New Member (I need some opinions)

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thedeper

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Hi everyone, My name is Josh and I have recently started up a 55 gallon saltwater system. I have been cruising on this forum and reading up as much information that I can for about the past 5 months and have had my tank set up around 3. The question I have is about filtration. Currently I am just running a HOB bio wheel filter that is rated for 300 gph or so. I am upgrading my filtration to a Fluval FX5 and an AquaC Remora skimmer ( My tank is not drilled).

Is this too much filtration?

Current livestock includes 85 lbs live rock, 40lbs live sand, 3 inch yellow tang, 4-4 stripe damsels, bumblebee goby, tiger pistol shrimp, and dogface puffer.
 
Just some zoanthids and mushrooms...Maybe frogspawn, but I am not gonna get too deep into the corals.
 
hey man i currently have an 80 gallon tank.....i am running pretty much the same HOB style filter as you but i have herad the bio wheels on them are not good so i took the bio wheels off so the water just runs through those blue slid in filters full of carbon but doesnt run through the bio wheels.......also i have a HOB skimmer that fills up all the time......from what i have learned i dont think you have too much filtration....eventually i think you may be able to take the HOB filter off once the LR begins to act as natural filtration.

dont quote me on that stuff but I think its the correct answer, someone else with more info. can chime in on this one to help ya out a little better
 
Well I am planning on taking the HOB filter off and just using the Fluval FX5 as the filtration...Also I am running a Current Dual Satellite 48 inch power compact fixture (260 watts), does anyone have any suggestions as far as corals go with these lights? Thanks ahead of time.
 
alot of low light corals that i knwo of......GSP, Rics, Mushrooms, xenia, and zooas........i believe those are all fine under pcs.

i have a 14 gallon biocube that i have some frogspawn and hammer coral in and they are doing great in there......im not sure if thats normal under pc's but it is happening in my tank so im not gonna complain.

if your looking to upgrade your light look in the for sale section I believe there were a couple of guys selling 48 inch light set ups......
 
Problem with Canister filters like the Fluval is that they need to be cleaned REALLY WELL about once every two weeks. They can be a huge source of NO3 for your tank otherwise. It is a good idea to remove the bio-wheel from your HOB. My advice is to get an overflow box and start thinking about sump and refugium ideas. It is pretty much the best thing for filtration. Add a good skimmer to the sump, make a well balanced fuge and save your money from buying the canister filter. If you can fine one used, great... get it an turn it into a media reactor but Like I said before, if you are not going to be on top of that thing as far as maintenance, and you are using it as a filter (as opposed to a media reactor) then you are opening yourself up to problems.
 
Wow, I had no idea about the NO3 buildup, thanks for that info. I do pretty well on staying on top of everything (and bought the skimmer on ebay so they are here for now). Do you know if the AquaC is a decent skimmer?
 
Thanks a lot for that mod info. It comes with the Maxi-Jet 1200, so do you think that would work, or is that the pump that you have on yours? One more question and I will stop bugging everyone, lol. My tank is producing some green algae (more of a lime green actually) on the rocks and a little on the glass. Should I leave it alone, or do I need to add any supplements to my tank to control it so it doesnt get out of hand? I have 30 blue and red mixed hermit crabs in the tank, is there anything else I need?
 
I just picked up a remora and it skims well. here is something that I find hard to be a coincidental. The first remora I got was producing a crazy amount of microbubbles. upon inspection, I found that the clear acrylic that seperates the reaction chamber from the exit chamber was not fully glued to the back wall. The bubbles from the reaction chamber were flowing around the acrylic seperator and into the tank. I got AquaC to send me a new one, their customer service was excellent. The new one arrived yesterday. I looked at it thoroughly after opening. Guess what! The new has the same problem. I am going to run a bead of silicone along the acrylic to seal it before I put it on the tank. I would encourage everyone that has a remora with microbubbles to inspect this area. This being said, even with the bubble leak around the divider, it still skims like crazy. I am excited to see what the new one does when it is properly sealed. It should be awesome.
 
I have an aquaC EV120 and have mixed reviews about it. Granted it is not the same skimmer you are talking about.

The green algae should be taken care of by a proper clean up crew. What do you have in the way of snails in there right now.

Like I said, I would personally get a canister filter with trays in it and take out all the guts. Load the trays with Purigen and carbon and run it as a media reactor. For filtration, I would think about the natural approach and go with just a sump and a fuge.

And ask as many questions as you like, we might not always agree but we all will be more then happy to answer what we can.
 
not trying to high jack the thread but got a question brandon.....u were talking about purigen....if i have a few smaller bags of the stuff can i just put those bags down in the bottom of my HOB bio wheel and leave my carbon filters in there as well or would that cause something bad to happen?

thanks again sorry to the deper not trying to highjack your thread
 
Yep, you can throw them right in (I think they need to be rinsed first) Anywhere they are going to get good water flow. Some debate as to if they should go in front or behind carbon but I have never seen any difference.
 
it says one bag per 100 gallons i have an 80 gallon tank so would 1 bag be over kill or would it be ok?
 
is that a no you cant use the bag and overdose it?

or a no it is impossible to overdose so go ahead and use the bag?

ha sorry
 
I know that a sump would be in my best interest but right now I just dont have the means for one. The FX5 has 3 seperate trays to put bio-media, carbon, etc(I dont know if anyone is familiar with this particular filter) and also has 6 seperate foam lining filters.

So I guess my question is, what media (other than Biomax or similar) should I use?

I am not familiar with Purigen and dont really know what it does. As far as carbon, I am aware of it, but do I just leave it in the bag or should I get the loose kind and put it in my trays?
 
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