Killing the Canister Fitler Myth

[Fish]

Originally Posted by andsoitgoes

haha - happy 1,001(to be exact :P)

I was presently downloading the video, tad slow, but now I shall see!!

wow... very pretty

Now - question... Obviously you retro'd a MH fixture, on top of that and the canister, what else did you have going? I see you drilled 2 in the bottom down through your desk for the canister, ja?

Thanks!
The MH was a retro into a halogen drafting lamp fixture. I routed the cannister filter plumbing down through a computer cable slot that was already in the desk. The cannister filter was midified with submersible lights to grow chaeto and a 50w heater to maintain temp. I also had a tee fitting in one of the return lines which injected ro/di topoff water in real time from my chemical metering pump. The system was small but ran by itself no problem for two weeks when I took vacation. (I was too scared to push it further but now I wish I had - just to see the full potential of the system)

Cheers,

- Chad

[mark]

Why even the light? Though recently put some macro in my sump went years without any, only just in the display.

[Fish]

I wanted to keep the macro in the sump because I wanted to light it 24/7 and avoid some of the lights on lights off ph swings. Plus, I was a little cramped for room in my display - the ball of chaeto that I had in my canister would have filled the entire tank

- Chad

Edit:
I should have made this more clear from the start. I am just suggesting that using a canister filter for mechanical filtration the way they are set up can lead to build ups of nitrates. I am suggesting throwing in LR and using it as a biological filter instead.