fliter needed if you have a skimmer?
- Thread starter Chewy
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Fraggle Rock
Guest
The best way to get good solid advice on what you need (and don't need), would be to list as much info about your tank as you can.
How much live rock is in your tank? Do you Have a sump? What do you plan on keeping in your tank? What kind of Lighting you using?
Are you keeping an eye on your Parameters? (Salinity, Temp, Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites, Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium) DONT DOSE ANYTHING YOU DONT CHECK!
Soft and LPS coral tanks usually Have a little higher nutrients in the water and can get away with a little less filtration then a full blown SPS tank.
I Personally have had bad experiences using Aquaclear filters on saltwater systems, they tends to leak a lot of electricity into the water after a while. Bio wheel filters on the other hand seem to work great for me and can be set up in a few different ways, I used one half of my bio wheel 400 for a refugium on my 20 Gallon.
hope this helps
Also heres some good links on filtration may be a little overwhelming at first though, But well worth checking out.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marsetupindex2.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/setup/filtration/marineFiltr.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i5/Filtration/Filtration.htm
How much live rock is in your tank? Do you Have a sump? What do you plan on keeping in your tank? What kind of Lighting you using?
Are you keeping an eye on your Parameters? (Salinity, Temp, Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites, Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium) DONT DOSE ANYTHING YOU DONT CHECK!
Soft and LPS coral tanks usually Have a little higher nutrients in the water and can get away with a little less filtration then a full blown SPS tank.
I Personally have had bad experiences using Aquaclear filters on saltwater systems, they tends to leak a lot of electricity into the water after a while. Bio wheel filters on the other hand seem to work great for me and can be set up in a few different ways, I used one half of my bio wheel 400 for a refugium on my 20 Gallon.
hope this helps
Also heres some good links on filtration may be a little overwhelming at first though, But well worth checking out.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marsetupindex2.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/setup/filtration/marineFiltr.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i5/Filtration/Filtration.htm
F
Fraggle Rock
Guest
Also I forgot to ask Are using an RO/DI system for your water? If not it would be a better investment then any other filter you could buy.
F
Fraggle Rock
Guest
:? You say that now but I know in the end it simply wont be enough, You'll eventually end up with a full blown :drool: worthy reef setup...
Regardless of what your keeping an RO/DI "is" the way to go, you'll find it to be one of the best things you could ever buy for a good formula to success.
Spending money on tap water purifying solutions is for the most part a waste of money and time. I'm sure many can vouch for me here.
Please be open to advice and do a lot of reading we only want to help and see you succeed and grow as a hobbiest.
But to answer your initial question (sorry I kinda wandered), You can get away no problem with just a Hang on Back protein skimmer and filter no problem.
But without a RO/DI system I can almost guarantee you'll run into hair algae problems in the very near future.
Regardless of what your keeping an RO/DI "is" the way to go, you'll find it to be one of the best things you could ever buy for a good formula to success.
Spending money on tap water purifying solutions is for the most part a waste of money and time. I'm sure many can vouch for me here.
Please be open to advice and do a lot of reading we only want to help and see you succeed and grow as a hobbiest.
But to answer your initial question (sorry I kinda wandered), You can get away no problem with just a Hang on Back protein skimmer and filter no problem.
But without a RO/DI system I can almost guarantee you'll run into hair algae problems in the very near future.
F
Fraggle Rock
Guest
I'm sure Gary and Linda at SeaLife Central would be more then Happy to show you there RO/DI system. And can Help you get well on your way to stocking a nice little long term fish tank. You can get a hold of them on the forum here but might have an easier time at their Facebook address.
Jewel
Guest
You must be over whelmed by now but One thing I must say. keep asking all these questions, You'll get lots of help on this site. Some people use filters on their tanks but it depends on what they put in them. But saying that it's not nessary if you start out with an excellent water source. The cheapest and best way is to buy a good RO/DI unit. Buy a good one and make sure you get a TDS meter installed on it too. I'm fairly new to this site but one thing that continues to stand out is the number of people who trust the staff at Sealife Central, I haven't been there yet but it would be a good idea if you got some Ideas from people in the know..
Jewel
Guest
Lugging water is not cool. What I mean is it's too hard to keep a big system like mine healthy and thriving, Doing 30 gl water changes every other week and then water for the top off which is 5 gl every 3 days. Imagine you have an RO/DI filter set-up and all you have to do is open a valve and water flows into a container. Now that's cool.
A TDS meter is an inline flow sensor that reads your T total D dissolved S solids it's how we determine how pure the water is. For a Reef tank you want a reading of 0 The inline TDS meter will tell you how well your filtration is doing. When you purchase an RO/DI system from whom ever they usually incorparate one if not 2 inline TDS meters, one tells you what the value is when entering your system the other when the water exits it. These units i mean RO/DI are the most important item you should include in you Reef tank, They are just as important as your skimmer or your lighting. Hope I haven't confused you too much LOL
A TDS meter is an inline flow sensor that reads your T total D dissolved S solids it's how we determine how pure the water is. For a Reef tank you want a reading of 0 The inline TDS meter will tell you how well your filtration is doing. When you purchase an RO/DI system from whom ever they usually incorparate one if not 2 inline TDS meters, one tells you what the value is when entering your system the other when the water exits it. These units i mean RO/DI are the most important item you should include in you Reef tank, They are just as important as your skimmer or your lighting. Hope I haven't confused you too much LOL
sunnykita
Super Active Member
Thanks Jewel
Nope no more confused than I normally am LOL, red headed female blonde moment ( sorry to any blondes I might have offended) - I actually figured it out after I posted the question. I am lugging ro/di water right now and it sucks. I briefly talked to the woman where I get my water, but will talk to Gary when I'm at sealife next. I am open for any suggestions as to a good system for the tank and how others have them set up. Around 500 bucks installed with a 75 gal holding tank. I have a lot of decisions to work through before the 135 goes to it's final home and the ro/di water set up is one. I'll post questions about the rest in the next few days :?
you guys are great !!! ;D
Nope no more confused than I normally am LOL, red headed female blonde moment ( sorry to any blondes I might have offended) - I actually figured it out after I posted the question. I am lugging ro/di water right now and it sucks. I briefly talked to the woman where I get my water, but will talk to Gary when I'm at sealife next. I am open for any suggestions as to a good system for the tank and how others have them set up. Around 500 bucks installed with a 75 gal holding tank. I have a lot of decisions to work through before the 135 goes to it's final home and the ro/di water set up is one. I'll post questions about the rest in the next few days :?
you guys are great !!! ;D
Jewel link said:
Jewel
Guest
Check out Royal Aquariums, they have a link on the site, They sell a good RO/DI system for 320. You can't go wrong with it. Next you wanna get a Hanna Phosphate Checker test kit, best 60 bucks you'll ever spend and test for Phosphate. It's important. that's lesson number 1, 2, 3 LOL just kidding. Have Fun with your tank, there are so many benefits to this hobby.
heres one for you includes digiatal tds meter and if yu get itnin the group buy yu pay 189sunnykita link said:
[/quote]http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-5-stage-plus-ro-di-system-75gpd.html
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