I've had a 75 gallon reef tank using a Fluval 405 for over ten years with complete success! I've even had periods of time that I slacked on cleaning the filter for months due to other life issues. Never lost any fish! And my water parameters were not bad at all and back to perfect again! So..... anyone that claims canisters are not sufficient, well I'm living proof that they are WRONG! So I'm in complete agreement with you on this...
Love this. I am coming from freshwater and the whole sump concept was really disparaging so I went fresh. After I went fresh I realized that the sump argument had holes in it and I kept thinking I must be missing something.
Child of Light - I just commented basically the same thing. I ran a 55 gal. salt tank with a Fluval canister, under gravel filter & 2 power heads for basically 20 yrs. & was never happier! The tank was always clean & *crystal* clear. Never had that clarity with a sump & everything metal in the area the sump had rust on it! 🤦🏻♀️ Never again, & everyone said I was just ‘lucky’. Nope!
I gave several freshwater aquariums, 9 to be exact. Ranging in size from 5 gallons to 180 gallons. I have always wanted a marine tank but I have no experience with a sump system. I have 6 canister filters and I’m very comfortable using them. I’ve never had any issues maintaining my canister filters. I’m delighted to hear that some experienced aquarists are running marine and reef tanks with canister filters. This gives me immense hope.
I was so completely disheartened by everything I read about Reef tanks and the need for sumps that I had completely given up on the dream. I really appreciate your honesty and because of this video I feel more confident in getting sumpless saltwater tank. Thank you! *subscribes immediately* 😂
Fluval has some really cool "nano" reef tanks I believe the have a 5 gal, 13.5 gal, 16 gal and 32 gal all are AIO (all in one) tanks and people seem to have pretty good success with them... they're also extremely affordable for a saltwater tank the 13.5 is under $200 on Amazon
For the past 7 years I run my 65 gallons ref tank w the fluval 406 and fluval g3 canister filters I have fish and coral, I agree 100% w this video I don’t want to push it but this makes me want to make a video showing how great they are
The big you tubers who must be paid one way or another bully viewers into thinking you must have expensive tanks, skimmers, branded sumps, neptune system, rock, sand, salts, testing kits, etc etc. If you're not flashing the big brand names you're destined for failure. Poppycock! Good maintenance, (correct) knowledge and patience. These are the most important things you need imo
@@EverydayAquarist Maintenance and being hands on is what an aquarist means to me. Its nice, but I don't buy into this automate everything school. It puts the working man/woman off running a marine setup. I play golf, and cleaning and maintaining all my equipment is a big part of it for me. Each to their own though.
This is easily the best and funniest video I’ve seen since I started reefing 😂 I have a 40 AIO & 90 with a sump that I’m SICK of! Let’s forget the fact that 1/2” glass tank is leaning and isn’t level … between gate valve that’s has to be adjusted for hours after every water change, noisy dripping into filter socks, FILTER SOCKS 🤢, giant skimmer that has IBS regularly, ATO is always making noise … I’M DONE! Lol. So new 85 on the way, no sump and I’ve been watching & reading all of the rhetoric on canister filters. I literally said to a friend last night, “please explain to me how this works in fresh and doesn’t in marine”. THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO! Fantastic points and hilarious 👏🏼♥️
You’re absolutely right. I couldn’t agree more. The whole tank/reef itself is your bio. The bacteria colonizes on everything and is present throughout the water itself. I am also fed up with the hear-say information and uninformed opinions (stated as facts) spread throughout the internet. It makes no sense that a canister filter would be harder to maintain on a saltwater tank. In my opinion, saltwater tanks run cleaner than freshwater tanks anyway. Just don’t be lazy and clean your shit on a regular basis and you’re good to go. Sumps are not the only way to go and do not solve problems. Sumps are just an expensive extra tank, taking up space and are not necessary From my experience. Great video 🤩
The main argument against canister filters is that the saltwater/reef tank community is full of aquarium snobs. Canisters scream freshwater. They can't be teched out with the latest skimmer, refugium lights, miracle mud, etc etc etc.
I've been running mine without a sump and skimmer for years. As a beginner I used an hob filter with no issues..36 bowfront. Same tank still running, just upgraded filter.
I ran a 55 gallon Saltwater tank with a fluval canister filter, under gravel filter with 2 power heads for the better part of 20 yrs successfully & everyone said I was ‘lucky’... I wouldn’t exactly call that *luck* ! I did a waterchange *maybe* each month (sometimes 2-3..) & had a beautiful tank. Later I rigged a sump for a bigger tank & it’s been a hassle from the beginning, not to mention anything *near* it that was metal *rusted* , being that it was open on top with the skimmer & all, & not in a cabinet. I’m *now* , going back to a canister. 😁 Maybe 2, 1 for only one type of media & another for a second. 😊
I just wanted to say thank you for clearing this up for me. I feel like I been in a tug of war with these 2 types of systems, and it made me worry when I got my reefs. After my own research and this video, I feel I finally have clarity on this issue. I have a 65 gallon tank with the fx4 filter system. It runs perfectly. It is very easy to clean. Thanks for this video. A lot of people struggle with these kinds of choices and sometimes things can get more complicated for no reason in this hobby.
I’m so glad I found out about canister filters, every video I saw about starting a saltwater tank seemed so daunting, even ones that were supposed to be “easy” builds for “beginners” made me think I couldn’t do it. I just got a 55 gallon tank with a canister filter and skimmer! Set up was really easy! Now I’m just waiting for the water to cycle before I add fish. Very excited!
Thanks for this video mate, for so long I was put off having a marine tank for so many reasons, all the equipment I was told to have, using RO water from the offset and the immense cost completely stopped me from taking the leap. After I just decided to dive in and give it a go with some old freshwater equipment and some dechlorinated saltwater mixed from the tap to start with it turned out i could do it (hence my video series). If anyone’s thinking of trying a marine setup, definitely give it a go. It can be done without all the high end gear to start with as you build up your knowledge and experience in the saltwater hobby.
You are correct in virtually everything you said here. Cannister filters for reef tanks are not for bio filtration, they're for chemical filtration (and mechnical filtration to prevent the chemical filtration from being clogged up). It's that mechnical filtration that becomes "a nitrate, phosphate factory", and also when people stupidly put bio media in the cannister filter. A cannister filter must not be used the same as it would be on a freshwater tank. But as you said, give it a blast under the tap once a week and job's a good un. None of that "don't kill the bacteria when you clean it nonsense" it's VERY easy. The industry has been indoctrinating people into buying expensive gear for a good decade now, and it's a crime. So many good people could have joined the hobby are put-off by the prices of over the top equipment they really don't need. I actually worked all this out a good 15 years ago, nobody listened then and I was well know in the industry at the time. It didn't suit the narative of pushing one specific way of reefkeeping.
You are the first person I have come across that has this particular opinion is which I am 100% in agreeance with. I set up a 20 gallon long reef nano tank using a canister filter.
I agree with everything you have said but I believe the reason advanced Reefers say not to use an external is probably due to them being not so good for very sensitive SPS corals and some LPS. What they don't tell people is that for most soft corals and some LPS and even some easy SPS you can use an external filter. They make people think you can't keep any corals or marine fish using externals which is an outright lie.
thank you for making this video. i had all the questions and you had all the answers. this was literally the perfect youtube video that i needed. i’m turning my 75 gallon freshwater tank into saltwater and want to keep my 2 70 gallon fluval 306’s for it instead of buying a stupid sump
I had a beautiful mixed reef tank with a canister filter. I did, however, do weekly water changes and maintenance. And that's what I found the most success with.
I’ve had saltwater tanks since 2007. I only run canister filters on all of them. Instead of a sumps, I use plenty of live rock, protein skimmers, 25% water change every two weeks, a cleaning crew in each tank of shrimp and bottom feeders and I clean each canister every four weeks. My water levels are textbook perfect. I stock heavily and zero issues. To each his own, but cleaning your canister filter twice or 3 times a year is begging for issues in water quality. A sump does what a canister filter does. And the whole idea of “water stability” sounds good. But it has always seemed to me that a sump filter just lets people go months without cleaning or doing water changes. The more equipment you put into your system, the more things you have to maintain, and the more points of failure your system has. That seems to negate the whole “stability” argument. Complexity isn’t always a good thing. Especially when taken too far. Good video by the way
I agree with you and yet whilst I do not have a saltwater tank the points on myths of fishkeeping are much broader. When I returned to the hobby a few years ago I joined so many online forums. It became clear this is not where you are going to get much information. I now subscribe to about three including yours. Like you, I am fed up with people saying you have to do this and that and they all are in conflict with each other. Thanks for covering this.
Just added a fluval FX6 canister filter to my 125 gallon reef tank. IT'S AWESOME! I still have my sump on the right side in the stand...may add a 2nd FX6 and that is it.
I'm running an fx4 on my 50 g saltwater. I was disappointed how much less biofilter i can stick in there but i definitely don't want a sump. So i will work it out eventually. I like your logic. Sound :)
cleaned it today and wasnt full of poo. i did add a prefilter i bought on amazon. doing very well since my corals are growing, got them from local reefers
Canister is like a biomedia section of a sump without gas exchange. One can have hang on skimmers, refugiums and algae scrubbers along with a canister. A simple prefilter can do a similar job as a filter sock or a roller.
Absolutely brilliant thank you so much for speaking how I feel about using a canister filter i’m going to give it a whirl I have an FX6 and I’m diving in thank you so much for your video and you were not that cranky you were actually very good thank you..
Hi there you right with everything mate I agree with you that you don't need a sump to run a reef tank. I've been running a canister filter fluval 306 and an external hob octo protein skimmer and a external hob refugium and with corals and fish and been running for over 5 years no problems.
I ran salt tanks for years and never used a sump. I started with just undergravel filters initially. I tried many things over many many years. Eventually settling on the undergravel filter feeding a canister filter in a loop. I had several glass water bottles and set them to drip into the tanks. An overflow would carry excess water out and dump it. So technically I stopped doing water changes too. The water would change itself. I just adjusted the flow to the tank and replaced empty 5 gal bottles as needed. Granted this was a little odd but in the end I just replaced a bottle a day on a different tank. It just took a minute to do. I kept clowns, triggers, lions, snowflake eel, nurse shark, angel fish amoung others in various tanks. All seamed fine with it. And I neve hand a problem. My biggest chore was doing each canister filter. I also broke it up so I did a different tank a day for the filters too once a month.
I've ran a 48 gal reef on a plenum system and 2 power heads. Ran it perfect for 15 years before I sold it. Last I heard about 3 moths ago it was still running like a champ. So about 30 yrs now
200l tank, 407 fluval, tunze skimmer, 2 power heads, red sea pink live sand, DD rock, salinity reader , master salt test kit, tunze magnet for cleaning and finally red sea r90 led light. Took 2 weeks to cycle tank. 6 chromis and 2 mexican turbo snails. Will add more soon. Total spend £1500.
I think the main argument against canisters is they’re nitrate factories due to uneaten food and waste clogging them up. That can be solved by a cheap piece of foam around your intake that you can take off and ring out once a week between maintenance. I just converted my cichlid grow out tank into a saltwater tank and am using my 207. The whole setup cost me about $150 to convert and that was mostly live rock and sand. I got a second hand skimmer for $20. We’ll see how it goes.
I have a beautiful reef tank I run two canister filters one FX6 and a 406 for over two years now and my tank is solid! I use a hang on skimmer e shopps and I have a sick looking tank I was told I could not do it without huge issues. That was a lot of shit! I have been in the aquarium hobby for over 12 years and have broken every rule THEY say not to do. I was not going to listen when it came to this issue either. It is how you run the canister that matters! What you put in it. The only thing about canisters Is the wear and life due to the salt. I prefer canister filters but hang on backs are great also and can be used also if you really want to go low tech. You can run salt water any way you want! And yes canister filters, sumps, and hang on filters all need cleaning just like the tank does so think logically and you should be okay!
I had a marine tank juwel 180 with a canister filter for 8 yrs with no problems, i have just set up a marine juwel 260 with a canister filter, so far everything is doing brilliant
I agree 100%. You spoke the magic word, Lazy. I have both fresh and saltwater tanks with sumps, canister filters, hang on the backs, etc. on both kind of tanks. My freshwater tanks get a 50% water change once per week so many sins are forgiven. On my saltwater tanks I had found that those with sump filter socks, in general, had lower PO4 and NO3 than those tanks with canister filters. Reason, I wasn't cleaning the canister filters often enough. Now that I do there is no difference between the two types as long as both types have protein skimmers. For me, that is the most important filter you can have on a saltwater tank. Sorry for being a windbag.
Absolutely! Because I'm not too worried about protein build up and discoloration in my tanks due to them being mainly macroalgae, I don't run skimmers. That being said if I was going to add lots of sps/lps I would definitely run skimmers. My soft corals and anemones seem to do better in slightly dirtier water and don't mind no skimmer
I agree with you a hundred % i run n SPS dominated tank on 2 canister filters but im not a lazy reefer i clean my Equipment on a regular basis. Good job on the video. Peace.
Thank you with the bio media. Fresh water we use lava rock or if you need high ph Texas holy rock works great. Lava rock can work either or for fresh and salt water.
Yea i use 10 lbs of lava rock in my fresh water tank and it works wonders. Along with sand and didn't even need a filter. But i also had live plants too.
thank you for speaking the true , i feeel bad for people who dont khow and spent so much money on this because they dont khow. good job bro! IM SUBSCRIBED !
I'm glad there is someone like you making videos - I started a saltwater tank 6 months ago, I have a 240L with a fluval fx4 and so far so good but I am constantly reading about how its going to go wrong
@@EverydayAquarist I actually have the same tank as you too I think. Its a roma 240. Have you kept the internal filter media the same as it comes standard?
Hi, 30 yrs ago I had marine aquarium with under gravel filtration, and nothing else, never had any problems at all, I retired a few years ago and thought I would have a marine tank get, bought one with cabinet etc, then I realised how the hobby has changed, no room for a sump so I have to use a canister filter and I use NSW, everything is fine, but I am constantly battling high nitrates, water is perfectly clear, fish look ok, just wish I had gone back to under gravel filtration. 🤷🏻♂️
I highly agree here. The problem is definitely old school reefers!.. roughly 30-50 years ago (can't remember the exact date as I looked into it years ago) it was impossible to even grow coral in a tank.. then later on they found it was possible with T5/ M.H lighting (can't remember which of the top of my head again although not the point), I myself personally remember the whole "you can't grow coral under L.E.D's and never will be able to" argument even 10-15 years back although they've given into this now fully 🤣 . If it's not the pure berlin method it's wrong according to them although a few decades back they could only keep very few or only one fish using only that princeable and struggled with bio-load, a lot of them will say to this day you shouldn't even use bio media, only rock. And finally another gem they say don't use cannisters as it's a nitrate factory.. ironically enough whenever I watch videos of tanks with sumps a lot of reefers have LOADS of detritus in thier sumps and freely admit it being there and say they haven't cleaned it in months! so is that not a nitrate factory!?! Some people go on the internet and just read all these old comments from the early 2000's a lot of which is from even older school reefers and take it all in as gospel but it's not all true, methods and technology changes. It's like comparing the first car ever made to a 2022 Tesla.. it didn't happen overnight, we learnt, did research and technology and understanding improved through the years and it's got a lot better.. would anyone want to go back to the first car ever made? Sure It might work but it wouldn't be very good using it day to day would it?!?. I'm not ageist or discriminating BTW some old school reefers have a huge knowledge and expertise but I just think a lot or some of these old school opinions are wrong (in this day and age, they might have been correct back then as it worked, just about) and people follow them in their opinions like sheep because they have done it for decades wether that's rightly or wrongly. Sumps are great due to extra water volume and undoubtedly better than a cannister filter, a place to hide equipment and you can change the layout for different uses. But running floss/or filter sock without a floss roller (as most still do) it's sat in there in the water like it would be a cannister! Sure it's quicker to grab out of a sump to change it over compared to the cannister I can't argue that but it's literally the same affect going on, both are becoming "nitrate factories" after 24 hours of it being in sump or cannister either way.
You're right mate my last reef tank had 3 tanks. Display tank, refugium and sump. Re my videos. This time I'm doing a juwel rio 350 with a hang on refugium and FX6 filter 👍👍👍
As you stated, to run a reef tank with a canister filter IS possible. I have a 50 gallon tank with a fluval 405 installed. I have plenty of softies, lps, fish, invertebrates and even SPS without any problem. I have no room to install a sump so I decided to use my canister from my freshwater tank. No issues at all…I encourage everybody to think about this choice..they won’t regret it!!
I've got a 125 gallon tank. Just got rid of all of my Cichlids and wanting to use it as a saltwater tank. I have an fx6, Eheim Professional 4+ 350, and a fluval 306. I was running 3 canisters on my Cichlid tank. How would I set up my FX6 and maybe one or both other canisters, to run this tank as saltwater? What media and filtration and how would I stack it and layer it? Please please help me if you can. I'm gonna lose way too much money trying to sell everything, might as well try to utilize it if I can.
@@STRRAYNGE I have 75 gal with fluval 406, I have the 4 sponges, then from bottom to top it goes - fine sponge, then fluval biomax, then carbon, then finally ammonia pads and clearmax, all from fluval
I was waiting for this video since I found your lagoon reef tank. I have a freshwater tank with a little external canister filter and works perfectly, I couldn't understand why that wouldn't work with a marine tank. Filters primarily do mechanical filtration, they catch up big particles, the bio-filtration happens everywhere in the system where there's bacteria (including the filter media) and it's ensured by good water circulation. I'll be setting a marine tank in the future, probably next year, and I'll be doing it your way. Thanks for the rant!
My grandad ran a fish only tank for 20 years and my father ran one for ten, you just need to do regular filter maintenance like you would on any other tank.
This has certainly encouraged me to consider setting up a marine tank. OH has said she doesn't want tanks everywhere but she might give in to 2nd tank if it were marine :D
I have a 75 gallon reef tank running on a canister filter. Havent done a water change since cycling and its about 3 months old. Have 6 chromis, 2 clowns, 1 lawnmower blenny, 1 flame hawk fish, 2 trochus snail, a few small turbo snails, and a sea cucumber, also got a few soft and lps corals. Nitrates sitting under 25. Went canister filter because im just starting out and my tank was second hand and meant for freshwater. If i bought a new system, sure i'd go for sump for versatility and less equipment visible in the tank.
Love this. I have a 10 gallon and have been on the fence about getting a larger one because of a thousand dollar sump skimmer combo I would "need." So I'm heading to get a 50 gallon now
Thanks for this video because I’m looking at a 75 gallon bowfront tank and the guy selling it has a Fluval fx4 and I was right away thinking this can’t be good, but I’m new to the hobby so thanks for clearing things up
I am running a 125 gallon reef tank for 9 months now with no sump, no protein skimmer, no water change and only using tap water. I am also using two canister filters and fresh water led lights on my set-up. So far so good. Happy reefing everyone.
I completely agree I ran my 25 gallon reef tank for about a year with no sump no skimmer and no ato I used a fluval 106 canister (a little undersized) and honestly other than the usual never had an issue (for surface skimming I made a pvc overflow box) I will post a link below delete if not allowed
On the one hand I really appreciate the info you share on your channel. It’s good to know that a saltwater tank doesn’t have to be difficult and costly. On the other hand this knowledge is really making me want to expand my hobby which I really can’t afford to do.....sigh....... someday!! I do thank you for showing those new to the hobby that there is Always more than one way to do things well
I love all the types of plants in that tank. Amazing way to export nutrients. I have hair algae live rock in my little 30 gallon and I only run a hang on back on the side to help with flow. Almost undetectable nutrients in the tank at all times. Also have a 150 with a 40 fuge. The fuge just is there to out compete the tank for nutrients so the main tank stays spotless with little maintenance. Both get water changes and filtration maintenance on a biweekly schedule just to check parameters. Keep it simple all day. It can be done
Cannisters are fine fo small hhome projects where they can be looked after and cleaned etc. The big advantage that seems ot be overlooked here is that a good sump can fed multiple tanks and not have o invest in filters and skimmers for every simgle tank and all those electric cables. .
subscribed.. thk you... i have a 90 gallons with sump and i want to switch to a smaller one.. was quite reluctant to switch to canister.. not anymore..
I bought (2) of the fluval fx6 filters because they were on sale for 199.99 each at petsmart. They are sitting brand new in boxes on the floor. Now I just need to get a tank and all of the other stuffs! I can't decide between saltwater or fresh. I do believe that salt water aquariums are prettier based on the colors and the fish etc. Just hoping for something to put in my basement with a thru-wall look. Trying to read read read and learn as much as humanly possible so I can create a great environment for some little peoples rather than a bad one. Looking at acrylic tanks as well. Had freshwater tanks as a kid. I think biggest was 75 gallon...maybe 125 gallon back then. Been a long long time.
Thank you for this video. I always wanted to get into saltwater but it always felt so daunting cuz of all the saltwater elitist. Good to know I can do it without spending thousands on equipment
what ive done to surface skim with the FX4 I used XP Aqua flexi surface skimmer and stuck the inlet tube inthere. you have to drill some holes though cause the FX4 has too high of flow. ive also place some sponge in there to catch detritus before entering the canister.
I've been thinking about this too for my nano. My conclusion is this, the only real benefits a sump gives are: 1) you can have a refugium in a sump 2) it has space to place thinks like a skimmer, heater etc. I got a converted aqua one 55l tank, and I'm thinking about a cannister with seachem matrix, some filter floss and then add a hang on the back refugium
My local fish store uses sponge filters in all their salt tanks except for the larger ones which do use a sump. I've also seen a handful of people use hob's with success as well.
I have an external filter filled with bio media and an inline filter booster full of sponge, super easy to remove the booster and clean the sponge. I will maybe get a sump in the future but it works perfectly fine.
I think the 'nitrate factory' theory also shows the divide between freshwater, especially planted freshwater, and saltwater, in terms of a problem solving vs brute force equipment mindset. I know myself and other freshwater planted tank ppl, when faced with high nitrates, ask "what can I do to reduce nitrates? less food? less fish?), whereas the nitrate factory idea in saltwater seems to be coming from, "this tank is going to produce tons of nitrates, so rather than treat the 'disease,' lets just brute force the symptoms."
Started writing an essay about this but decided it wasn't positive for the marine hobby...so i will just say, If people need to have a canister filter please take all the sponge and carbon out, fill it with crushed live rock (responsibly). That will help anaerobic bacteria remove some of the nitrate as its produced, sponges go aerobic at an alarming rate producing high levels of nitrate, they also dont remove dirt half as good as a decent gravel clean every couple of weeks due to all the fish poo being converted to dust within the hour. Water changes must be increased without a skimmer, but skimmers are a fantastic investment if you don't mind hacking your lid apart. Finally, clean your tank dude! 😆
Sintered glass and pumice stone products are able to house anaerobic bacteria to break down nitrates and have a full cycle. So i dont think you need to crush real live rock for filtration honestly. But it might take longer to cycle.
I have a canister filter on my fish with live rock tank for the better part of 7 yrs now. The canister holds a little over a gallon of volume in 3 baskets, 2 baskets has seachem matrix for biomedia and the 3rd has 500 ml of seachem purigen. I never really "clean" it, only open it to rotate out the purigen with a recharged one which is a twice a year thing. Water change is 20% on the 1st of the month and the water stays crystal clear, never had a problem with this setup. I guess 2 clown fish is not much of a bio-load for a 29 gallon tank.
So for fresh water. It is a mad debate weather or not a canister is the best the filter. I have crystal clear waters with 15 of my planted fresh water tanks. I only run sponge filters. I get asked all the time. How do you get your water so clear?? Stay on water changes and feed mostly live or frozen very little pellets. I also I have wonderful growth from my plants. I only use my lights for 5 hours a day. They are only on when I can enjoy them. I feel ya this subject. I am starting to get into saltwater. Starting out brackish and with a figure 8 puffer.
I've seen plenty of great reef tanks run by canister filters, it's just a little more maintenance is all, if the equipment not being hidden doesn't bother you then it's a great way to do marine fish keeping.
@@19801emmanuel Depends on your reef. There are videos of guys who haven't been running skimmers for years on theirs. Macros can take care of dissolved organics, ammonia and nitrate no problem.
True but you can reach into a filter sock whenever you want and remove things before they become nutrients. I have an fx6 and 407 on my 120. Never have issue but im stocked low. Getting a waterbox as soon as they come in.
You can easily run a soft coral reef tank with canister filters. But hard corals that require near 0-5ppm nitrates possibly 10ppm if you can keep the parameter consistently unchanging - will be near impossible unless you only have a very small number of fish and/or keeping huge mass of macro algae like what you have done. I think if you halve the number of fish and double the macro algae (and clean the canister every week or 2) you might even be able to keep hard corals.
I may replace my Aquaclear 70 with a canister filter on my 40 breeder reef tank. It's just a quieter cleaner setup, and yes, it works well. I had a 55 gallon setup years ago with a canister filter. Just clean it every couple weeks when you do a water change. No problem.
I'm a newbie I got a 55 just because it won't fit a 40 but I wanted a125 gallon. But you say when you do a water change clean your filter you mean change out media right? I am getting a 407 fluval. And can you help me with a skimmer?
It's actually pretty simple get a sump if you can afford it but if not don't worry as you can use a canister filter aswell! Hob skimmer would probably be recommended to.
I just use a skimmer lol. Theres a hang on back with floss for particles and thats it. After getting certain point the price for most things is just dependent on how lazy you want to. Hell id have everything automated if I had the money but I dont mind spending a little time with my tank.
I actually have a sump and still use a canister filter. The biggest issue I had was the filter socks in a sump. Cleaning those things are 10 times worse than any canister maintenance. Also the socks STINKS! The canister setup is way more sanitary, even compare to the auto rotating filters, which LINGERS in the air and SMELLS TERRIBLE. Sump filtering is so dirty. The benefits are marginal and the SMELL is way worse than a self containing canister filter. Maybe I have a sensitive nose, but filter socks and auto rotation filters are absolutely disgusting and barbaric.
Hmm.. That's one subject no one has told me about. I never stopped to think how loud and smelly a sump might be. I have a 75G Aqueon megaflow but I haven't set it up yet. I'm looking for a sump at the moment and learning about them video by video.
Kept a marine system 30 years ago on a canister filter when skimmers did not really exist. So nothing new in this video for me. I did not realise this argument existed. These days I prefer a sump. Just my preference. The world is changing though, my current sump houses bio media as the main source of chemical filtration. Live rock directly from the ocean is increasingly a rarity.
i wouldn't say people say it can't be done its more that it makes it harder to run than a sump, to make tanks as easy to maintain as possible you want to maximize volume of water and surface area the amount of biological and mechanical media and other equipment .e.g. skimmers, refugiums, np pellets, dosing pumps.
