Do i need a mechanical filter?

Hi you guys, thanks for all the tips about saltwater aquariums.

I just bought my tank a month ago and right now trying to set up a thing here and there. Right now, I'm debating if I need a mechanical filter or not (the aquaclear 500). The guy from whom I bought the tank included it in the package, but I'm just not sure how necessary it is.

(I have a 40 gallon tank, I have Cpr 2 skimmer, crushed coral, a lot of live rock, but no actual corals).

What do you think?

Any input would be appreciated! TIA

 

Well, if it's the only place for you to run carbon, then you'll want to hang on to it. Carbon is kinda important.

A lot of people don't like crushed coral as a substrate, btw.

 

I like one to protect my chemical filtration, plus it helps a little with water clarity IMO. Just need to clean/replace every week, two weeks at the most.

 

Thanks for the quick replies.

blackraven1425, this might be something obvious that I'm missing, but why are crushed corals not something liked by many? I'm just curious......

 

CC allows detritus to get trapped inside and causes your nitrates to go out of control.

 

+1 on keeping the HOB filter for chemical filtration - if you dont have a sump and / or reactors, you can run things like carbon, Purigen, GFO etc , etc in these HOB filters to help maintain water quality

Crushed Coral being large particles can trap uneated food and these rot and add to you nitrate levels - they require more work to maintain than a sand bed IME as food would sit on top of your average sand bed and be found by someone and eaten

Steve

 

If you don't have a sump, use a phosban reactor. I would choose that over the aquaclear because I can use different media in the reactor without any issues.

 

It gets very dirty with crud building up in it (ever seen a freshwater tank that hasn't been gravel vacuumed, with the reddish-pink stuff in between the rocks?). It can push up nitrate levels because of the crud buildup. It also has less surface area for bacteria, and some fish and inverts need sand to do well in a tank.

 

I will still keep my Aquaclear filter, and i will buy phosban reactor.

Thank you for the replies.

 

If you're buying a reactor, you may want to consider getting a dual chamber one from Bulk Reef Supply. You can run both carbon and GFO in it, and you won't need to use the Aquaclear filter then. The Aquaclear would be more work to clean out than a reactor, plus it has moving parts that can break.