Reef Tank Canister Filter

[djs4him]

I have a sumpless 180 gallon FOWLR currently running fallow while my fish are in QT. The ultimate goal is for this to become a mixed reef tank.

I'm taking this opportunity to make some tank improvements.

I love my FX6 but pulling it out and maintaining it is a pain. My plan is to plumb several media reactors (carbon, GFO, etc) and use the FX6 as my inline pump to drive everything.

Here's my question: What do you think is the best media to put into the FX6 that will require the least maintenance? Ceramic rings? Bio balls? Leave it empty?

I'll already have mechanical and chemical filtration handled by my media reactors. My tank has tons of live rock so biological filtration shouldn't be a problem. I can either fill up my FX6 with even more biological filtration at the cost of occasional maintenance, or leave it completely empty for zero maintenance.

Any other option I'm missing?

 

[Sleeping Giant]

I have a sumpless 180 gallon FOWLR currently running fallow while my fish are in QT. The ultimate goal is for this to become a mixed reef tank.

I'm taking this opportunity to make some tank improvements.

I love my FX6 but pulling it out and maintaining it is a pain. My plan is to plumb several media reactors (carbon, GFO, etc) and use the FX6 as my inline pump to drive everything.

Here's my question: What do you think is the best media to put into the FX6 that will require the least maintenance? Ceramic rings? Bio balls? Leave it empty?

I'll already have mechanical and chemical filtration handled by my media reactors. My tank has tons of live rock so biological filtration shouldn't be a problem. I can either fill up my FX6 with even more biological filtration at the cost of occasional maintenance, or leave it completely empty for zero maintenance.

Any other option I'm missing?

I would try nothing at first, ensure there's enough flow and adjust from there. I'm curious how this works out.

 

[wculver]

I have a sumpless 180 gallon FOWLR currently running fallow while my fish are in QT. The ultimate goal is for this to become a mixed reef tank.

I'm taking this opportunity to make some tank improvements.

I love my FX6 but pulling it out and maintaining it is a pain. My plan is to plumb several media reactors (carbon, GFO, etc) and use the FX6 as my inline pump to drive everything.

Here's my question: What do you think is the best media to put into the FX6 that will require the least maintenance? Ceramic rings? Bio balls? Leave it empty?

I'll already have mechanical and chemical filtration handled by my media reactors. My tank has tons of live rock so biological filtration shouldn't be a problem. I can either fill up my FX6 with even more biological filtration at the cost of occasional maintenance, or leave it completely empty for zero maintenance.

Any other option I'm missing?

Are you not considering a skimmer with the introduction of the carbon reactor?

 

[djs4him]

Are you not considering a skimmer with the introduction of the carbon reactor?

What do you mean? A protein skimmer?

 

[wculver]

What do you mean? A protein skimmer?

Yes I mean a protein skimmer. The challenge with carbon dosing is that you'll be growing bacteria to reduce nitrates but you'll need a system to take that bacteria out of the water column and preferably do it before the bacteria gets into the water column. The skimmer is the way you'd do that.

 

[djs4him]

Yes I mean a protein skimmer. The challenge with carbon dosing is that you'll be growing bacteria to reduce nitrates but you'll need a system to take that bacteria out of the water column and preferably do it before the bacteria gets into the water column. The skimmer is the way you'd do that.

My understanding is that bacteria doesn't float around in the water column. Bacteria attaches to surfaces and proliferates on them.

It's also my understanding that protein skimmers remove waste from the water column before it has a chance to decompose and ultimately convert into nutrients. They don't remove bacteria.

Am I mistaken? It's very possible given I'm relatively new to this hobby.

 

[Kathy Floyd]

I have ceramic rings and carbon in mine.

 

[djs4him]

I have ceramic rings and carbon in mine.

Out of curiosity, how often do you wash your ceramic rings?

 

[Kathy Floyd]

Out of curiosity, how often do you wash your ceramic rings?

I only give them a swish/swirl bath but not much else as they also hold healthy bacteria. I was doing it monthly and as a matter of fact, again today, however, I am going to start doing it every two months as they weren't really 'dirty' today.

 

[Kathy Floyd]

In my nano tank, I never rinsed them.

 

[djs4him]

I would try nothing at first, ensure there's enough flow and adjust from there. I'm curious how this works out.

I like your idea. It minimizes the strain on the pump and let's me ensure proper flow rates can be achieved.

I'd love to incorporate a protein skimmer into my design but I don't think that's possible with a purely inline system like this with no exposed water (aka sump). My understanding is that a protein skimmer pulls in air to create the foam which means it can't be a water-tight device by nature.

 

[firechild]

I have a sumpless 180 gallon FOWLR currently running fallow while my fish are in QT. The ultimate goal is for this to become a mixed reef tank.

I'm taking this opportunity to make some tank improvements.

I love my FX6 but pulling it out and maintaining it is a pain. My plan is to plumb several media reactors (carbon, GFO, etc) and use the FX6 as my inline pump to drive everything.

Here's my question: What do you think is the best media to put into the FX6 that will require the least maintenance? Ceramic rings? Bio balls? Leave it empty?

I'll already have mechanical and chemical filtration handled by my media reactors. My tank has tons of live rock so biological filtration shouldn't be a problem. I can either fill up my FX6 with even more biological filtration at the cost of occasional maintenance, or leave it completely empty for zero maintenance.

Any other option I'm missing?

Any and all combinations can work, but my question would be, have you considered the flow rates through each of the reactors and whether the canister filter will be the right match? The FX6 pushes 3500L/hr (close to 1000gph), many would argue that will be too much flow through some media reactors. You could build in bypasses but that may not be ideal either. I assume the CF will go first and therefore be pushing water through the reactors? If so, you may want to use fine filter pads/wool to mechanically filter the water so as not to clog up the sponges in the reactors.

If you plan to run nothing in the filter, you could achieve the same results by just using a correctly sized external pump instead of the canister. I realise this adds cost vs using what you already have but it would a better match for what you are trying to achieve.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

I like your idea. It minimizes the strain on the pump and let's me ensure proper flow rates can be achieved.

I'd love to incorporate a protein skimmer into my design but I don't think that's possible with a purely inline system like this with no exposed water (aka sump). My understanding is that a protein skimmer pulls in air to create the foam which means it can't be a water-tight device by nature.

You could use a HOB skimmer

 

[doubleshot00]

Out of curiosity, how often do you wash your ceramic rings?

The ceramic rings that come with the fx6 work just fine. Im currently using a 407 (about to switch over to a sump) and mine is packed with those ceramic rings. You can go to petsmart/petco and get a few more boxes.

I leave my top trays open so i can add other media like carbon and gfo. Currently using chemipure and rowaphos in mine. No need for a media reactor if your using a canister filter. The canister filter is a media reactor.

 

[djs4him]

Any and all combinations can work, but my question would be, have you considered the flow rates through each of the reactors and whether the canister filter will be the right match? The FX6 pushes 3500L/hr (close to 1000gph), many would argue that will be too much flow through some media reactors. You could build in bypasses but that may not be ideal either. I assume the CF will go first and therefore be pushing water through the reactors? If so, you may want to use fine filter pads/wool to mechanically filter the water so as not to clog up the sponges in the reactors.

If you plan to run nothing in the filter, you could achieve the same results by just using a correctly sized external pump instead of the canister. I realise this adds cost vs using what you already have but it would a better match for what you are trying to achieve.

So I was going to plumb my reactors in parallel with a bypass such that flow to each reactor could be controlled individually via valves and any excess flow could run through the bypass - preventing pump overload.

This means water wouldn't pass directly from one reactor to the next in a daisy chain fashion. The only downside to this design I can see is that it doesn't guarantee all water passes through all reactors. However, an advantage is that if one reactor clogs or begins to clog, flow will simply divert to the remaining reactors or the bypass.

But yes I agree with you - if I leave the canister empty, I'm effectively just using it as an inline pump .. for which there may be a better solution. Maybe I'll sell my FX6 and use the funds to purchase a proper pump for my design.