ray

ok... so i have that 55 gal that I'm still waiting to cycle... but in the process of looking for a small QT someone gave me a 26 gal tank...
so right now i just have a HOB power filter for my 55gal tank... i don't know the brand etc... the friend that gave me the 55gal tank gave me the filter...
so I'm thinking i may move that filter to the 26gal tank...
what would be recommended for the 55gal then? I'm sure at some point I'm gonna want some corals etc... so i guess i want to figure out what would be best... i have a skimmer right now (again not sure if its the best i was reading and i think ill need to move it to the 26gal and get a better for the 55gal)
so suggestions...

ray

oh... i'm not sure if i'm ready to dive into a sump btw... but some time maybe... just don't think now

Tumbleweed

I have a fluval 405 canister filter on my tank and it works really well. A fluval 305 would work well in your tank. I like the canister style IMOP they have a better biological and mechanical filtration system then HOB and the are pretty quite.
A sump and a Refugium system. This is called a natural filtration system, and this is what i am in the planning stage of that system right now.

ray

ok i'll look into that one... thought i had read that for some reason to do with the bacteria in the tank canisters weren't always the best way to go...

and yeah after i posted that i got to thinking about a sump/refugium system... but i think its too outta control for me right now..

sgould

With a skimmer and adequate (1-1.5 lbs/gallon) live rock, you actually do not need a mechanical filter at all. Though if you already have an HOB filter, you could take the media out of it and turn it into a little mini-fuge. I think there may be some info on that in the DIY section.

ray

so with the live rock (i have 75lbs right now) and the skimmer i dont need any fancy filter system? but its correct to say you can never have too much filtering right? so would i be better off to buy a $30 HOB filter for the 55gal and put the old one on the new tank? save the $70 for other more important things (upgrade my skimmer or lighting)

sgould

The problem with a mechanical filter on a reef tank is that they tend to become nitrate factories. All the "stuff" that is physically strained out of the water collumn by the filter media is still inside the system even though it is no longer free floating, and will still begin breaking down and ultimately converting to nitrate. You would be amazed at how quickly this can happen, particularly on a new/immature tank. This is more of an issue with a reef tank than with FO or FOWLR (or freshwater for that matter) because of the sensitivity of some inverts and corals to nitrate. The moral is, if you chose to use one, you will need to be very diligent about changing the media regularly.

Incidentally, as an alternative, you can also adapt your filter by removing the mechanical media and go for chemical and additional biological filtration. For example, I do run a canister filter on my reef tank, but I have removed all of the foam/floss media and filled the canister with matrix and denitrate, both porous rock products that provide additional surface area for bacterial growth, as well as a phosphate pad and a pouch of Purigen.

To summarize...IMHO, save your money and invest it elsewhere. You won't realize much benefit from an HOB on a reef tank.

ray

right on... i appreciate it...
what if you were to maybe store some macro algae in the filter? does that even work? wouldnt that eat up some of the nitrates?

sgould

Yep. Many people keep some form a macro algae in a sump or fuge for that very purpose. Cheatomorpha is a common one used for that purpose. You would have to be sure it gets adequate light.