Is a canister filter needed for my 90 gal with sump & can I use BFO media?

My question is simple: I have a 90 gal, bowfront, corner tank with overflow, sump (acrylic 30 gal), bio balls, in sump skimmer. I have about 90 lbs of LR, many mushrooms, and other softies, yellow tang, niger triger, Kole tang, (sad note: just lost my 3 year old Hippo last night jumped out of tank). 250 watt MH with strip actinics. I have been running a fluval FX5 for some time (just using carbon & bio max) and was questioning whether or not it is necessary?

Thanks.

 

I can already hear the cries from the 'canisters are nitrate factories!' crowd. Truth is with regular maintenace there is nothing wrong with a canister filter. Filtration is like live rock, the more the merrier. I would say if you already have it up and running, and like mentioned conduct regular maintenance then leave it running. Great place to put some chemi-pure or other type media.

Depending on the size and set up of your sump you might want to consider switching out hte bio balls for some rock rubble.

 

+1... totally agreed.

Also, IMOPE, one does more harm than good by removing a filter from an existing system, unless it is replaced with an equivalent or something better.

 

i think canister filters are entirely misunderstood. the reason people call them nitrate factores and such is because they require tremendous upkeep to be good filters. and when kept up like that they are actually very efficient at filtering even the largest tanks. yet if you wait too long to replace the cartridges or dont clean out the filter often enough it will cause problems for your tank.

 

How bout just using it for carbon and GFO without any filters in it? I have a Renna xp3 that i am thinking of using for that purpose in a 150 gal tank. I suppose it will add a bit more flow too, but probably not enough to make much of a difference. Comments?

 

absolutely nothing wrong with that. sure an actual dedicated unit like the BRS canisters might get a better effect, but if you already got it, and its already paid for then use. might want to think about a little bit of floss or something in there just to prefilter the larger chunks of crap from collecting & reducing effects with the carbon/gfo.

 

Good idea on the floss......i think i have a plan....

 

Ok, so I'm just adding to my original post. Can I add GFO media into my Fluval FX5? I'm just learning about GFO and its benefits in binding or eliminating Phosphates from your tank. I have annoying sprouts of hair algae in both my tanks and from what I have read so far GFO is great and quick in eliminating Phosphate levels. If so, can anyone suggest which stage (level) in the 405 or FX5 (I have one per tank) should I place both the carbon, bioballs and GFO? And how often should I replace it? And will this eliminate my hair algae problem? I don't want tp spend the mony on a reactor now so again hoping that you guys will say "YES" to the cannister idea?

 

GFO can be applied that way, but honestly, that's probably the second least effective method. You'll need to place it in a media bag so it doesn't get ground to dust, but that will limit it's exposure to the water flow. It really does best being tumbled gently in a reactor.