[dobz55]

Evening all I am new here .I have had trops and cyclids for 25 years and have decided to set up one of my 3 ft tanks for marine, apparently I need a sump filter (how do I do this what do i need) I have a canister filter and a power head filter both 900 litres per hour can these be used

[isaac]

ok, we need to know if you will you have FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock) or are you going to keep corals aswell.
then we can start helping you proply

you will be able to use that powerhead for waterflow in the tank but it might not be big enough to use to return the water from the sump.
you dont realy NEED a sump you might be able to get away with that canister filter and a HOB protein skimmer. but because of the size of your tank youd probly be better of with a sump. with the extra volume of water changes in the water will have less of an effect as they would in a smaller tank ( more water to effect )
the sump also give a place to hide equipment (heaters, skimmers etc.)

with FOWLR youd get away with your tanks water turning over 5-15 times an hour but with corals youll need 15-25+

ill shutup before i give you any incorrect info. ill let sum1 with more experiance in the hobby to handle the more tachnical stuff

[dobz55]

thanks isaac have got it going now bought a good skimmer and the auarium tell me i should be ok with my exsisting filters just some new moderators?? in the filters, prob now is specific gravit have a hydrometer stuck to the side of my tank but it varies when i move it sometimes off the scale top end sometimes off the scale bottom end???????, and yes FOWLR and if possable the odd star fish or enamas(carnt spell sorry )

[isaac]

Originally Posted by dobz55

just some new moderators?? in the filters

i think he means filter media. you could buy a new replacment filter canister to go in your canister filte but ive heard of using Live Rock rubble in it instead

Originally Posted by dobz55

yes FOWLR and if possable the odd star fish or enamas

i think by enamas you mean anemones. the thing is with these they need verry stable water parameters and very high lighting such as metal halides. im not to sure about starfish tho.

[philolsen]

Rubble rock is exactly what I did, I have a Fluval 404 on a well established 55. I have almost 100 lbs of live rock so I removed all the media (sponges, carbon and bio media) and filled 3 of the four chambers with ruble rock, about 4 lbs total. But from what I have read you need to have 1 1/2 - 2 lbs of live rock per gallon in order to remove all the media as at that level it will perform better biological filtration than ANY artificial filtration will provide. If you are planning on usind only decorative pieces in the tank instead of live, you should have carbon, sponge and bio media in the filter.