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Canister Filter

derf

By derf,
in New to the Marine Aquaria Hobby

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hongqixian Newbie

hongqixian

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hi guys,

i'm using a canister filter and i'd like to find out for those who are using it, wat do u use as media?

i've got cotton on the top layer, activated carbon on the 3rd tray and bio homes in the last 2 trays...

Hey derf,

if you're using live rock, skip the bio-homes and just let the bacteria colonize the live rock. Remove some of the biohome at a time. The cotton you'll have to change regularly or it'll clog. Anyway, I'm not using a canister myself, so I can't comment on the effectiveness or anything like that but you can try using a product called Chemi-Pure by Dick Boyd's company. It is sold in containers at most shops for abt. $15 a bottle and comes in a bag.

Qixian

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ong Newbie

ong

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Hey derf,

if you're using live rock, skip the bio-homes and just let the bacteria colonize the live rock. Remove some of the biohome at a time. The cotton you'll have to change regularly or it'll clog. Anyway, I'm not using a canister myself, so I can't comment on the effectiveness or anything like that but you can try using a product called Chemi-Pure by Dick Boyd's company. It is sold in containers at most shops for abt. $15 a bottle and comes in a bag.

Qixian

I uses two for my 4ft.. Model EM2217, media used is simple, bio rings at the base and 2xbio-spongs in the center, top 2x Chemi-pure. So far, for a year now. Performing well.....

http://www.arofanatics.com./members/wangzx/seahorse-new/
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Achilles Tang Newbie

Achilles Tang

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I never liked canisters... the danger is when you take them offline for some time... a lot of the bacteria will die and when you switch it on... you get sludge water going into your tank and needing a water change to rectify this emergency.

I have seen this happened too many times to people I know. :angry: Especially when they forget to switch the canister back on after feeding their tank.

IMO, bio stuff are better than liverock in canisters. They are supposed to have a lot of colonizing space compared to the same quantity of liverock.

Liverock is living and some of the life will end up dying in some quantities due to no light, or getting choked because they don't get any food/oxygen in the canister and die etc.

I see no benefit from using liverock in canisters at all.

For those who use canister, be extra careful about this.

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hongqixian Newbie

hongqixian

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IMO, bio stuff are better than liverock in canisters. They are supposed to have a lot of colonizing space compared to the same quantity of liverock.

Liverock is living and some of the life will end up dying in some quantities due to no light, or getting choked because they don't get any food/oxygen in the canister and die etc.

I see no benefit from using liverock in canisters at all.

For those who use canister, be extra careful about this.

Oops, I seem to have worded my message wrongly....:blink:

I meant remove the bio-home material slowly and let the bacteria colonize the rock in the tank, so if for some reason the canister malfunctions then the main tank can still handle the ammonia-nitrate cycle.

Sorry, didn't mean to mislead anyone :) . Thanks for highlighting it, Achilles, I never realized the mistake till now..... :P

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hongqixian Newbie

hongqixian

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Is the SeaChem carbon replacement thing you use Purigen or Renew?

Purigen is some yellow resin that absorbs toxic substances and dissolved organics. It's $30 a small bottle but can be "cleaned" and reused by using some acid. That's on the label.

Renew is either the mixture of Matrix Carbon and PhosGuard in a bottle or the small pieces of the Seachem Denitrate (I can't remember which is which). Sea Chem sells something in a small bottle that looks exactly the same as the Seachem Denitrate but has smaller grains and a different name. Might be the smaller pieces of rock that result when they crush the Denitrate rock and can't bear to waste, so market it as something else. The mixture of carbon and phosguard is a bottle containing many tiny spherical black and white granules that is just a mix of Seachem's other products with a different name.

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derf Newbie

derf

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i heard dat canister filters will cause nitrate probs after awhile. is dat true?

how effective are the activated carbon n phosguard? cos i'm having probs with algae....

however, i notice dat the algae will onli appear if i've my lights on for long hrs n if i switch my lights off during the nite, the algae will be gone the next morning... y is dat so??? :(

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Achilles Tang Newbie

Achilles Tang

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derf, I don't think so... you should have more media for denitrifying bacteria to colonise... it is believed that too much bioballs causes too much nitrate to be formed from nitrites. The prob may be not enough bacteria to quickly convert the no3 to harmless nitrogen.

... and that algae that comes and goes is cyanobacteria, diatoms or nuisance algae. You have too much dissolved organic matter in the water. Get a better protein skimmer or reduce overfeeding/overstocking.

-------------------------------------------

Phang, I believe you can use the phosguard continuously until it is maxed out.. ie. turn yellow. Phosphate is something we should have very low quantities in our tank... so it doesn't make sense to have intermittent use of the phosguard.

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bawater Newbie

bawater

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i use a 2235 for a 4ft, filled wif 3 baskets ceramic & 1 biofoam.Purely biological (tnk filtered by 2235,a boyu internal-for mechanical/polish & a skimmer-which produces foam once a week)

Only service every 3mths-rinse biofoam & ceramic in old water.

intake pipe is covered with sponge for prefiltering(will try an additional add on connectionwif an old un-used orca skimmer when time permits,intend to fill orca with floss & carbon). canister on 24/7.

water change- 8gal every 2mths.

Phang- if u use carbon u have a time frame to keep track of(usually 2-3weeks is safe)before u remove it otherwise it leeches back everything it absorbs.

Achilles- it takes abt 1-2hrs for bacteria to die(my safety margin is 1hr) from lack of oxygen(so if power cut more than that-might as well wash all filters) ,i agree abt the backwash of algae so gotta catch it/strain it.

just slip on a sponge on the intake saves trouble of on/off. sponge dirty,just wash under tap.

if there is a high nitrate level(chk the others & if nil)- means ur filtration process is working fine- nitrates are the end product & u have to find another way to deal with this(i just planted 3 mangroves seedlings to try-collected new pods & they rooted in 2 weeks) but i also use macro-algae which grows & is trimmed in-tank by a yellow tang. I've read abt mud filtration giving optimum results.

u just got to finish the cycle.

derf- a little 10%-15% water change won't hurt to help lower your current levels.

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hongqixian Newbie

hongqixian

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Derf, about your algae probs, if it is cyano like Achilles said and is red in colour and can be pulled off in sheets, then you can try Chemi-clean(same manufacturer as Chemipure) Chemiclean is sold at about $25 (I think) at Sealife. Comes in a tiny bottle and you only use a little, maybe can get some from a friend or something. Note, chemi-clean is only effective for red slime algae(actually cyanobacteria).

Phang, I use it for very long while because I have a fairly severe hair algae outbreak in my 2ft tank. The use of phosguard has helped some. But the hair algae has not been as rampant since a week ago since I started using some SeaChem denitrate.

My eheim liberty filters(150gph and 200gph) cannot accomodate the denitrate inside due to lack of space so I just hang it in a breeding-cage net(without the cage) in the tank. Anyway, the optimum amt of water flowing through should be 50gph only as specified on the label, so I guess it is better hanging the denitrate. The netting is a bit unsightly though.....

Bawater, you are right abt the presence of nitrate and no ammonia/nitrite, but I think that the nitrates must be made to stay under control still.

Ach, the bioballs themselves don't cause the nitrates. The bioballs have a lot of tiny gaps for bacteria to colonize. These easily trap detritus over time and the detritus accumulates and slowly rots in there...thus the nitrates. Bawater's method of washing the bio media in old, dirt free tank water helps to keep the bioballs clean, but it might be preferable to just let most of the bacteria colonize the rock and forget about filter media totally....

One more tip for those who want mangroves, a tip would be to get pods like bawater did and not young plantlets as these are less easy to acclimate to the tank water. Some mangroves collected from less saline areas can even 'dry up' in full strength saltwater if not acclimated. A way to acclimate these would be to grow them in a bucket of saltwater that is at the salinity they were in. Then, the water slowly evaporates overtime and the saltwater becomes more saline. The mangrove can be transplanted to the sump or wherever it will be put when the bucket of saltwater rises to the salinity of the tank over a few weeks or less.

Also, some mangroves esp young seedlings literally burn up under too strong lighting like halides.

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Achilles Tang Newbie

Achilles Tang

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Ach, the bioballs themselves don't cause the nitrates. The bioballs have a lot of tiny gaps for bacteria to colonize. These easily trap detritus over time and the detritus accumulates and slowly rots in there...thus the nitrates. Bawater's method of washing the bio media in old, dirt free tank water helps to keep the bioballs clean, but it might be preferable to just let most of the bacteria colonize the rock and forget about filter media totally....

Yeah I don't mean the bioballs themselves... I mean the use of them may cause the overwhelming production of nitrates due to the wet/dry effect that causes the nitrite---> nitrate bacteria to proliferate much faster than the nitrate-->harmless nitrogen bacteria can cope with.

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Achilles Tang Newbie

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Can we find mangrove in Sgp? 2 mths back when i startup my refugium i tried looking for it at places like Farmart and so on but i can't find it..

It's so easy.... just go to the shoreline of our beautiful island country... and wherever you find mud.. you will find mangrove! Just look into the water and you will find floating pods which you can take. Or pull out a few saplings from the mud... just watch out for sandflies... urrgh!! Hate them!

I don't think you need to acclimatize mangroves, their salt-straining ability cannot be underestimated. The mangroves in Singapore are mostly in direct contact with seawater, not brackish ones.

Trust me, I used to fish in mangrove swamps. I once had a sea snake right at my foot and I must have broken the world record for vertical high jump!

Go check out the northern coasts eg. seletar, plenty of mangroves there.

Watch out for the seasnakes, stingrays or catfish should you walk barefooted in the mud water.

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hongqixian Newbie

hongqixian

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It's so easy.... just go to the shoreline of our beautiful island country... and wherever you find mud.. you will find mangrove! Just look into the water and you will find floating pods which you can take. Or pull out a few saplings from the mud... just watch out for sandflies... urrgh!! Hate them!

I don't think you need to acclimatize mangroves, their salt-straining ability cannot be underestimated. The mangroves in Singapore are mostly in direct contact with seawater, not brackish ones.

Trust me, I used to fish in mangrove swamps. I once had a sea snake right at my foot and I must have broken the world record for vertical high jump!

Go check out the northern coasts eg. seletar, plenty of mangroves there.

Watch out for the seasnakes, stingrays or catfish should you walk barefooted in the mud water.

I can collect mangrove pods from a floating fish farm. They just float around at low tide. Relatively clean(in seawater all mud's washed off) . I can only get them maybe in Oct. and depends on availability. Maybe I can sell them off a 50cents a pod and buyers get a free pod...

There are a few species of tree and you need to identify which you want.

Like achilles said our mangroves are at full salinity...that's one thing gd abt S'pore not having copious amts of freshwater to drain into the sea.

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Limpc Newbie

Limpc

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Hi all,

This thing about refugium kind of blur me. Can any kind soul pls post a picture of your setup for my easy understanding ? I have got a mangroove swamp right in front of my apartment and should take fullest advantage of the availability.

Thanks in advance.

Lim

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