Alternate use of canister filter?

[tineng]

After so many bad press about canister filter being nitrate factories, i'm seriously looking at stop using them...however it will be really a waste as i had already spent good $$$ on them.... I'm also not sure that will about 7kg of LR in my 2 footer and a Primz Skimmer, the setup is able to handle the bio-load.

Anyway, I have a crazy idea....I was thinking of removing all the media from the canister and filling it up with sand....maybe up to 6 inches?. Then on the intake valve, add a sponge as a prefilter. In that way i only need to clean the sponge to prevent nitrate built up... in theory i should now be using the filter as a DSB....

Should i risk a anonmia spike and try it as the canister is now my prelimary means of fliteration???

Any bros out their had done or heard anything about this before????

any advise or feedback would be apprieciate before i try this experiment....

[FuEl]

A similar post has been posted before. Anyway..just to answer your question..it won't work as water is not meant to flow right thru a deep sand bed. Anaerobic areas won't be able to form at all. It'll be better off leaving the canister empty and using it for water circulation instead.

[moron_clown]

Sorry to dissapoint u,but it will not work.cannisters work by forcing pressurised water through filter media,causing dirt and all that yucky stuff to get trapped in the media.The dsb theory utillises the fact that denitrifying Nitrobacter and Nitrosomanas bacterial colonises faster and better in zero light levels.that is why the sand bed must settle and must not be disturbed.The whirling water inside the cannister will cause the sand to "fly" all over the place.If your cannister's pump get stucked by the sand,it will be an expensive mistake.and there will still be detritus settling in the sand no matter how hard u try to keep it away...just my opinion.

[lightningstrike]

A similar post has been posted before. Anyway..just to answer your question..it won't work as water is not meant to flow right thru a deep sand bed. Anaerobic areas won't be able to form at all. It'll be better off leaving the canister empty and using it for water circulation instead.

that's exactly what i m doing...... using the cannister purely for chemical filtration only.......

[tineng]

The whirling water inside the cannister will cause the sand to "fly" all over the place.If your cannister's pump get stucked by the sand,it will be an expensive mistake.and there will still be detritus settling in the sand no matter how hard u try to keep it away...just my opinion.

Thanks bros.....just realize that when i sat down and stared at the filter.... ....maybe if i can figure a way to reduce the whirling in the canister....

Anyway, thanks for all the help....save me a lot of grief later on.....

btw, for the past month i had put a sponge in the intake and it seems to cut down on the Nirate produced from >100ppm to abt 15ppm....but then could be other factor also...such a confusing hobby...

[tineng]

that's exactly what i m doing...... using the cannister purely for chemical filtration only.......

hi Lighting strike...

do you have any other 'devices' for the biological filtering? For me i only have the LR and Skimmer....so dun no if i convert to pure chemial filteration, would whats left be able to handle the bio-load....

[Siput]

Sounds more like a recipe for a liquified sand bed than a dsb...

[lightningstrike]

hi Lighting strike...

do you have any other 'devices' for the biological filtering? For me i only have the LR and Skimmer....so dun no if i convert to pure chemial filteration, would whats left be able to handle the bio-load....

definitely by taking all the ceramic rings, etc. out of ur cannister will reduce ur nitrate level, i did that and nitrate reduced by abt 25ppm. some suggestions i can give u is to utilise a dsb, more LRs, good skimmer, denitrator. personally, i m using the berlin method...... more LRs...... upgrading to a better skimmer soon.

[lightningstrike]

hi Lighting strike...

do you have any other 'devices' for the biological filtering? For me i only have the LR and Skimmer....so dun no if i convert to pure chemial filteration, would whats left be able to handle the bio-load....

definitely by taking all the ceramic rings, etc. out of ur cannister will reduce ur nitrate level, i did that and nitrate reduced by abt 25ppm. some suggestions i can give u is to utilise a dsb, more LRs, good skimmer, denitrator, refugium to grow macroalgae. personally, i m using the berlin method with a refugium...... more LRs...... upgrading to a better skimmer soon.

[nutx]

Thanks bros.....just realize that when i sat down and stared at the filter.... ....maybe if i can figure a way to reduce the whirling in the canister....

Anyway, thanks for all the help....save me a lot of grief later on.....

btw, for the past month i had put a sponge in the intake and it seems to cut down on the Nirate produced from >100ppm to abt 15ppm....but then could be other factor also...such a confusing hobby...

I dun agree that canister cannot be use as DSB.

It depend on the design of your canister.

If yours is the same as the pic I drew below, then you can remove all the trays inside, so that the water will not disturb the DSB, and the filter wool is an additional layer to prevent stirring up of the DSB.

However, bec of the small capacity of the canister filter, the DSB may not be really effective. But consider yours is a 2ft tank, I think you can still try.

If your canister is Eheim 2213, 2215 type of series, then you cannot use, bec the water inlet is at the bottom of the canister.

for liquified sand bed, you need to have very packed sand inside, which the canister will not be able to provide that kind of pack environment.

[ervine]

For a DSB to work it needs to have a large enough surface area in comparision with the main tank. That's why people usually have one in their main tank or sump (assuming the sump is as big enough) rathar than having it in a small vertical cylinder.

[jd_n]

Like wat ervine mentioned, inorder for DSB to work...a large area is needed and tats y its better to have DSB in the main tank rather than the sump (to have it in the sump is better than nuthin). To have the best of the 2, have DSB in main tank and sump. Anyway Tineng, to continue puttin ur cannister to good use. U can dump PO4 removal media like Biophos and deniatrator media into the cannister.

[tineng]

nutx...your idea sounds interesting by wouldn't the filter wool become the nitrate factory...anyway I using the Rena XP filter it is quite similar to the one you have drawn....

ervine, you got a point there, the surface area of the canister is only about 1/4 of the tank...might not acheive much...

Anyway, another stupid idea....would it be possible for me instead to use nutx idea, but a flat piece of LR to prevent the water from stirring up the sand...or what the heck....can i just fill it up with LR!!!

[lightningstrike]

nutx...your idea sounds interesting by wouldn't the filter wool become the nitrate factory...anyway I using the Rena XP filter it is quite similar to the one you have drawn....

ervine, you got a point there, the surface area of the canister is only about 1/4 of the tank...might not acheive much...

Anyway, another stupid idea....would it be possible for me instead to use nutx idea, but a flat piece of LR to prevent the water from stirring up the sand...or what the heck....can i just fill it up with LR!!!

but how much LRs can u fill ur cannister up with??? wun u be better off putting more LRs in ur main tank?

[ervine]

Honestly.. I think the only thing a cannister is good for is probably forced chemical filtration (rather than let it just sit idly in the sump)... but if you have planned the sump carefully then there's really not much of a need for another electrical appliance is there...

[Aerohigh]

Take a look here

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14861

Hi just change your filter wool once a month and everything will be fine....throw away your nitrate factories .....

[jd_n]

Honestly.. I think the only thing a cannister is good for is probably forced chemical filtration (rather than let it just sit idly in the sump)... but if you have planned the sump carefully then there's really not much of a need for another electrical appliance is there...

Seahorse's tank is runnin his cannister with chemical media in it