Canister filter...to use or not to use

[Seadogs]

Hi all! We have had fresh, cold water tanks for years and we set up a 150gal for our 16" Long Nosed Gar. Well, Garth, our Gar had an accident and is no longer with us. :(
We have always wanted a salt water tank, so since we had a big tank with no fishy, we decided to take the plunge!
We completely stripped the tank and scrubbed it down with vinegar. Then, we set it up with sand, water (salt of course!:) , 2 Remora Pro's with Mag3's, a Mag7 for circulation and, for my question, an Eheim 2219 canister filter. We have 3-4" of sand and 45 lbs. of LR (will be getting more LR). Should we even be running a canister and if so, what kind of media should we have in it? We have been using it primarily it for added circulation.
We are planning for the tank to be a FOWLR with probably a medium bioload.
Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated!:)

[bertoni]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

I'd start by just using the canister filter to run carbon, or for extra water motion. If the fish load isn't too high, you won't need the biological media in it, and that type of filtration seems to cause nitrate problems in some tanks. 45 lbs might be a little light on the live rock, though. The usual guess is 1-1.5 lbs per gallon.

[Ti]

You can run it, just keep it clean

[iCam]

I would use mine to run carbon and other media. The only time I would put a filter in it was to catch detritus that I blew out of the rocks, and afterwards I would take the filter out.

[Seadogs]

Thanks for the REALLY quick response!
So, would running just carbon be a significant help or would I be better off getting a powerhead for the salt water tank and switching the canister to one of my other fresh water tanks? Also, I do not have any salt water fish yet. The tank is still cycling and we have more LR to get.

[iCam]

It depends on what you are planning to keep. Canister filters are ideal for running different media because of the great water/media contact, and higher flow. If anything, it can be used to add extra flow since you can adjust the nozzle in different directions.

If you use a filter, just make sure that you keep it clean. Any food or other that gets sucked in is just going to sit there and further deteriorate.

[bertoni]

I think carbon is well worth running. It can help remove various organic toxins from the water, for example.

For circulation, you'll want to have 750-2200 gallons per hour. The Mag3s on the Remora Pros won't count because they'll mostly be pumping air. So you might need some powerheads in any case. Sorry if this info is redundant.

[Seadogs]

Thanks! I'll get some carbon in there. As far as cleaning the canister, the destructions for the eheim said that cleaning it would need to be done every 3-4 months. With just acrbon, would this still hold true?
We won't be adding any fish for about a month or so. Tank's gotta cycle, fish gotta wait. :)

[bertoni]

You'll want to replace the carbon at least once a month, but I don't think it'll need cleaning all that often unless the pump starts to clog up. I don't use that type of filter, so I can't really tell you much more.