Filtration newbie.... Im in trouble

[bobo33]

Im getting interested in reefing. Wanting to upgrade my 29 gal fish only with live rock to a small reef system. Currently running two Aqueon 20-30gph hang on filters, no skimmer and a quad T5 ho lighting system. New LED lighting system is in the mail. I know the filters are crap for what I want and Ive been learning about reef filtration on the web. My question is.... Is there a canister filter system out there has is sufficient for a small reef system. I would love a sump setup but I just dont have the money. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Was already given a few corals (acans, shrooms, star polyps, and pipe organs) that are doing well but I need to remedy the filtration issue quickly. Doing a 20% water change weekly. Thanks everybody.

[DloG]

I used to run a fluval 304 on 10 gallon mixed reef.

[DloG]

It worked well but couldn't keep SPS. Eventually I got tired of replacing filter pads and went with a normal sump and skimmer. It made a world of a difference. If I were you I would try to go the sump route.

[swcc]

actually the filter will work fine.. you can put carbon in one and a bag of purigen in the other. Your tank will need some added flow from a powerhead in the 750gph range. As long as you also have enough light, just add flow and coral. keep water changes regular and siphon any accumulated detritus when you change the water. Really, a small tank can run great with just some flow and light...you don't even need any actual filtration as long as you change water weekly and siphon detritus(to the tune of 5 gallons or so). I would suggest a softy and LPS tank.

[fishroomlady]

I would go with what swcc says about the filters. I would consider a skimmer made for your size tank instead of a canister. That's my suggestion. I've learned that canisters do become nitrate factories the hard way. They are great for fish only but you need really good water quality for corals....

[2hands]

How about a hang on back protein skimmer?

[bobo33]

I found a nice hang on skimmer with built in UV sterilizer. Its an Aqutop PSE1, good for tanks up to 60 gallons. Anybody else running this unit? Is that a good unit? Will it make a differance?