wet-dry or canister or both?

after going to every LFS in los angeles, I feel like i'm going in circles-
I want to start my first fish-only marine tank in a 46 gallon glass bow-
going to put about 50 Lbs of live rock in and unsure about the rest-
aquaclear sells a wet-dry with built in skimmer but I've heard I might need an additional mechanical filter (ie - canister)

is a protein skimmer necessary for a fish-only tank if i go with the canister?
will the wet-dry filter make any noise? - how about the canister?
any advise would be much appreciated . . .

 

The AquaClear Wet/Dry filters are pretty nice. They are pretty pricey though - about $80 than just a wet/dry that size.

The cool thing is they have the skimmer set to get water before the wet/dry. Which is the way it should be. Most are setup the other way.

Is the skimmer necessary?

Well no, but your fish will thank you for it as it will greatly improve water quality and add oxygen to the tank.

However I have maintained setups for people with just wet/drys. You just have to do 10 - 20 % water changes every 2 - 4 weeks.

So it's up to you whether it's worth the extra money for the skimmer.

Is the wet/dry noisey?

It's not bad. Especially if you have an internal (not external) pump and an enclosed stand.

Do I need a canister?

No. Not if you have a wet/dry, they are better biological filters. And they have a polishing sponge already and you can put a carbon bag in it. Plus you can put your heater in it and get it out of the tank. (just get a submersible one!)

Hope that helps....

Matt

 

so the wet-dry has sufficient mechanical filtration w/o the addition of a canister?
I found the aquaclear 75 G wet-/dry W/ skimmer for about 180$, which seems to be one of the cheaper prices out there . . .
Are you saying that with the skimmer I will need to do less water changes?
Where in the sump would you put the carbon bag?
Where would you put an internal pump?
If you had your choice, would it be a wet-dry with skimmer, or a e-hiem canister with hang-on skimmer?
thanks,
Brad

 

Yes.

That's a great price. I'd be tempted to get it.

Possibly, depending on your feeding habits, stock, sand bed, etc..

Put it this way, if I had your setup with the AquaClear wet/dry, I might go 3-4 weeks between changes instead of 2-3 weeks. Although a 40 gallon tank is pretty small, so I'd probably go under a month for sure.

Regardless it will add more oxygen which is a good thing and remove more waste, which may contribute to slowing down algae growth.

Near the sump (internal) pump would be my choice.

The side opposite the skimmer on the AquaClear.

Wet/dry + skimmer all the way. Better and less hassle.

PS- another benefit of the wet/dry is it comes with an overflow that fits on the side of your tank. This overflow will remove surface scum and keep the water level in the tank level. The level only reduces in the wet/dry.

 

Hi Brad...I'm running an Aquaclear wet/dry on my 45 FOWLR. I really love it....that little skimmer works overtime and really pulls out alot of guck. I really think you'd be happy with it. Keep us posted on your decision....

 

Matt you did a really nice job at summing it up. The only thing I would tend to disagree with is the water changes. I like to see them done at least every 2 weeks (in my opinion).

One other thing about the wet/dry is that it increases your water capacity more than a canister. The more water in your system the less variation in your water parameters and temp.

 

Added water volume is a good point and definitely a bonus with a wet/dry.

As for water changes, like I said, I think that really depends on the amount of fish, food, etc.. I currently do water changes on my tiger barb/plant tank once a week because I feed them heavy and it's a small tank. But my salt tank sometimes goes months without a water change because, well, it's just frags and there aren't any fish! So not much is going in other than additives and the occasional chunk of silverside for my ricordias.

Too many water changes could be bad too. But that's a topic for another thread. You need to find the balance with each tank.