need a good cheap filter

[sikpupy]

I have a aquaclear 20 and feel I need something better. No so much as in more, but, better. The unit I have now seems to do "okay", but, I think a filter could do a lot better. Is there something out there that has a good turn over rate, captures ALL the water it pulls in, maybe does not have the intake so close to the drain, so particals floating around can actually get sucked in rather than pushed away, at or around $40 or am I asking too much?

[landlord]

You could probably score a canister filter of the selling forum for that price. Just keep your eyes peeled. I have seen the Fluval style filters on craigslist pretty cheap as well.

[ReefTECK]

Fluvals allow bypass if they become saturated with waste, which shouldn't be a problem since if you run a canister filter on a reef tank, IMO, you should maintenance it very regularly about every 2-3 weeks. Thoroughly clean it as build up of detrius and meiofauna in a canister filter can become septic.

Canister filters do not provide a significant amount of oxidation as compared to a wet dry or power filter, and again IMO, serve primarily as mechanical and chemical filters, and would be best if used as a supplement to a powerfilter or other device that breaks the surface tension to allow oxygen dissolution.

If I was in the same predicament I would look for a HOT Magnum, which reduces the amount of bypass, or eliminates it with a micron cartridge. You can probably find a used one for around 40 bucks.

Of course simply increasing water changing frequency is probably your best bet.

That's my .02 cents,
andy

[sikpupy]

Thanks, yea, I noticed the canister filters might be what i need when I started doing my homework after posting. I might end up using it as a dual purpose secondary filter when I do cleaning and blowing off the LR. When I blow off my LR, s**t flys everywhere and just settles back down on top. It does not seem to get sucked into the filter I have fast enough. I might even just use it as a vacume cleaner of sorts first, and have some kind of valve on it to switch it to filter mode when everything is still floating around.

[downhillbiker]

The best way to do filtration on a reef is to not use much. I use a canister for carbon only, no media whatsoever. I run a protein skimmer, and that is it. I keep a filter sock for when I am doing major tank cleaning and want it to catch floating stuff, but other than that, the skimmer should do most of the work.

The problem with things like HOB filters and canisters is that they start trapping detritus immediately, then it is trapped there, along with food, decaying for weeks on end. Then you clean it and start all over, but in the mean time you are holding that decaying food and detritus in the system.

If you run with a skimmer and carbon only, your skimmer will run slowly all day, and remove any small bits of protein. When you feed, the skimmer will go nuts, and probably fill the cup a couple times in an hour, and then get back down to normal.>>>Bad stuff is out. It takes longer to get it out, but when it is, it's truly out of the water column.

I dont know if you have a sump or not, but if you do get a good in sump skimmer, like an octopus, they are cheap and very effective. If you dont have a sump get a ramora C, or a viaaqua multi skimmer deluxe. I have had the viaaqua, and it works amazing.

[sikpupy]

Thanks for the info, i will look into that kind of setup. I kind of want a dirty tank on this 20 long setup. i ust want something that will suck out the heavy detrus, not something that will clean like a skimmer, well, not just yet anyways. This will definitly get rinsed every week too. On top of that, there will be no fishys in here, well, maybe one at some time, but mainly filter feeders and corals and some pods. I still feed a little mysis and some phyto plankton that will need to be cleaned from time to time, maybe once every three weeks off the bottom.