Is a filter really necessary?

[Jesstaki]

I have a 29g mixed reef/fish that's been up since June with the bak pak 2 protein skimmer and ecco eheim filter. Today I had a conversation with someone who told me I don't need my filter and that it is actually working against me.. then she recommended I remove the bio balls and run carbon if I keep it. I'm kinda confused since my LFS recommended the filter and apparently runs filters on his tanks, what should I do?

 

[dieden]

Alot of the people here (most) will recommend the same thing. Unless cleaned every few days it is a nitrate factory. Some people do run them, but in general a skimmer and carbon are much more common.

 

[Jesstaki]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I do approx 15% waterchanges once a wk and clean the filter every other.But if its really not necessary at all id rather remove it. Also I turn it and the skimmer off during plankton feedings and it always spits out some nastiness when I turn it back on.

 

[lvsuckerfish]

the filter will be a good carbon media reactor place some carbon in a bag and keep it on and change it once a month, nothing else but carbon and gfo if you want also

 

[bens63imp]

got any pics I also run a 29 and would like to see yours! lol you show yours and i'llshow you mine"

 

[thatguy559]

if you remove you bio balls do it slowly to let your biological system catch back up.

 

[Krish]

if you remove you bio balls do it slowly to let your biological system catch back up.

Agreed! Give your liverock time to pick up the slack. Your liverock is all you need where biological filtration and denitrification is concerned.

 

[Jesstaki]

Thanks all, I just want to clarify, my filter has 2 chambers for bio balls and filter pads. So should I slowly remove balls from both chambers and add 2 carbon pads or just one? I'm confused about the putting carbon in a bag as well because I've only used Carbon pads. Also I'm just wondering why carbon? I know that it's beneficial to use after medicating a tank and clearing cloudy water, but what else does it do? And I feel stupid for asking, but what's gfo?

 

[Jesstaki]

got any pics I also run a 29 and would like to see yours! lol you show yours and i'llshow you mine"

I would love to share pics I will make my hubby help me upload a few when he gets home. How old is your tank?

 

[WABlonde]

I'm just starting off but I've been told to replace any media with live rock. Apparently nitrates build up with use of media and filters.

 

[rainydave]

GFO - Granular Ferric Oxide - Iron Based Phosphate Remover Media

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Remove the filter floss right away. Replace the floss with carbon.
Very gradually remove the bio-balls over weeks.

 

[Shane and John]

One Question I would have is how much live rock is in the tank? I have seen where people use filters when they dont have enough live rock in their systems..Most lfs use filters because they keep minimal live rock in their tanks to make it easier to catch fish and remove corals..Im not sure what the rule of thumb is but I have always had atleast a lb of rock per gallon or close to it and have never ran any filter system other than my skimmer.....Just my 2 cents..

 

[bigblue141]

The other key is to have lots of water flow over & through all your live rock.

 

[Jesstaki]

I have at least 25 lbs LR and will continue to add more. So.. I guess I'm wondering if I should just take the filter out all together? Because really, one less thing to worry about cleaning and maintaining would be nice, and if it's not necessary I'd rather not mess with it. Also from what people have said, would it still be wise to remove the filter floss, add the carbon, slowly reduce the bio balls over a few weeks time and then remove the filter so the biological system can catch up?

 

[Krish]

Just to give you an idea of how much I hate filter floss, filter pads, sponges etc is that I never even used any of the pre-filter sponges on any my pumps. I just use to let my pumps suck in pure water without being pre-filtered by a sponge. Same thing for my sumps, never used any sort of filter pads. Anything like them that is designed to trap waste etc needs cleaning/changing every 2-3 days IMO. If you can't keep up with the maintenance, then it's best not to use them at all. The canister filter can be beneficial in the sense that you can use it to run carbon, but I wouldn't use it for anything else really. If you rather have one less piece of equipment to worry about then I would ditch the canister filter and whenever you wanted to run carbon, just put some in a media bag and toss it in your sump where it can be exposed to in-coming water. That's what I use to do. Just take your time removing the bio-balls over a period of time allowing your rock sufficient time to adjust.

On another note, I saw where you mentioned adding in more rock. I personally would suggest getting all the rock you wanted one time, and put it all in the tank one time. If you were to add little by little over the course of time, each time you added in more rock, you could experience a cycle which will set you back a bit. It's best to just toss in all the rock one time and let everything just cure and cycle one time and be done with it IMO. Just a thought...

 

[bens63imp]

I would love to share pics I will make my hubby help me upload a few when he gets home. How old is your tank?

I've had my tank for well over a year now but have torn it down once or twice due to bad algea problems an adding a new stand and fuge to it, but has been set up in it's final location for 6-8 months now can't remember

 

[jeffro]

I am not a filter fan but agree it may help prior to the live rock maturing. The berlin tank method of 1 1/2 lbs or greater of live rock per gallon of water (without an excessive ammount of fish) works great for me... I currently have a 26 and 46 up and running the 26 has a skimmer on it and runs carbon once every month and 1/2 I pull the cheep carbon pack out. the 46 on the other hand has the most load in it and I run nothing but the live sand, live rock, and a "gass off method" this is a ball valve on my return pump allowing the water to spray on top of the barrier filter in my sump where it bubbles I can't remember ever seeing any nitrates in my tanks. (since cycling)