canister advice

I'm sorry I wasn't clear on my setup. I do have a rather large hang on skimmer (reef octopus 1000) - I will go ahead and remove the last sponge in my canister - I was leaving one in there to catch any left over food and such. I don't have anything else in the canister except GAC and phosguard.

 

In terms of live stock, I don't have a lot. I have a goby and pistol shrimp, pair of black ocellaris clowns, small coral beauty angel, and a starry blenny. I have two small pieces of xenia, 8 different mushrooms, and recently added some green star polyps. I have a CUC that consists of several different types of snails, a fighting conch, and several hermits. I do like to feed but usually a small amount 1 to 2 times per day - a combination of dry, pellets, and just recently bought some Rod's frozen food.

 

IMO, you should leave the sponge if you have no other source of filtration. No HOB filter or anything else, correct?
Just clean it at least every other week or so.

 

Sponges only remove particulate from the water, but then it gets caught in the sponge. Hobbyists refer to this as a "detritus trap". There is not really any benefit, other than aesthetics to removing particulate, but "detritus traps" can contribute to nitrate. If you want to remove particulate, it's fine to keep the sponge, but most people recommend cleaning them about every 3 or 4 day in that case. Particulate is a good source of food for corals though, so, I always prefer to let it be.

 

hmmmmmmm, now what to do....I don't have a lot of coral so I'm thinking less particulate is what I want - m2434 is very scientific. If I don't have a lot of coral and don't want particulate to land in the display tank, should I just keep the one sponge for now making sure to clean it....

What is your advice for getting my nitrates down? My understanding of carbon dosing is that it feeds the denitrifying bacteria so there is more of it to consume nitrates. This is really a mystery to me why I can't get my numbers down besides doing tons and tons of water changes and I'm not willing to make that a part of my regular tank maintenace.

I would very much value your advice.

 

Im running a 305 canister with a octopus 1000 hob on my 40 breeder. I seem to be running smooth with no issues. Im running charcoal, purigen and phosgaurd in the baskets. I had rock in there but with out light it wont di much..i only got softies in there now..

 

Protein skimmer will remove particulate, but may not "clear" the water column as fast as a sponge. The sponge will "clear" the water column, but won't remove anything until you actually clean it.