lol
> :2thumb:



To be honest im not the best person to ask about protein skimmers as ive only used one once, and that wa sa loooong time ago lol

if i put it this way, my reef tank has been running for over 11 months now and has had no problems so to speak, ive lost 2 fish, but that was my error which i fixed 
obviously, the more equipment you have will make it better but, for me ive always been ok without

as for lighting, it depends what coals etc you are looking to keep.
In my reef tank i have 2 T5 whites, and a T8 white and a T8 blue. I have all soft corals, leathers, xenia, kenya tree, star polyps etc, and only 2 hard corals.
Trumpet and acropora. unfortunately the acropora didnt do well, but the trumpet is flourishing well.

if i was to upgrade to 4 T5 bulbs then i should be ok with most hard corals aswell. 
I'd recommend starting with easy corals like the leathers, xenia and polyps etc, maybe some mushroom polyps too. Then if you do want to move up to other hard corals etc you will need to upgrade lightng. bear in mind that lights such as halides and LEDs are very expensive to buy and in the case of halides, very expensive to run aswell.
LEDs are cheaper to run, actually cheaper than standard T5/T8 bulbs, but they cost a lot to buy and i hear conflicting reports to whether they are better than T5/8s anyway.

sorry if this was a bit of a jumble, got about 8 things going on at once here lol, i think i covered everything...


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## jakk (Jan 22, 2008)

thats great thanks =]
i have space in my light canopy for two marine T8's tbh i wanted to go down the soft coral route any way i just like them more.

so with your canister in your tank you dont use a skimmer at all? 

thanks agin 

Jack


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## Pearson Design (Jan 21, 2010)

nope, no skimmer at all.
although im thinking about maybe getting one...not sure yet though


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## jakk (Jan 22, 2008)

well heres an update 

unfortunately due to family troubles it looks like my dream of a reef tank will have to wait 

But thanks for all the help 
: victory:


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## kell_boy (May 30, 2010)

Just to throw a stick in the spoke, I do know very little about marine systems, Ive only kept puffers in them, but I was told canister filters in marine systems are "nitrate" factories, I guess it kinda makes sense as dirt will get in the sponges and clean water will gather there,

My dad always used a canister filter with no problems but he didnt do much research, but if you can afford a sump, lots of live rock and a very decent protein skimmer, you will have much cleaner water, this makes sense as the skimmers force the impurities into a chamber, 

I cant really back up my argument very well as I do know little, Im kinda playing devils advocate which Im sorry, but if you talk to seem reef keeps I thnk alot have a sump + skimmer and no canister filter.

EDIT, just seen OP's post, woops


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