FLUVAL 206 for a 5gal Pico?

[INF3RNO]

Is a FLUVAL 206 anygood for my 5gal pico??

[totalimmortal363]

Canisters are nitrate factories, skip it.

 

Natural Filtration

[INF3RNO]

Canisters are nitrate factories, skip it.

 

Natural Filtration

 

even for a 5 gal tank? what if i constantly clean the canister?

[totalimmortal363]

Not worth the effort. With good live rock, live sand, and water changes you'll be just fine. Read the article I posted and you see what I'm talking about.

[INF3RNO]

Not worth the effort. With good live rock, live sand, and water changes you'll be just fine. Read the article I posted and you see what I'm talking about.

yeah i did... right now my pico has about 5 lbs of live rock, a 1/2 inch sand bed. and i do abut 1 gal water changes every 1 or 2 weeks... but i ordered the fluval 206 thinking it was a good addition to my pico. know i dont know what to do if i suld keep it or send it back.

[totalimmortal363]

Send it back unless you have a small-ish freshwater tank to use it on. I love my Fluval 406's on my 135, they're great.

[Red Sea Reefer]

There is more than one "correct" way to do things in this hobby. I run a Fluval 306 in my BC29. It's not a good as a sump w/ filter sock but much better than a HOB or media basket IMO.

 

The argument that they are nitrate factories is bunk. You just have to spend a few minutes cleaning it durring a WC. When you do clean it you will see just how effective it is. After my WC and cleaning the sponges in the canister the water is so cloudy from detris that you can barely see the bottom of the bucket. If your filtration dosent catch that it all ends up it your sand bed.

 

I run the biomax foam with filter sock material over it, seachem matrix, BRS GFO/carbon. My nitraites are 75% lower than when I ran a media basket.

 

Keep the Fluval, plenty of people run sucsessful reefs with a canister including Randy Farley Holmes. If you don't know who he is I reccomend a little research and reading of a few of his articles.

[totalimmortal363]

Send the canister back. I promise you wont regret it.

 

Can it be used and maintained properly? Sure.

 

Will it end up being a pain in the ass? Absolutely.

[Red Sea Reefer]

Send the canister back.

 

Do you have any evidence other than lazy reefers to back your claim. I gave personal experiance of how it works for me. Have you ran a fluval? Again if canisters were detrimental to a reef I highly doubt Randy Holmes would run one on his reef. Best of luck to you, as I said there is more than one way to run a reef.

[INF3RNO]

Do you have any evidence other than lazy reefers to back your claim. I gave personal experiance of how it works for me. Have you ran a fluval? Again if canisters were detrimental to a reef I highly doubt Randy Holmes would run one on his reef. Best of luck to you, as I said there is more than one way to run a reef.

thanks for the info! i'll try the fluval anyway its on its way home so ill give it a try!

[JBM]

i ran a 29g reef (about 10 years ago now) with nothing more than a fluval 305 & a sea clone 150 skimmer & coralife quad bulb pc's

 

 

was it the best technology? HELL NO. Was it stable. F*ck yea.

 

the canister will help you, so long as you clean it every week. Later on, you can use it as a reactor (canisters force water thru media making it more effective than sitting in a media bag in a sump)

[INF3RNO]

i ran a 29g reef (about 10 years ago now) with nothing more than a fluval 305 & a sea clone 150 skimmer & coralife quad bulb pc's

 

 

was it the best technology? HELL NO. Was it stable. F*ck yea.

 

the canister will help you, so long as you clean it every week. Later on, you can use it as a reactor (canisters force water thru media making it more effective than sitting in a media bag in a sump)

any idea on which media to use for my 205 it has 3 basket for media... but i dont know if i should use the one that the canister brings or should i changed them for something else???

[Red Sea Reefer]

Get rid of the ceramic rings. In my three chambers I run the following: bottom biomax foam with 100 micron filter sock material on top, middle seachem matrix, top BRS GFO/Carbon. You can put whatever you like on it. Go with more sponges or media, your choice. If you run GFO start with 1/4 to 1/3 dose and work up to full dosage. It's amazing what gets caught in the filter and stays out of my sand bed.

 

I have extra sponges. Every few weeks I will bleach them with the filter socks and rinse in prime or any dechorinator. This will again help to keep it from becoming a nitrate factory.

[totalimmortal363]

I still think you shouldn't use it. Eventually, you'll get lazy with the constant upkeep. You're human. Service intervals will get further and further apart, and it WILL become a nitrate factory.

 

There is a reason you really don't see ANYONE using canisters on nano reefs here, it's old and outdated technology for our uses. Better and more efficient methods of filtration have been discovered that are easier to maintain and produce better overall results.

 

The money you spent on that canister can go towards better and more effective equipment for your tank. A refractometer, corals, an RO/DI unit, and better lighting just to name a few.

 

I wouldn't even be typing this if I didn't care about the overall health of your tank. Lose the canister and use the money for better things.

[madfx]

There is a reason you really don't see ANYONE using canisters on nano reefs here, it's old and outdated technology for our uses.

If you're going to CAPS something, it should probably be true. I've seen great looking tanks on this forum, other forums, and in person using canisters for filtration.

 

People love to spread myths and often echo misinformation in doing so. This forum in particular, people love to try and fit in and follow what's trendy.. Shallow 5g reef with MP10 anyone??? It's clearly the best technology for a stable reef.

[totalimmortal363]

Yet to see a canister on a tank here, especially on a tank so small.

[totalimmortal363]

Just as as aside i went through several pages in members tanks area and found one canister. This isnt a popular option anymore.

[madfx]

Adding water volume to a small tank is helpful.

A featured tank of the month this year uses a canister for filtration.

 

Poor practices are often blamed on the canister. Truth is if you neglect anything you'll have problems. Same thing can happen with filter socks, or a neglected sump in general.

[Red Sea Reefer]

I'm new, sure maybe I get lazy. Don't think so though. I love the details and a chalange. I'm gusseing maintance on my filter will be LESS than 15 minutes a week. I spend more time than that wiping my A**. Been doing it most of life. Sure everyonce in awhile you get in a hurry and things get a bit messy or just plain stink. I'll still keep doing what needs to be done though.

 

A sump with filter sock is best BUT a cannister filter can work fine if you don't have room or are intimidated by plumbing a sump. I was on the cannisters are nitrate factories bandwagon once to. As stated above too often we just repeat what we hear. I read a bit, opened my mind and made my own decesion. I'm glad I went with a canister. As I grow in the hobby and plumb a sump the canister is versatile enough to still be used on my reef.

[LRStar]

Been using a 305 for 3 years now on my biocube 29. Works great. Wasn't happy with AIO filtration and gave it a shot.

 

I use filter floss on bottom, carbon, then gfo up top.

 

Works really well, but suspect the return will be a bit strong for that little pico. It blows hard!

[Red Sea Reefer]

Been using a 305 for 3 years now on my biocube 29. Works great. Wasn't happy with AIO filtration and gave it a shot.

 

I use filter floss on bottom, carbon, then gfo up top.

 

Works really well, but suspect the return will be a bit strong for that little pico. It blows hard!

 

One of the many upgrades for the 06 series is adjustable flow. I think you would be hard pressed to find a better canister than the 06.

[[]V[]addog]

can;t you just adjust the flow by half closing the return pipe off at the head of any 04 or 05 series.?

ive doen this

[jan_16hk]

Canisters are nitrate factories, skip it.

 

Natural Filtration

 

Just some questions; the nano reef article for the natural filtration did not state the need for additional external filtration.

 

- that means that the bacteria in the system should be enough to handle the nitrates produced, given that one does, a rigorous weekly water change.

 

I thought that the nano and pico systems rely it's for functioning on these weekly maintenance.

 

- so if one should add an external filter like a canister filter, (aren't the bio media in these, designed to provide additional surface area for denitrifying bacterias to live in?), shouldn't the upkeep of these filter be considered as part of the weekly maintenance?

 

Also given the surface area of sand bed and live rock in a 5 gal setup, wouldn't an additional canister filter provide the additional surface area for denitrifying bacteria to live in, and not to mention the additional water volume?

 

- for a 5gal setup, i guess a bioload would be with some corals, cleaners and max of two small fish, will these generate so much of a mechanical detritus trapped inside the filter?

[Tbonekilla]

I run a Fluval 206 on a 40 breeder with two red eared slider turtles. It does a pretty damn good job with those dirty beasts. Cleaning the thing is very easy. The primary filter sponges are thin which makes them easy to clean and get the crap out of the middle of them. Those four sponges also split the primary chamber in half creating a lot of surface area for those sponges to work. Just like what others have said I wouldn't use the ceramic rings. I don't think I would use the black bio sponge either. Just keep it mechanical and chemical. Carbon, GFO, Purigen, and polishing pads I think you would be golden. It's way better than the craptastic C series filter I have.

 

They also make a great QT filter. Just keep a seeded sponge around and its an instant QT.