Filter quit

you can forever without a filter as long as you have liverock and a skimmer. I dont use one in my 55gal. although you do have a lot of stock in that tank.

 

FX5 rocks

 

I am curious about this FX5 filter. Can you tell me the advantages it would have running on a reef tank?

 

Personally I say save your money for the tank upgrade. You said you are already running a skimmer and 2 powerheads. That stuff combined with your live rock and sand you have enough filtration. Just do regular water changes and you will be fine. If you are set on some type of mechanical filtration pick up a reactor that you can carbon or gfo in.

 

+1 what Gered said

 

I think you are missing the point.  These filters will rock on a freshwater system because they are great at breaking down harmful fish waste and converting it into a far less toxic substance nitrate.  In a reef tank you want very few if any nitrates.  Buying a filter that is basically a nitrate factory is not going to do a lick of good on a reef tank no matter how much you spend.
If you want a proper filter look into getting a better skimmer.  Skimming filters the water mechanically and actually separates fish waste and other pollutants out of the water column rather than constantly running your water through it. 
Canister filters are a complete waste of money for a reef tank.
Sorry to bust your bubble, they are awesome filters, just not for reef tanks.
Some of the most beautiful and successful reef tanks are run with just a good skimmer and some live rock.

 

Bah lol I knew someone was gonna use the phrase 'nitrate factory'! lol
I find it funny because that's all anyone says about cans... I run one with the Hiatt system and my nitrates, even if I dump waaaaay more food than I should in the tank, and after 2 months no wc's, it never goes above 10ppm...

If NOT using such a system as above, I can see how it would make a big difference, but since you already have some of the other hardware, I would probably agree with the above and just go the sump/fuge route once you upgrade.

But I did go with the FX5 mainly for turnover rate. And it is really sturdy and well built. (just an outside opinion, prolly gonna get another when I upgrade myself since I don't want/need any skimmers/LR)

 

Posted By Kungpaoshizi on 06/14/2010 11:15 PM
Bah lol I knew someone was gonna use the phrase 'nitrate factory'! lol
I find it funny because that's all anyone says about cans... I run one with the Hiatt system and my nitrates, even if I dump waaaaay more food than I should in the tank, and after 2 months no wc's, it never goes above 10ppm...
If NOT using such a system as above, I can see how it would make a big difference, but since you already have some of the other hardware, I would probably agree with the above and just go the sump/fuge route once you upgrade.
But I did go with the FX5 mainly for turnover rate. And it is really sturdy and well built. (just an outside opinion, prolly gonna get another when I upgrade myself since I don't want/need any skimmers/LR)
It is what it is....
I would like to see some proof of this "overfeeding and no wc's for 2 months 10ppm nitrate" scenario.  The ammonia has to break down into something and the end result is always (eventually) nitrates.  The only way to remove nitrates is by water changes or using a reactor.  They are just going to build overtime,  I would say if you can go that long without doing wc's and over feeding, then you arenlt really over feeding that much at all. 
Its chemistry, not magic....

 

You might want to read up on the "Hiatt cycle"..

I was told by anyone and everyone "omg don't waste your money! It won't work!"
But after reading the patents and analyzing the strains I decided to try it. It works, anyone who says otherwise obviously hasn't used it.
I still have yet to see a record of anyone using it and it NOT working, but some did consider it to create a tank "too clean" and stopped.
But I love it, because of my messy puffers I don't have any issue with the "too clean" scenario, and I do overfeed A LOT! lol

The nitrate reduction occurs because of a strain that oxydizes the carbon in the tri-based pelletized carbon. And yes, it different than GAC, I believe it to be the synthetic lignite aside from the coconut and coal based carbons in it.

I would highly suggest it to anyone, it cuts out the need for any hardware other than a canister to hold the TBPC..

I've been flamed and banned on a couple forums because I defended it where others gave me a harsh judgement on baseless opinions.. lol
/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

 

Posted By Kungpaoshizi on 06/15/2010 07:33 AM
You might want to read up on the "Hiatt cycle"..
Done!  Interesting concept but I am not sold.  I am not saying this method won't work and I may have been wrong in calling it a "nitrate factory" as I was unaware of the chemical portion of this filter.
I still wouldn't reccomend this type of filter on a reef tank though.  There is just too much that could go wrong when relying on chemical filtration.  Skimmers and live rock are proven to work very efficiently and there is very little maintenence invlolved.
If however someone wins TOTM on Reef Central who is just running one of these for filtration I will glady take everything I said back.
This just goes to show there are more ways of doing things in this hobby, there is no right or worng but I preffer the true and tried method as it has always worked for me in the past.
Now, if I were to setup another freshwater stingray tank I wouldn't hesitate getting a couple of these. 

 

Ya, I bet it wouldn't even be considered for TOTM just because people have their opinions about this 'unconventional' method...
You would not believe all the flames I've received even before I tried it and was purely just asking about it lol

 

Posted By Kungpaoshizi on 06/15/2010 11:51 AM
Ya, I bet it wouldn't even be considered for TOTM just because people have their opinions about this 'unconventional' method...
You would not believe all the flames I've received even before I tried it and was purely just asking about it lol
I can beleive it, standing up for something unconventional is usually a loosing battle.  I am glad you brought it up just because I got to learn about something new. You do have to admit though, without the chemical portion of this filter it still would be labled as mearly another "canister filter" which we both know aren't that well suited for reefs along with trickle filter and other sort of old school biological filtration methods.
As far as the TOMT thing goes I don't think people would be to awfully biased on the filtration as long as its packed to the gills with pastel looking SPS colonies.
I was just using that as an example of how conventional methods do indeed work, although most of the tanks you see win nowdays are Zeo tanks or something like them.

 

Ahh I see what you mean, ya, I was looking at the tanks and it looks like tanks that have been up for awhile, or built by people with the extra cash to splurge on stuff lol

I dunno though, I hear people say 'that system is old, go LR/skimmer', which I agree is totally a worthwhile way to do it BUT I always think of the guy who was in the article with the 40 year old reef tank, and he still runs a UGF...
Personally I don't mind the maintenance, it gives me a break from the IT work I do 24/7... I was considering a reverse flow UGF just because it would be kinda fun/quiet, but then I found this system, and tried it, and it really is just amazingly simple... I looked into the zeo stuff, but that's pricey imo..
This stuff is pretty much a "set it up and leave it", and since the bacteria are so aggressive towards breaking down waste in the system, it's absolutely perfect for my messy puffers lol

Sorry, back on subject lol, I did find though with my fx5, since it's on a 55g it did indeed suck a lot of uneaten stuff in even after turning it off during feeding, but I found that placing a couple obstacles in the way of it, it didn't get a chance to create such a huge suction on free floating stuff that went by.. (just leaned a couple broken flower pots over the input)
But you are correct, in a LR/skimm setup it wouldn't really be needed, but I just like to have mechanical filtration as an extra measure /shrug
Even if nothing was in it and I did use a LR/skimm setup, I would still run Purigen with it lol! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/biggrin.gif
Before I got onto this system I loved purigen, but then once I started this system I went to recharge it and left it out for a few weeks, didn't even make a difference, so I just used it on another tank.

Speaking of TOTM though, we should nominate JB! lol

 

you need a bigger tank is what you need lol. but yeah i have a 55gal and all i run is a skimmer