Saltwater Aquarium With Canister Filter

In this video, I show you the canister filter saltwater tank at Abyss Aquatics in Manchester.
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Tank details
Parameters:
Kh - 8
Calcium - 440
Magnesium - 1450
Nitrate - 20
Phosphate - 0.6
Equipment:
Radion XR-30 Gen 5 x4
TMC Vecton 600 UV Steriliser x2
Eheim single auto feeder x2
Eheim canister filter x3
Seachem Phosguard
Bio Nitrate Ex
Fish list:
Tukas anthias
Pascalus anthias
Gem tang
Black tang
Yellow tang
Purple tang
Purple tilefish
Scarrus Quoyi
Peacock wrasse x3
Clowns x2
Cleaner wrasse
Randall's Goby
Royal gramma
Coral beauty
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[@leeleecee4689]

I ran a reef tank for years on just a hang on the back filter. A mixed reef with both sps and LPS. It is very doable. I saved up and finally upgraded to a redsea 250 G2 with all the bells and whistles. I prefer the sump and all the tech compared to how I was running my reef but for people getting into the hobby I highly suggest going low tech to learn the hobby for sure.

[@bahamareefer]

Well said. Lowers the barrier to entry for new reefers!

[@leyberld]

👍

[@lazyreefer8749]

I've gone the way of the "canister".... and my tank looks better than ever. Even got some lovely Chinese 54w full spectrum bulbs sitting above it.

[@tcmarineaddiction6609]

Low budget is very doable. I am with ya there.

[@CoralReef69]

Don’t ever let anybody tell you that’s wrong! I ran my reefs cheaply for years. I actually recently upgraded to a computerized tank controller all the best equipment… i sort of hate it.. always something to worry about where as before the apex my corals still grew as long as I remained obsessed with the tank. Sometimes automation can suck the fun and accomplishment directly out of the hobby and therefore, your obsession with your tank and animals. Seen many people hop out of the hobby that way it’s sad

[@fuffoon]

@@CoralReef69 My tank is not low budget, is fully equipped wih roller filter, skimmer, cooler, UV and calcium and algae reactors, but its all managed by hand. Auto top off is the automation part. I add Aqua Medic iodine, strontium and trace elements by hand sparingly and do regular water changes. I keep an eye on alkalinity with a Sera test, the least expensive in the store. The majority of the expense is in livestock. Its humming along without drama and everything is growing faster than expected. The 30 acropora frags from Euro Corals have all skinned to the rocks without one loss. Some broken fragments have rooted themselves where they landed.

[@CoralReef69]

@@fuffoon that’s what I do. Keep your potassium level 20 ppm lower than what your calcium level is and watch what happens

[@lyndongall2122]

I've actually been there n seen this system in person running and running well to boot . There is also another KZbin Simple Aquariums that's run and set up her entire adventure doing her 6ft tank on two basic cheap canister filters and also doing well with it so can be done and successfully.

[@Hasans01]

I am sure many of contemporaries who are selling expensive reef equipments won't be happy to see this. Great insights specially for beginners.

[@jaysrealreefuk]

It's interesting to see that there are many routes to a successful reef tank. Great video. 👍

[@javiergamez3343]

I have a 55gal saltwater tank with a canister filter and so far its working fine 😊

[@BH-nm4xl]

I cant express how much I love your funny and informative vids. Unbelievable product keep it coming

[@fuffoon]

Always happy to watch a Reef Dork video with coffee even at 0400hrs. Took advantage of the early morning to view the tank under flashlight. TENTACLES! The LPS are casting their leaders far this morning. Its a beautiful site.

[@GGLifestyle80]

I started the saltwater hobby with canister filter set up with great success. Daily & weekly maintenance is key for long term success.

[@SuperCarldk]

Yay, new reef dork video!

[@norfolkreefer5801]

The good thing about canister filters is you can run way bigger than recommended and have as many as space allows,before I moved to saltwater I had a large cichlid tank with 2 oversized canister filters and they work a treat.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Back in the late 80's I ran a 36" x 18" x 21" (LxWxH) marine tank using two canister filters with their return fed through a UG filter plate so the UG was in reverse flow. Had very little problems with it for the four year lifespan of the tank (moved and had to brake it down and sell up 😞)

[@colinedward3147]

My local shop and set up my marine tank on external filters thanks to them and it looks great, no skimmer no problems 🤪.

[@josefishytv4237]

This is the type of video I need I am tired of seeing reef tanks that need high end machines to maintain the fish tank. Everyone should know we ain't the rich to afford those type of machines plus I use canister filters on my reef tank. Ps nice video

[@Baka_Mop]

I use a canister for my freshwater tank, and it's been going strong for 7 years. I recently started using a tiny roller mat for my 15g AIO reef tank, and I honestly think it's the best innovation this hobby has seen in ages. Maintenance is way easier than filter socks. You just turn the roller every few days, and a single roll usually lasts several months. Water clarity is much better than filter socks, there's no mess, no puddles and no more cleaning out smelly filters. Soon I'll go big with a 125 gallon or larger reef tank and plan to use auto rollers for that. They're just too convenient, and I'll never go back to traditional mechanical filtration methods again.

[@PracticalReefer]

Seen this tank last October, sadly it was a shorter visit than I would of liked as I had to head back home to Scotland sharp but this tank was cracking! Really great LFS overall as well! 👍

[@tcmarineaddiction6609]

I'm running my 75 gallon system on 2 ac110s and a reef octo 1000 skimmer. With good husbandry and consistency the tank is doing phenomenal

[@GeneralGP114]

Been running my 75 on one ac110 and skimmer doing great .

[@jawon70]

My tank is 350L,and its runs for a year on 2 oase biomaster 850 thermo.I took everything out and filled it with bio media.They have an easy to clean pre filter inside with a build in heather.In the tank i have a tunze doc skimmer9012.Before it runs 24h a day ,but now only 2 hours a day because my lps was dying from low nutrients.My nitrates were zero.A few weeks i took a big risk by changing my aquascape.Bought 18kg of aquaforest reef rock.Put it in a big bucket with some food and bacteria.Put in a wavemaker and waited 10 days.Then took all my rocks out together with the fish and corals.Then the new rock in together with fish and corals.Only left 2 smaller old rock in the tank en the rest put it in the bucket just in case of a tank crash.I expected something.But nothing happened.Everything was looking good,fish and coral.The biomedia in the cannister filters did the job

[@joedoyle785]

I'm contemplating getting a oase 850, but seen 1 or 2 people saying there really load or noisy, how do you find yours / and do you use a bio media and if so which 1 thanks joe

[@jawon70]

@@joedoyle785 there not so noisy. There full of a mix of bioballs,seachem matrix and bio media. Pre filter i changed the foam.The black ones,they filter better

[@pauldeacon8764]

Great video Alex! 😀👍👍

[@Fish_no_chips]

I’m loving my simple setup atm it’s really doing great and causes me such little hassle compared to my hard coral dominated tank

[@michaelhans2509]

Love thar quyoi parrotfish

[@tonymarshall5815]

My soft coral tank has been running nearly 18 years with a fluval 306,tunze skimmer and small wave maker.

[@Reefeasy]

The Ocean free Hydra filters are an excellent option as an external or internal. As they include catapure cartridges which are charged between two metal plates. Detoxifying ammonia and nitrite so in theory you won't get a spike!. Removing sponge from any external is a must. Keeps Nitrates low. Run floss,chemical filtration and ceramic you're golden ✨️

[@anglingaddict3877]

Love it

[@leequigley2077]

What a nice tank x

[@rudra7615]

Goes to show stability will always be king.

[@leerose6257]

Ive been using a fluval 406 on my reef tank for about 3 years it does the job. It gets cleaned out every 2 weeks also have no protein skimmer

[@jluusaltwateraquarium8320]

Super fantastic fish tank...👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@sovereignviper90]

My first reef tank was run by a fluval 306 for fours years before my oldest caused a tank crash. I never cleaned or maintained the canister. My profile picture is of that tank lol new one is struggling due to time for tank maintenance but in the mends lol

[@rhombifer566]

cool video and a top of the morning to you 🍀

[@koyspano3636]

Lol I’ve had my tank for years without ever checking water parameters, LPS and SPS corals alike. There is a lot to be said about a consistent water change schedule and that’s what I stick by.

[@andrew5762]

I also run my 75gallon mixed reef with a Canister filter reason Super quite 😇with end to end coral . Very proud of it 👌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@markm266]

What do you use inside of the canister? Filter floss? No carbon?

[@andrew5762]

@@markm266 on my oase bio master , 6 x sponges and ceramic tubes from pond guru .

[@GoldenKnight702]

I’m new, buying a 75 and canister tomorrow. Do you have another filter? Any advice?

[@Mvcrash]

Back in the day we used under gravel filters and canister filters.

[@loretamichailovskaja1208]

i run 300l lps and some sps on 2 canisters ( oase and fluval fx4) my nutrients no3 is10 ppm and po4 is 0.05, 200l zoa tank with canister oase no3 was only 1ppm and po4 0.03.

[@Mike__B]

I probably would have used a canister filter way back in the day if it wasn't for the fact my first experiences with them are very messy. When you remove the hoses, doesn't matter what sort of back flow valves they have you're spilling some water, then removing the media, you better bring it to a sink... because yup you're spilling water.

[@coughsyrup5427]

My 150 gallon mixed reef has no filtration whatsoever. It has two MP40s and a Gyre. It does however have 30 or so mangroves in the display and a connected shallow mangrove-dominant tank. I almost never change the water and I replenish with RODI water. It’s been running for a year and SPS and anemones are growing quite well (dosing DIY all for reef).

[@ReefDork]

Love it 🙂

[@algamingunboxing7354]

Amazing and we are here buying a lot equipment 😂

[@billsmafia28]

I use canisters and HOB filters on smaller tanks

[@NinjaSushi2]

Wow. Amazing reef! Meanwhile I'm wondering why my GSP isn't opening up.. Lol

[@MrDon967]

5:06 that is my goal with my 120g no sump no skimmer :D i want it being mostly sps corals with some softies n lps here and there that will be used at tester corals in the beginning. maybe i can post an update in a few years :D

[@myworld5899]

As long as you've got plenty of live rock it's doable I'm not a fan of the arka scapes for the only reason they don't have the surface area that proper live rock holds not to mention the diversity of nitrifying bacteria it holds I think this is why we see alot of people have problems with dinos hope you have success bud 😀 👍

[@TheSteo1986]

How do you top off the Ro while using a cannister filter?

[@davechippendale8998]

Get all my fish from Abyss, greatt LFS.

[@locwong9284]

Great video Nice and simple low noise low cost low maintenance but corals and fish are thriving parameters are high but stability is definitely the key. My tank also runs on a canister filter I got exactly the same setup as Mickey Mike on you tube check his video out. 👍✌

[@xj52sfishyworld86]

Phosphates only at 1.2 is for amateurs. My tanks phosphate levels got up to 7.6

[@sasco9608]

hi I was wondering where you buy your fish and coral as im in UK too and not sure where?

[@ReefDork]

Abyss in Stockport was excellent when I visited but I buy from The Ocean Project and Reefkeeper Moss End mostly. AAC and Reefdreams are also very good. Prestige Reef and Signature Frags are the main online places, plus The Coral Centre.

[@dissidify]

I am in the early stages of planning and was thinking of setting up a reef tank with a (pressurised) pond canister filter with a couple random flow nozzles to work without any powerheads. Pond filters can do thousands of L/h for a similar price to powerheads so why waste energy for flow that isn't filtration? Can't find any noise ratings for the aquaeco 14000l/h or 16000l/h pumps so is on the back burner for now especially as I am short on funding for a while.

[@dissidify]

For anyone interested in some cost savings with this route, I should note the pond filters I have looked at also come with uv sterilisers, currently highest flow one is £722.50 for 55w uv steriliser, 14k l/h pump, filter media, self cleaning capability which is easier to maintain than the aquarium counterparts. Using the 14k l/h pump you can get 13k l/h so covers 40x turnover for a mixed reef 325l tank. So for the video tank size, this would outperform the 3 eheim filters for less money, approx £200 save on powerheads, £200 less for the uv filters. Only hold backs are size of the canister 75x75x88cm and whatever the noise is and what pressure they are rated for.

[@johns8249]

I plan on using my fx6 for my main filtration on my 75 gallon reef. Anyone have any thoughts or advice on that?

[@TimChump]

Mature tanks just always work, you could piss in them and it will be fine, patience is key

[@ReefDork]

🤣

[@xRkClan]

I’ve got a juwel Rio 240 running a Fluval 307 Fluval uv steriliser and a juwel protein skimmer got a purple tang coral beauty clownfish x2 shrimp mandarine goby corals Torch mushrooms and Zoe’s oh and with a Fluval marine 3.0 everything is doing mint with a tmc reef flow 8000 wouldn’t go for a sump because of the kids 😂

[@Mykeysdaily]

What's frowned about? 😅🙌

[@devinmcdowell4054]

does anyone have recommendations on a canister filter for a 40 gallon reef tank?

[@daronjordan4548]

I have a 135 fwlr, can I remove my wet dry and replace it with a canister filter and grow corals?

[@ReefDork]

There's a few more steps but yes you can.

[@mattcarpenter6986]

Do you think 1 fx4 canister filter is enough for a 420 litre marine tank?

[@ReefDork]

I've never used one so can't say I'm afraid

[@bad65dad]

All my tanks 125,65, and 40 all running canister with UV and skimmers I have 0 nitrates on all no water changes over 3 years. Using well water top off. No controler just nutrient blocks in all filters that's it no crazy algae. Just a little in my 60 but my urchin eats it all.

[@noahsark1292]

The abyss were my go to aquarium shop for years, until they sold me a faulty heater they supposedly tested and it over heated and killed my entire reef tank… they were awful about it

[@indigo2939]

Hey!! would it be possible for me to temporarily scrap the sump on my Red Sea reefer 350 to a canister filter?, Help would be gladly appreciated!

[@ReefDork]

Yep

[@indigo2939]

@@ReefDork @ReefDork You sound dont too keen, to do this would i need simply attach the input and output of the canister filter onto the plumbing bringing the water down and up and as for the emergency valve would it require me put a bucket under? Do you know anywhere I could see a setup like this?

[@jaspernevis4984]

Which canister filters do they use?

[@locwong9284]

I recommend you use a oase it has a prefilter you can easily remove and clean like a filter sock and it also has a thermometer check out mikeymikemikemike.

[@sisimonm4085]

In the video they mention Ehiem and the look to be different models. I run my 230l tank on two Fluval 307 filters with a Reef octo hob skimmer and it’s a dream.😀

[@ReefDorkXtra]

One is an Eheim Professional 3, I didn't catch the others

[@ilikeweirdfish7106]

I have a canister tank and I'd say my only problems with it is they're hard to clean and mine is full of aiptasia (though you can't see any in the display). But that's more than made for by the huge amount of pods and other crustaceans that breed in there and give my tank a constant supply of food and clean-up crew.

[@MrDon967]

your canister is full of aiptasia? that's the firs time i'm hearing anything growin in a canister hehe. everytime i take my fluval fx6 out it looks brand new. takes maybe 2 mins to drain and remove

[@markbrown2945]

Ask the the question people run a brackish aquarium the same as a freshwater aquarium its still saltwater aquarium just lower salinity you see really no need for skimmers sumps etc

[@samlee2944]

Do you think you could do this without the use of live rock? Just the man made stuff, I don’t want to take stuff from the real reefs to have my own!

[@ReefDork]

Yes - this tank used man made rock called Aquaroche

[@jamesSmith-bn3ud]

Yep ,,, a true testoment to YOU DO NOT NEED A SUMP FULL.OF EXPENSIVE EQUIOMENT ,,,, when you hewr this from the hobbyists,,, they talk crap..... canisters and good husbandry,,,,,, no problem..

[@markbrown2945]

My 450 ltr reef tank juwei has been running for 2 years and has nothing more than what it came with internal filter and 1 power head nothing more i dont get algae my fish and corals are spectacular all need folks is saltwater really all this equipment is bs think about it and the ocean mark brown

[@algamingunboxing7354]

You should look for more aquariums like this , there is no KZbin interest in this aquariums.

[@asmodeus6631]

I've been reefing for the past 30 years and only used canister filters , though when i first started i was told that i needed a sump. I have a 180 gallon tank with 3 canister filters ( 2 fluval 406 and 1 fluval x6 And a Tunze protein skimmer , fluval UV clarifier) So happy with my aquarium and glad i don't have to deal with a sump.

[@aminamijia]

Wow this is great to hear. Do you have coral in your tank as well?

[@asmodeus6631]

@@aminamijia yes, mixed corals

[@aquarium8940]

Как часто вы чистите фильтр?

[@leeverink32]

yeah if u are a beginner and first had a fresh water tank. DONT USE CANISTER FILTERS ON YOUR TANK! I did in the beginning and it went horribly wrong. if u dont have the money for a refugium/sump tank first get a in tank protein skimmer. Yes it is fully in sight and a sight for sore eyes but it gets the job done. i still use one after 4 years and i dont mind it anymore. That does not mean im gonna run it for ever i do need to dive dieper in it but with a small tank as mine and the cost coming with it im not gonna go bigger any time soon.

[@MADTrollsReefTanks]

Canister filters suck ass. Don’t do it!

[@locwong9284]

Are you talking about yourself?

[@MADTrollsReefTanks]

@@locwong9284 no talking about canister filters. Why would you not use a sump and full skinner set up? Canisters are nitrate traps. You will not have a low nutrient tank using a canister filter.

[@locwong9284]

@@MADTrollsReefTanks the proof is in the pudding check above comments,sumps are nitrate trap to if you don't maintain, people with sumps still struggle with nitrate phosphate to and so on,so I guess you run a sump and your parameters are in check and you got lovely colourful sps and lps and soft corals ?

[@MADTrollsReefTanks]

@@locwong9284 give it a shot then. You find out how much easier a sump is.

[@locwong9284]

@@MADTrollsReefTanks I have tried both but went back to oase prefilter termo canister filter been in hobbie for 5 years my parameters are stable nitrate 10-15..phosphate 0.05-0.1 all I do is change prefilter every 2 weeks and water change every 2 weeks my tank is 2 years old and everything is thriving including sps. Send me a photo of your setup and I show you mine? But end of the day in this hobby what works for you doesn't work for everyone

[@PhongHuynh0981314893]

This tank dont need any canister filer, only add a small pump with sponge in tank and it done.