Quote:
Originally Posted by clown lover
I am setting up a 45 gallon reef tank and would like to run a canister filter, Any thoughts on what size to use, I really don't want to use a sump with this size tank. I'm going to use an Aqua-C remora HOB Skimmer and 2 power heads but I want to make sure the filter has enough power for lots of flow in and around the live rock. Rena Filstar seems to have good flow rates, but not sure what size to run.
|
I would like to strongly suggest you re-think your plans.
For one, in my opinion the Remoras aren't worth the packaging they are wrapped in. I've had two (the Remora and the Remora Pro), both of which skimmed great for about a month. After a month, no matter what fiddling I did I couldn't get them to do hardly a darn thing after. Also, if you do happen to get it skimming and it decides it is going to overflow (it happens), it will overflow onto the floor unless you drill a hole in the cup and have it drain into a bucket or something. Another thing to think of is the fact that the Remora is usually used with a MaxiJet pump that will hang down into the middle of your tank. With typical powerheads you can strategically place them so that you can't see them so obviously, but with the skimmer if you tuck it off to the side it won't be as efficient (not that a Remora is efficient to begin with). Remora also will not skim the surface of the tank where an oily residue will accumulate. Sure, you can buy the surface skimmer add-on for another $40, and it will even hide the pump, but you have to watch evaporation reeeally closely or the waterline will go too low and the pump will run dry (and thus possibly die). Plus, that's just another thing taking up quite a lot of real estate in an already sq ft challenged tank. Add to that the mess of the rest of the equipment in the tank and all of a sudden your 45 gallon tank has the effective real estate of a 30 gallon.
If you go with a sump you can get a skimmer for the same price as the Remora that is 10 times better. I'm not even exaggerating. In sump skimmers are much more effective. The
only hang on skimmer I would personally consider would be a Tunze, and those will cost you more than the whole sump set up with skimmer. With a sump, the surface will always be skimmed via the overflow. All that oily residue will be filtered out by the skimmer or the medias in the sump. This will provide better gas exchange, and thus less pH issues.
Next, part of the point of a sump is to hide things. Like the ugly heater, the ugly skimmer, the ugly medias (like
another Maxijet to run a GFO reactor which every reef should have imo), a filter sock, etc. The visual difference of being able to hide everything in the sump is gargantuan. Another point for a sump is that everything is soooo much easier to access than when it is stuffed into your tank.
There is no reason why the size of the tank should influence whether you want a sump or not. I have a sump for my 20 gallon tank. In fact, the smaller the tank the more important it is imo because everything you can take out of the tank and put in the sump makes more space in the tank!
Now, the canister filter. Firstly, they are a pain in the butt to clean. Messy, heavy to lug around, etc. You are
not going to clean it as often as you should. You might at first, but then you won't want to because it is a pain in the butt. The trouble with not cleaning a canister filter often enough is that it will become a nitrate factory from collecting a bunch of detritus in it. If you use some bulk cut-to-size flat polyester media in a sump it will take you approximately 30 seconds to clean it including the cutting time and travel tome to the garbage can.
Another thing to think about is that the filter (or return pump if you use a sump) is not for producing "flow in and around the rock". That is the job of the powerheads. The powerheads move the water and create flow so that detritus can't settle in the tank. If detritus is carried by the flow it will be taken to the sump (or canister yeck) where it can be filtered out.
You look like a freshwater guy (by your avatar) that's setting up his first saltwater tank. If that's the case, forget everything you've learned about filtering and the nitrogen cycle in freshwater. Prepare yourself to learn a whole different way of thinking. This is the hardest part of the transition from freshwater thinking to saltwater thinking.
Soo...go for the sump!
Would I seriously sit here and type all this out for you if I didn't reeeeeally think you're making a poor decision?
