tt101 Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 hi, im wondering if filling a canistar filter with live rock would work better then filling it with filter media? would it help to filter things out better? could it serve as a safe place for copepod development for when i want to add a mandarin dragonet? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishTankBoy Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 The problem with the canister is that it will become a detrius trap and you will have to clean it out weekly. If your willing, you can use either or. Just make sure you shake the filter material out in old tank water with each cleaning. For the pod idea, they will end up getting chopped up pm their way out so it won't help your mandarin. How about you just take some live rock, sew some cross stitching material around it and use that as a breeding ground for your mandarin. If your tank is not established for more than 6 months, I wouldn't bother buying the mandarin as it will starve out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 I dont think the surface area would be as great as floss/media balls etc etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halwake Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 We just converted to salt on a 36 gallon. I was told to ditch the Bio rings,floss, and replace all media with live rock rubble. In my Fluval 305 I have the long foam pieces, charcoal and the rest of the filter crammed with rubble. I was told the same thing that Fishtankboy said that all the other filter material can have a negative impact on water quality especially if you are going reef. We are running 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5ppm nitrate. Water is crystal clear. Keep in mind though we are running an in tank skimmer, this helps pull the waste out of the tank. Just my opinion and what we have done, seems to be working. vitaminz is a good person to ask about questions you may have. Hal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 We just converted to salt on a 36 gallon. I was told to ditch the Bio rings,floss, and replace all media with live rock rubble. In my Fluval 305 I have the long foam pieces, charcoal and the rest of the filter crammed with rubble. I was told the same thing that Fishtankboy said that all the other filter material can have a negative impact on water quality especially if you are going reef. We are running 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5ppm nitrate. Water is crystal clear. Keep in mind though we are running an in tank skimmer, this helps pull the waste out of the tank. Just my opinion and what we have done, seems to be working. vitaminz is a good person to ask about questions you may have. Hal Very interesting, ty for that...will remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tt101 Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 The problem with the canister is that it will become a detrius trap and you will have to clean it out weekly. If your willing, you can use either or. Just make sure you shake the filter material out in old tank water with each cleaning. For the pod idea, they will end up getting chopped up pm their way out so it won't help your mandarin. How about you just take some live rock, sew some cross stitching material around it and use that as a breeding ground for your mandarin. If your tank is not established for more than 6 months, I wouldn't bother buying the mandarin as it will starve out. you know i never thought about it like that.....im going to do the rock rubble and a couple bags of carbon idea. seems to be working the best and makes great sense to me. thanks for your input and i totally forgot about the impeller chopping up the copepods......i will just have to seed the tank for 6 months before adding the madarin oir i may be able to find one that has been trained to take frozen or dried food....could be hard to find though lol. We just converted to salt on a 36 gallon. I was told to ditch the Bio rings,floss, and replace all media with live rock rubble. In my Fluval 305 I have the long foam pieces, charcoal and the rest of the filter crammed with rubble. I was told the same thing that Fishtankboy said that all the other filter material can have a negative impact on water quality especially if you are going reef. We are running 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5ppm nitrate. Water is crystal clear. Keep in mind though we are running an in tank skimmer, this helps pull the waste out of the tank. Just my opinion and what we have done, seems to be working. vitaminz is a good person to ask about questions you may have. Hal thanks a lot hal, your idea is great and im going to go with that....i have a kinda newbish question but here goes. is rock rubble just broken pieces of live rock? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Just a question, but what's the difference between pods getting chopped up by a canister filter impeller, but seem to be fine to go thru a return pump impeller from a sump/fuge to the display tank? I have had baby fish go thru impellers and live in an HOB filter for weeks, so I think pods should be fine in a canister. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tt101 Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 i thought about that too....there always seems to be some that get through and them being so small im sure many could get through unharmed and for the ones that do get harmed they might still be eaten by the dragonet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halwake Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Yes live rock rubble is just smaller pieces of live rock. We broke them up a bit with a hammer so you can fit a bunch in your filter compartments Hal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tt101 Posted March 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 thanks hal. thats what i was planning on doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindasleepy Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 What's the difference between using the bio rings/bio max vs live rock rubble? They serve the same purpose do they not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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