new tank: what kind of filter works for the majority

[Slim Shaggy]

Hello hello, new here to the newsboard. thought it'd be a great place to get
bundles of opinions.

this is my setup:
33gal tank
150w heater
fluval 304
20W n.o. flourescent (i know i know, i'm waiting for payday to get a new
lighting system, any suggestions, i'm eventually aiming to get a sun polyp
in my tank, so i'm thinking ~200 watts should be sufficient, 200w giving it
6watts/gal)

Right now, I'm waiting on my substrate to arrive, so my tank right now has
sal****er and I threw some fish food in there to break down to give it an
ammonia spike. I threw on an aquaclear mini for some water movement, and
cranked the heater (water's about 82F-84F just to help the bacteria grow)

I'm wanting this to be a LR tank moreso than a FO tank. For the experienced
what has worked the best for filter systems? UGFs, canisters, hang ons,
powerheads and live rock? Since I don't have my gravel yet I think it'll be
simple to get the right filter system right off the bat.

these are aquired opinions so far:
UGF: helps keep algae down because of the water flow underneath the gravel
helps it from being stale.
fluval 304: bad news, holds the nitrates quite well

I was thinkng about going with the UGF with 2 powerheads on either side of
the tank to give it oodles of current. Is mechanical filtration necessary
with live rock?

Thanks in advance for your time.
-John.

[wolfhedd]

well, when i saw the fact that you may decide to use an undergravel filter,
i decided to reply. I never had any luck with those, but i was just a kid.
always seemed a good way to get crud trapped in a system, that dead air
space below the filters...... i would try an external filter because your
tank isnt too big already, and if your talking about having corals in there,
you may benefit by getting the filter out of tank leaving more room, and
even adding more water holding capacity effectively enlarging your tanks
water volume, now from here you could even go refugium in the future, but i
would start out with a wet dry floor filter for your setup with atleast two
55w power compacts, no flourescent since you already know you will be
needing a light upgrady and have limited canopy space, unless you already
have the flourescent and wont have to spend anything on it, guess it would
be ok to use in the meantime...... i would have about 1/1/2 inch or more
DSB in the tank and try starting a partial DSB in the wet dry, then start
culling the herd on bio balls when your system gets established and throw a
light on your old wet dry filter and throw some live sand and calupera algae
in it at that point, and keep it covered(under the stand so the light wont
show), creating yourself a semi efficient refugium
wolfhedd

"Slim Shaggy" > wrote in message
...
> Hello hello, new here to the newsboard. thought it'd be a great place to
get
> bundles of opinions.
>
> this is my setup:
> 33gal tank
> 150w heater
> fluval 304
> 20W n.o. flourescent (i know i know, i'm waiting for payday to get a new
> lighting system, any suggestions, i'm eventually aiming to get a sun polyp
> in my tank, so i'm thinking ~200 watts should be sufficient, 200w giving
it
> 6watts/gal)
>
> Right now, I'm waiting on my substrate to arrive, so my tank right now has
> sal****er and I threw some fish food in there to break down to give it an
> ammonia spike. I threw on an aquaclear mini for some water movement, and
> cranked the heater (water's about 82F-84F just to help the bacteria grow)
>
> I'm wanting this to be a LR tank moreso than a FO tank. For the
experienced
> what has worked the best for filter systems? UGFs, canisters, hang ons,
> powerheads and live rock? Since I don't have my gravel yet I think it'll
be
> simple to get the right filter system right off the bat.
>
> these are aquired opinions so far:
> UGF: helps keep algae down because of the water flow underneath the gravel
> helps it from being stale.
> fluval 304: bad news, holds the nitrates quite well
>
> I was thinkng about going with the UGF with 2 powerheads on either side of
> the tank to give it oodles of current. Is mechanical filtration necessary
> with live rock?
>
> Thanks in advance for your time.
> -John.
>
>