Brandon Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 so i have a 55 gallon tank that is fish only with a clown fish and a damsel in it at the moment. i currently have 20 pounds of live rock and i run two 55 gallon rated hang on filters but i want to upgrade the filtration system and a sump would be near impossible to fit under my tank. so my question is what is the next best way to go i plan on keeping it fish only and possibly an anemone(maby) since i am very new to saltwater what would be the next best filtration method after a sump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Get a canister filter and a HOB skimmer. I use two canister filters on my 75g.(Fluval 305 and 404) With that setup I am able to keep any type of coral and fish. I have live rock and filter floss in the chambers of the filters. I do weekly water changes of 5 gallons and dose alk and cal. The filters act as a sump. They hold about 5 gallons of water and I have amphipods and copepods growing in there. Here is a link to my setup in June 2010 before I moved. . I have started over since then because I killed everything by leaving it in buckets for two days during the move. Here is my setup now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I run sumpless on my 75g. My filtration is a hang-on-the back skimmer, and a hang-on-the-back skimmer/refugium combo. I have two modd-ed maxi-jets int he tank for water movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 +1 on canister. I've always done HOB until I discovered all in one nano tanks (like the biocube). I even did a "do it yourself" mod to a five gallon to create three back compartments. I just hated how the HOB looked. My biocube wan't handling the bioload like I wanted so I bought a canister filter (mostly cause it was on clearance at petsmart for $48 - hurry and check - I just saw this same filter at Petco for $129 -Ehein 35 gal). The canister is awesome! Brought all my levels to zero and adds great flow to the tank. Plus it's small enough to fit in the stand. Remember Petsmart - check clearance - I think they had the Ehein 65 for $58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I would think more live rock and a HOB skimmer would help a lot. Sumps just serve to add to your system's total water volume ("dilution is the solution to pollution") and to allow you to hide all the equipment (heater, skimmer, etc.). Being able to house macro algae in a sump - i.e. use it as a refugium - is great but macro is pretty inefficient for denitrification compared to live rock; if you're looking for better nutrient export water changes are the most efficient way to go about that, though macro does help. Why are you wanting to upgrade your filtration - what are you trying to achieve? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 +1 on etannert's comments. It sounds like you could add a lot more rock to your display tank and that would go a long way. My tank doesn't have room for any kind of sump in the stand either. I have a HOB skimmer as well as a canister, but I only use the canister to run carbon, purigen, or whatever other media I need to at the time. They require frequent maintenance and can be a pita for nitrates if you're not careful. Anyway, I say add more rock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 A nice and simple tank I saw a few years ago was a 75 with a pair of clowns and a Long Tentacle with an oral disc 6 - 8" dia. The guy had it running for several years with just a Penguin 400 (the kind that had a couple of biowheels) and did biweekly 10 gal water changes. The only problem I see with adding an anemonie to what you have now is the risk of the anemonie getting sucked into the intake of one of your filters. If you monitor the water, maintain the filters and do your water changes you can have a nice tank with what you have. If you do get an anemonie you will have much better success with a aquacultured one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 More live rock is a must. A general rule of thumb is 1lb per gallon, so using that, you need another 35lbs or so. You can put in dead rock to save some money. You will probably cause a mini-cycle if you do though. A HOB or in tank skimmer is called for as well, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Posted April 13, 2011 Author Share Posted April 13, 2011 oh believe me every pay day i am adding more live rock my main goal at this point is to stay simple i just want to keep building on my filtration system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Your live rock is the filtration system, in terms of biological filtration. Skimmers, fuges, reactors, etc are just extra forms of mechanical or chemical filtration. IMO, focus on rock and a skimmer. I ran my 58 sumpless with a in tank skimmer for almost 3 years, before I moved to the 75. And don't forget the water changes. They are key too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 IMO you do not need to have a protein skimmer with the present bioload. However, I am a big proponant of surface skimming. This is especially critical when photoperiod is off. With lights out plants no longer remove CO2 and add oxygen. Withot surface skimming this conditin is prolonged. Protein skimming will assist with this low oxygen. I think surface skimming is more efficiant at air exchange and it does not strip nutriants from the water as does protein skimming. There is more than one way to skin the cat.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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