canister filters

hi guys
couple quick questions

1. what should i have in my canister filter and what shouldnt i have in my canister filter in terms of media?

2. when i clean my canister filter out should i get rid of the water in there or is it good for the system to have that "crap" in there?

3. when i clean my canister out should i be not rinsing anything out?


thnx in advance

 

Well assuming we don't talk you out of using a canister (not in vogue with reef tanks - and not really necessary if you have a sump, skimmer, etc.) ...

1. what should i have in my canister filter and what shouldnt i have in my canister filter in terms of media?

In terms of what not to have, I would not go with anything that is not really porous and would clog. I would not overpack.

I used to use Eheim media on the bottom - forgot what it is called but it looks like little cylinders. Surface area stuff for bacteria. I suppose if you don't use that you could use bio-balls or the like.

Then I used a holding tray of carbon like media.
Then topped it off with floss. Quite a bit of floss.

2. when i clean my canister filter out should i get rid of the water in there or is it good for the system to have that "crap" in there?
3. when i clean my canister out should i be not rinsing anything out?


I tended to leave about 75% of the water on a general cleaning that I would do once a month. During a monthly cleaning I would replace the floss only most of the time - sometimes I would replace some of the carbon depending on my bio-load at the time.

Every other time I would replace most of the carbon too.
Once a year I would pull everything out keeping the Eheim media in a bowl with some of the water... clean out the canister. Lightly stir and toss some of the water from the bowl with the Eheim media, then put the media back in. I would NOT replace the carbon until the next monthly cleaning. Replace floss and repack.

Be sure to wet the rubber ring gasket prior to sealing. I would do this with a little freshwater on my finger going around it.

Basically you don't want to over sterilize when you clean it. There are, as you mentioned, beneficial bacteria and 'bugs' in there that you need to break waste down and break ammonia down, etc.


Hope this helps.

 

ahhhhh

thnx a heap Matt


ill be cuttin n pasting this in a word pad for next month

ps:i get a sump with my new setup in january... i hate these canisters;D

 

No problem.

Yes, although cansiters have come a long way with quick-release, etc., sumps are a lot easier to deal with than canisters.

 

unfortunatly when i first stup my tank i moved from fresh tropical water to salt water and knew absolutley nothing about sumps n over flows n all that

thats why im buildin a new tank with everything ready to go and no more screwin around

untill i joined here i hadnt even heard the word "cycle" and so my tank was stocked very quickly with alot of corals n fish that my tank couldnt support....im now payin a big price with water parameters and the overall sucsess of my tank :-/

 

I know all about that.
We all do.

 

Eheim Ehfisubstrat pro ...

 

Thanks! :thumb_up: