Running Canister without media

D

darthgoby

AC Members
Dec 28, 2006
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I was wondering how many people run their canister filters without any media including bioballs and the various filter pads that are provided with the filter.

I have an XP3 Canister filter and was running it with the ceramic rings which I since removed. I left the filter pads in and replaced after the first couple of months. I also have a CPR protein skimmer and two powerheads for additional filtering and water movement.

Is there any upside/downside to running it with the filter pads? I'm wondering what others are doing.
 
personally, i would leave the filter pads out of it, if you have enough live rock, there is no need. Filter pads, unless you routinly wash in tank water EVERY week, can seriously cause issues with nitrates..

Just use it for extra circulation mate

Niko
 
I'm wondering what happens then to the gunk and stuff which is pulled out of the tank and into the canister filter? If the pads aren't there, would it be cycled back into the tank. I don't know about you but when I clean my canister filter I find all sorts of bits of stuff (food, etc).

Would it be better for that stuff to go back into tank where it can be consumed by the clean up crew instead of staying in my filter and decaying?
 
well, i dont run any filter at all, just live rock...you clean up crew if you have one already will sort some out and the rest will get sorted at the end of the cycle when you do a large water change and start skimming...providing you have enough flow in the tank, all particle matter ( food bits etc etc ) will stay in the water column and be removed by the skimmer...if you are running a filter with pads, do as i said above and clean the every week, religieously in some tank water...

Niko
 
My tank is about 3 months old and I have 60 lbs of live rock and about 60-70 pounds of live sand. I have quite a diverse clean up crew of snails, hermits, a sally lightfoot, and pencil urchin to keep things clean. I take out my pads this weekend and see how it goes.
 
In the interest of science, I'm going to take some baseline nitrate readings when I get home and note the change in Nitrates over the next month after I take out the pads.

I'll try and keep everything else (light, feeding, etc) the same and not add any livestock. It should be an interesting experience.
 
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