38g Bowfront Saltwater Help

Hey guys so I have a 38 gallon tank and stand currently with a fluval 206 canister filter and a hob(which I’ll probably not use) with a marineland 200w heater I was going to do a fw tank with it but am now thinking of taking the plunge to sw I was going to purchase a hob protein skimmer to help with the fact if no sump room and use my canister filter with seachem matrix chemipure blue and some filter floss with aI primes for light(how many would I need?) any help of advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh and I do plan to end up with full reef if I do take the plunge. Thank you in advance to everyone and anyone who decide to help me out!!

 

Hi! Sounds like a great idea!

Hmm, canister filters are generally a no-no in salty tanks, especially reef tanks, which is what you'll have when you get coral, yay! Canisters hold on to detritus and this in turn raises nitrate levels... this is why canisters are called nitrate factories on the salty side.

HOB's, on the other hand, are liked well enough due to the fact that they are easily modified to work towards nitrate reduction. Even better perhaps would be an HOB refugium like Lchi87 just added to her fabulous nano tank. You might want to find her salty thread and check that out.

I wish I had more time now to really get into things with you, but alas, I do not. I don't want to leave you hanging though, so in the meantime, check out the excellent guide linked below, written by the one and only Nart , who has been an excellent reefy mentor to many here, myself included.

Nart's Budget Nano Saltwater Guide For Beginners

 

Yup, use the HOB and you will have less filtration hassle in the long run. The Protein Skimmer is nice, but not necessary if you stick to weekly water changes, don't overfeed and stay on top of filter replacements. A lot of it depends on whether or not you upgrade (many do, in which case the skimmer is an unnecessary cost). I actually ran a 36 gallon bowfront with an Eshoppes PSK-75H HOB skimmer. Here is a vid of it all in action:

AI Primes are a great choice for that size tank. They will allow you to grow all but the most demanding of corals (which are a pain anyways).

 

Hi! Sounds like a great idea!

Hmm, canister filters are generally a no-no in salty tanks, especially reef tanks, which is what you'll have when you get coral, yay! Canisters hold on to detritus and this in turn raises nitrate levels... this is why canisters are called nitrate factories on the salty side.

HOB's, on the other hand, are liked well enough due to the fact that they are easily modified to work towards nitrate reduction. Even better perhaps would be an HOB refugium like Lchi87 just added to her fabulous nano tank. You might want to find her salty thread and check that out.

I wish I had more time now to really get into things with you, but alas, I do not. I don't want to leave you hanging though, so in the meantime, check out the excellent guide linked below, written by the one and only Nart , who has been an excellent reefy mentor to many here, myself included.

Nart's Budget Nano Saltwater Guide For Beginners

Thanks for the advice stella! I’ve been reading through forums and articles for awhile now (just finished the guide by nart) and I watched a video by marine depot saying I could use the canister filter for water clarity would that be okay? I just don’t want to not use it as I dropped a hundred bucks on it which would suck for me to then not use it at all and I'm going to be slowly putting this together anyways as it will get expensive so input and advice is always welcome anytime!

 

Yup, use the HOB and you will have less filtration hassle in the long run. The Protein Skimmer is nice, but not necessary if you stick to weekly water changes, don't overfeed and stay on top of filter replacements. A lot of it depends on whether or not you upgrade (many do, in which case the skimmer is an unnecessary cost). I actually ran a 36 gallon bowfront with an Eshoppes PSK-75H HOB skimmer. Here is a vid of it all in action:

AI Primes are a great choice for that size tank. They will allow you to grow all but the most demanding of corals (which are a pain anyways).

Thanks for the advice! I found a nice skimmer with good reviews on amazon I can link it if you’d like so I think i’ll stick with it and I was also wondering how primes would I need to light the 38 1 or 2

 

Thanks for the advice stella! I’ve been reading through forums and articles for awhile now (just finished the guide by nart) and I watched a video by marine depot saying I could use the canister filter for water clarity would that be okay? I just don’t want to not use it as I dropped a hundred bucks on it which would suck for me to then not use it at all and I'm going to be slowly putting this together anyways as it will get expensive so input and advice is always welcome anytime!

I get it... Are you prepared to thoroughly clean the entire canister once or twice a week? You really don't want anything hiding on to detritus for more than a few days or it will just lead to rising nitrates. Not only are most corals and some other species sensitive to nitrates, but there will be ugly algae issues too.

For example, I run an HOB that has a flossy filter pad in it. When my tank was still fairly new and didn't have a nutrient reduction method in place, nitrates would get over 10ppm if I didn't floss and toss. That is, use floss for only 3-4 days before tossing it and putting new floss in. This was with careful feedings of a single fish and less than half the amount of corals that I currently feed. Later, the HOB was modified to act as a filter and a refugium... or a fuge, which houses macroalgae that uses nutrients for growth. This is a form of nutrient reduction, as is running a skimmer. The fuge works great and nitrates stay very, very low, but I still replace a filter pad with a clean one every week.

Canisters are harder to clean than an HOB, and this often leads to some neglect too. It's up to you, of course, and I really am sorry to say it, but if it were me, I'd sell the canister, save the headache, and put the funds towards reefier things.

 

I have a 75 Gallon FOWLR tank and use a hydor 600 professional canister filter for my main mechanical filtration. As long as you stick to regular maintenance you shouldn’t have any problems. My nitrates are 5-10ppm.

It’s a matter of preference and if you can stick to a good maintenance routine.

 

I get it... Are you prepared to thoroughly clean the entire canister once or twice a week? You really don't want anything hiding on to detritus for more than a few days or it will just lead to rising nitrates. Not only are most corals and some other species sensitive to nitrates, but there will be ugly algae issues too.

For example, I run an HOB that has a flossy filter pad in it. When my tank was still fairly new and didn't have a nutrient reduction method in place, nitrates would get over 10ppm if I didn't floss and toss. That is, use floss for only 3-4 days before tossing it and putting new floss in. This was with careful feedings of a single fish and less than half the amount of corals that I currently feed. Later, the HOB was modified to act as a filter and a refugium... or a fuge, which houses macroalgae that uses nutrients for growth. This is a form of nutrient reduction, as is running a skimmer. The fuge works great and nitrates stay very, very low, but I still replace a filter pad with a clean one every week.

Canisters are harder to clean than an HOB, and this often leads to some neglect too. It's up to you, of course, and I really am sorry to say it, but if it were me, I'd sell the canister, save the headache, and put the funds towards reefier things.

I was thinking just that stella! I think I’m going to sell my canister and turn my hob into a fuge with chaeto and I’m still going to stick with a skimmer as well what could I use for carbon and maybe some extra bio media that I can use to put into my quarantine tank?

 

Thanks for the advice! I found a nice skimmer with good reviews on amazon I can link it if you’d like so I think i’ll stick with it and I was also wondering how primes would I need to light the 38 1 or 2

The Primes cover about a 24 inch cube max, so the length would be the concern, unless you are okay with leaving lower demand corals on the sides.

 

alright I was looking around again I do love the primes but I would most likely need two to completely cover the tank and was wondering if the marsaqua light are any good i'd still get two but they are a lot cheaper you can daisy chain them and are 165 watts here a link

 

alright I was looking around again I do love the primes but I would most likely need two to completely cover the tank and was wondering if the marsaqua light are any good i'd still get two but they are a lot cheaper you can daisy chain them and are 165 watts here a link

Nvm watched a couple videos and read some articles and have decided against the black box leds as I don’t think they will last as long and are probably not built with high standards

 

Oh muh gosh... AI Primes on sale with a pretty good discount at Dr's Foster and Smith right now!