Hang on here what kind of coral do you have? All softies is my guess. for
a 90 gallon you need ar lewast 2,250 gallons of flow per hour. 30 in
reality you need top line all four sides of the tank with emperor 400's to
give you enough flow. Just gecause they say 400 does nopt mean they flow
400 gallons per hour it is probably closer to 400 liters which is a lot
less.


"Bryan" wrote in message
...
Rene,

I have a 90 gallon reef with 2 Emperor 400 filters running. This is a
little bit more turnover than required for a 90 gallon and that's exactly
what I wanted. Up until a week ago the Emperors were my only filter
running.

I can tell you after 4 months of running that I wouldn't do it any other
way. I don't do a lot of water changes compared to others and my water is
great. (I do test often.) The fish are happy, the corals are growing and
look healthy. I recently put a skimmer on because it was given to me for
free. I will only run it every once in a while though. The Emperor also
does a great CO2 to O2 exchange.

One thing extra I really like about the 400's are that they have extra
filter boxes in them. If you want to add more charcoal, phosphate
filters, anything.... the trays are there. They are rather quiet in my
opinion but I have to admit that I haven't listened to a lot of other
filters to compare.

I have read the biowheels can be removed after the live rock has really
grown coralline. This is because the wheels can accumulate nitrates. I
haven't seen this mentioned on the manufacturer's website though. In
reality, the bio-wheels should never be changed. You want those to grow
and accumulate the good algae.

If I had to pick something that I could change, I wish they weren't as
wide. They need to be for their purpose, but I can't put a lot more on the
back of the tank. (I'm building a sump that will help this.) So consider
that when you are designing your tank. They need about 4.5" of back space
to the wall but the width may take up room that you want for a skimmer, a
siphon overflow, air tubes, whatever.

I learned about these filters from a guy whose been running many tanks for
years. His tanks are awesome. From there I went and did some reading.
Add 2 or 3 power heads and you are ready.

Sorry if that was long-winded.

Good luck,

Bryan
www.geocities.com/bryg30


"Rene" wrote in message
ups.com...
I am wanting to start a 55 gallon reef tank. My local store
recommended emperor filter system. will that work for my tank or
should i get another type filter system. also what would be good for
lighting.

thanks