No Filters, Just Live Rock?

[Pearsondesign]

hey guys and gals,

im curious here s to haow many of you marine keepers dont use filters at all and if not, what kind of setups you have?

ive always used external canistors along with live rock and powerheads etc, but have seen a lot of people saying that filters arent required.

surely its best to have a filter aswell?

can someone please explain?

i know all about live rock acting as a filter, but wouldnt dream of setting a reef or fish only tank up with no filter at all

 

[-Nemo-]

hey guys and gals,

im curious here s to haow many of you marine keepers dont use filters at all and if not, what kind of setups you have?

ive always used external canistors along with live rock and powerheads etc, but have seen a lot of people saying that filters arent required.

surely its best to have a filter aswell?

can someone please explain?

i know all about live rock acting as a filter, but wouldnt dream of setting a reef or fish only tank up with no filter at all

My previous 29G ran without any filtration (other than live rock) for a very long time. The reason it is OK (imo at least) is that the the reason for an external filter and live rock are almost identical: to build up bacteria. The only additional benefits an external adds it being able to run carbon or other media and to catch small particles.

 

[ben1987]

i have never used an external on my marines and i never will!

 

[nick87]

As above i've never used any filters on my tanks.

LR, skimmer, flow and reqular water changes are all thats needed imo.

 

[simonas]

same here just live rock, my skimmer flow and water changes
seems to be doing ok though

glad you asked question though as its relevant to my new tank

 

[Donya]

A canister would let you have just a little more LR, which I would guess could make a big difference for a really small tank, such as a pico. On progressively larger tanks, it probably wouldn't make much diference when considering the percentage increase in LR amount by adding an external filter. Also, any LR that's not in the main tank also won't be benefitting grazers.

Putting LR in a canister rather than the tank itself (vs. using it to increase the total amount of LR) can also be useful for increasing sand surface area and keeping impellers out of the tank itself. I've only used a canister once for a nano with a true crab that had a tendency to rip apart covers on powerheads. There were no powerheads as a result, just the canister, and the filter helped give more stomping space for the crab. I don't have external filters on any of my current tanks, but may do it in the future for space/equipment isolateion reasons.

 

[the biffster]

on the micro tank i have just put together
i put HOBF but its got no plates in i am going
to use it to put nitrate remover in it or something
like that

 

[PaBucsFan]

I use a HOBF to add more flow to my tank. I have a poly pad to remove phosphates and polyester fiber in there to filter the water but no carbon. It seems to be working as my stats are all good!