I would love to get the same answer more than once

[reefer2011]

I am a newbie to the whole reef thing and I'm already completely discouraged. I'm tired of getting 5 different answers to the same questions. I don't know what to believe anymore so I'm hoping someone can help me. Prior to turning to sw, my tank was freshwater. I used a Rena 2 canister filter and was told that my tank was small enough (46 bow) that I could use the same filter when I switched to salt and I didn't need a sump or protein skimmer. Tank has now been set up for about a month, I go into a new reef store today and I'm told that I am going to have big problems using my canister and that I must have a skimmer. Can someone please give me advice on wether or not I can use my canister effectively and do I need a skimmer?

 

[qy7400]

Simple answers....

-46 Bow front is fine, nano tanks are half this volume and a very popular tank for many and run without a skimmer; my 20G has 2 power heads, light and a heater for the winter.
-Canister filter, strip down the media and only use is for carbon and/or phosban. Sponges will end up trapping food and waste so would need to be cleaned often, better off without them.
-Skimmer, a big plus but you can get away without one if you keep up with water changes.
-Only reason you cannot re-use the tank would be if you used copper.

 

[CONSTANTNE]

qy7400 basically covered everything. In your case without using a sump, a hang-on skimmer would be benefical but definiately not needed with proper water changes.

 

[reefer2011]

Thank you so much! I can finally breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy my tank. One other question, would you recommend putting some broken up live rock in the canister to aid in filtration? I have about 50 - 55 lbs of live rock in the tank.

 

[NYreefNoob]

how about giving us a breakdown of all the equiptment you have for the tank ?

 

[reefer2011]

46 bow
Marineland Double Bright LED lighting
Hydor Koralia Evolution 450 powerhead
Rena 2 canister filtration system
50 - 55 lbs of live rock
2" bed of live sand