L.r And Filter?

[nathan01]

the tank im getting is 58 UK gallons 260 litres UK.The live rock will cost me around £275 so should i get this or to save a bit of money get about 10kg for around £100 and get a good external filter something like a eheim this will save me money for corals but still fill the tank internally fot this fish.Is this a good idea

 

[N1z]

1st thing nice size to start with. I would say you will want that 20kilos and its roughly 2.2lbs to a kilo and you need roughly 25-30 kilos LR to give adequate filtration, as eheims are great for running phosphate remover but not for using ceramic media and bioballs in marine as they only filter ammonia and nitrite which make nitrate factories, where LR does both and nitrate, if you just got the rock you wont need the filter as such as the rock will be the best biological filter.

Try reading up the berlin system, its basically what most marine keepers run. This is basically a protein skimmer, LR, power heads for water movement and good water changes.

 

[andywg]

eheims are great for running phosphate remover but not for using ceramic media and bioballs in marine as they only filter ammonia and nitrite which make nitrate factories, where LR does both and nitrate,

This is not strictly true. It is only a lack of appropriate maintenance that will cause a cannister to become a nitrate factory.

Look at it this way, the eheim will process ammonia and nitrite but will not process nitrates very well (if at all). Live Rock will process ammonia and nitrite and, to some extent, nitrate (there is some debate on just how good it is at that).

The only way that an eheim can become a nitrate factory is if it is breaking down ammonia into nitrite into nitrate quicker than any live rock can convert the nitrate into nitrogen. If the LR does not become a nitrate factory then it must be producing nitrate at a slower rate, meaning the far more harmful ammonia and nitrite are in the system for longer. This is far worse than having nitrates.

If there is no live rock then nitrates will rise, though frequent (costly) water changes will prevent this. Just adding a cannister to a berlin system will not suddenly send the nitrates through the roof.

So long as you are prepared to routinely (at least once a week) maintain a cannister filter it will be a fantastic addition. Any mechanical filtration in the filter will help to remove larger pieces of waste before they start breaking down and thus prevent the detritus from breaking down into nitrogenous waste.

However...

The berlin system allows for far less active maintenance by the reefkeeper, which is viewed as good.

 

[SkiFletch]

So long as you are prepared to routinely (at least once a week) maintain a cannister filter it will be a fantastic addition. Any mechanical filtration in the filter will help to remove larger pieces of waste before they start breaking down and thus prevent the detritus from breaking down into nitrogenous waste.

However...

The berlin system allows for far less active maintenance by the reefkeeper, which is viewed as good.

Exactly