filtration question for a 72 gal FO tank

E

Etown

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Mar 14, 2004
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Hey,
Im setting up a 72 gal FO tank, and have asked several forums wat filter i should get for it, and almost all of them gave me the lame answer of 'get a whole lot of live rock'... theres got to be a better answer than that. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

mark
 
what are you going to be keeping? Is it always going to be FO? Going to convert to a reef in the future?
 
It will always be a FO tank. I dont think i will ever try having a reef after my last fiasco...





thanks for any reply
mark
 
well, you could setup the tank with either a wet/dry of canister filter.

Your going to need to do pretty frequent water changes, and you probably wont be able to keep any inverts alive, but the starting cost will be significantly cheaper than starting with LR.
 
im getting really fine sand, a few rocks to make an 'island' in the center of the tank, and a few fish... like a picasso trigger, pink face wrasse, marine betta. ( havent really decided on the exact fish yet)

basically thats how the tank will look. Would a Fluval 404 be enough for this tank? or would i have to get like a really high end canister filter? I asked this question on reefland and they told me "get like 90 lbs of LR" ... yea ok :p


thanks again
mark
 
There are several options for setting up a FO tank. Depending on the fish you intend to have, some will be very maintenance intensive. A wet-dry filter is very efficient at dealing with ammonia and nitrites, but incapable of dealing with nitrates. They require regular maintenance--either with a mechanical pre-filter that requires often cleaning, or with a regular rinsing to remove solid wastes that become trapped within the media.

Why are you reluctant to use live rock? It is an efficient biological filtration, providing space for colonies of both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria--this is why it's encouraged in all tanks. It also provides a good place for fish to hide--something that can not be overlooked, even in a FO tank. If you do not use live rock, I would urge you to use tufa, or lava rock init's place. While the dry rock will not import the needed bacteria, they will still provide a good place for the bacteria to grow in addition to providing shelter for the fish.
 
im reluctant to use live rock because, i spent $2000 on a reef set up that from the start was doomed because of the live rock, i had battles with aiptasia, caulerpa, algae blooms like crazy and all the other fun stuff, in the end the aiptasia got so bad that i just got rid of all the live rock for like 1/3 the price i paid, i was just not very happy with the whole situation, and i dont want to have to deal with that again

I dont plan on getting any maintainence intensive fish, like sharks or angels or anything.

So I guess ill evaluate my budget again and decide if im gonna get a Fluval or an Eheim

thanks
mark
 
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