[James]

I recently added a Fluval 304 Canister filter to my 50gal. reef tank to help with my water clarity. I use activated carbon (chem pure) and Phos guard along with some polliester filter floss in it.
After about a week of operation my water looks more clear, but i have lost 2 feather dusters and a brain coral.=( Is it possible that I starved them to death??? Is a canister filter really the way to go with a reef tank??? Should I have bought a Sump and a overflow box instead????

any thoughts???

My tank is a 50 gal. reef Acrylic (not Drilled)
CPR backpack dual portien skimmer
Two Maxi-jet 1200 powerheads
Fluval 304 canister filter

[Reefland]

Originally Posted by James

Should I have bought a Sump and a overflow box instead????

I think so.

I don't know that running the canister filter would have caused the animals to starve or if even contributed to their death but I do think adding a sump (additional water volume) would have been money better spent.

[Ninong]

Hi James, welcome to Reefland!

I don't think you really need to run the canister filter fulltime if you're also running a protein skimmer. You could if you want to, but I don't think you really need to. When you do run it, fulltime or partime, you might want to run just GAC (granular activated carbon) without the filter floss or the PhosGuard.

The filter floss will trap detritus and this is not a good idea in a reef tank. Mechanical filtration is useful in special situations and it is fine if it is kept clean all the time. People who use filter socks or foam blocks in their sump have to rinse them out on a regular basis -- at least twice a week -- to prevent detritus buildup. SeaChem's PhosGuard is pure alumina (aluminum trioxide, Al2O3) and it will leach aluminum in saltwater. Aluminum has been shown to be toxic to leather corals at concentrations as low as 0.50 ppm. PhosGuard, when used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, has been shown to raise the concentration of aluminum in Instant Ocean saltwater from 0.06 ppm to 0.42 ppm. Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley recently published an article on this problem and he has notified Dr. Greg Morin, President of SeaChem, who has promised to investigate. I returned my unused PhosGuard to the LFS and they gave me a full refund. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...ight=PhosGuard

I think a sump is a good thing to have but you can get by without one. I have a sump myself but I have seen some nice tanks in the 50-gal and under category running with just hang-on skimmers and no sump.

[James]

Thanks for the advice. I took out the polliester fiber floss last night and left in the phos guard and the carbon, but after what you have told me, I'm thinking I may just have to do away with this canister filter alltogether.
The tank was doing fine before I had it, I guess this goes to show you, the old phrase "Don't try to fix what ain't Broke".
Trying to find a short cut to weekly water changes and it came back to haunt me.....lesson learned.

Thank you again,

James