HOB vs Canister

The britta filter just removes chlorine and bad taste. It does nothing to remove all the other bad stuff, including nitrates. My tap water has very high nitrates, they actually had to shut down one of the county wells because the nitrate levels where to high for humans let alone fish. So maybe see if you can find one of the water machines that us RO filters. Or get a RO unit for your house. Then get a protein skimmer, and then yes you can remove all the stuff from the canister SLOWLY, and then just run carbon.

 

I checked nitrates in tap water and its reading 0. I am definitely going to get a protein skimmer as it seems nitrates are not being handled adequately in my tank. Thank you all so much for the input. I should have gotten the skimmer from the beginning but thats what happens when youare new to the hobby and get your knowledge from LFS. Ill post updates after I get skimmer.

 

you need to manually remove the red stuff (cyano), use a turkey baster to suck it out, maybe spend a few minutes each time you pass by your tank. of course that is in addition to not overfeeding and getting the skimmer would be a good idea. You can get a hob skimmer for around $100. before you know it, your tank will be clean again. good luck.

 

plus about 1000 on the skimmer and another 500 or so on the RO/DI water

 

i got rid of a HOB filter and cansiter on my 55 gallon over about 6 months to get from 100+ no3 to 0. (a lot of other factors also) i did put some reacotrs on my new 90 but other then that nothing as far as bioballs, filters, or even foam or floss. just live rock and my skimmer

 

Update: I bought the aquatic life mini skimmer and I love it, it has been running for 3 weeks now and is producing nice brown skimmate steadily, tank has definitely improved, the water is crystal clear, I am also gradually removing ceramic rings out of the filter and will just use a HOB aqua clear to run carbon using the skimmer and live rock for filtration. Or should I remove the HOB completely? Cyano seems to be taking a major step back. Also I switched to RO/DI water that I get from LFS starting 2 weeks ago as well.

 

yes if you have the filter use it for sure. I would run carbon in it and the mechanical filter. remove the bio filter and replase it with some phosban to keep those phosphates in check.

Carbon will only make your water quality better. GFO/phosban will help as well.

Or do this. http://www.coralforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24042

either way make use out of that aquaclear.