Is it possible to overfilter a sal****er tank?

I am setting up my first sal****er tank. (converted from freshwater)

It is 38 gal

I have 3/4 of the tank with undergravel filter with crushed coral on
top. Using a 145 gph power head

I also have an emperor 280 hang on filter.
I think this is 280 gph ??

I also have a large protein skimmer for a 90gal tank.

I plan on small fish, and hopefully some live rock.

Pete,

IMO, I don't think you can overfilter a SW tank. A big skimmer will pull out
some trace elements along with the bad stuff, but that's part of running a
skimmer.

Lots of people will advise you to lose the undergravel filter. They're not
usually recommended for SW.

Personally, I don't think you have a great deal of filtration on that tank.
I have a 29-gallon fish-only, with a 10-gallon DIY wet-dry/sump. I'm using a
Mag 7 for a return, so at about 4' head, I'm pushing around 480 GPH.

For reef tanks, many advocate a flow rate of 10 times the water volume!

Take a look at the many superb aquaria forums on the web. You'll get a lot
of great information.

Hope this helps!

--

To see how I cycled a brand-new 5-gallon tank using household ammonia, take
a look at: http://members.cox.net/gbundersea/aq...on/cycling.htm

Also see my Jensalt sump horror story site:
http://members.cox.net/~gbundersea/a...s/badsumps.htm

Greg Bunch
gbundersea AT cox DOT net
http://www.gbundersea.com
Creator of the Digital Lens Dock,
MXTENDER Optical Strobe Cable System
for the Sea&Sea MX-10, and the Save-A-Lens Kit
for MX-10 and Motormarine



"Pete" wrote in message
...
I am setting up my first sal****er tank. (converted from freshwater)

It is 38 gal

I have 3/4 of the tank with undergravel filter with crushed coral on
top. Using a 145 gph power head

I also have an emperor 280 hang on filter.
I think this is 280 gph ??

I also have a large protein skimmer for a 90gal tank.

I plan on small fish, and hopefully some live rock.

I am setting up my first sal****er tank. (converted from freshwater)
It is 38 gal
I have 3/4 of the tank with undergravel filter with crushed coral on
top. Using a 145 gph power head

for a reef this would be over filtration nothing would be able to complete the nitrogen
cycle with the bio mass(not sure thats 100% correct wording) of a UGF they are too
efficient at nitrification in a FW tank thats a good thing, in a SW tank, generallly its a
bad thing, there also more prone to failures in SW tanks. old tank syndrom hits sooner, LR
piles have crushed them ocasionally(ok ive herd of it 3 times now)

I also have an emperor 280 hang on filter.
I think this is 280 gph ??

this would also be over filtration for a reef. also because its too efficient at
nitrification, it however isnt too much for a FO or even a FOWLR depending on how they are
stocked, it might not be enough.

I also have a large protein skimmer for a 90gal tank.

this isnt even close to over filtration

I plan on small fish, and hopefully some live rock.

that makes the HOB a good thing, the UGF still remains a bad thing


another note, any mechanical filtration is generally considered a bad thing on a reef, not
so on a FO or FOWLR but for a reef, removal of plankton is more harmfull than the gain of
removing floating fish poooo, which some of the small critters eat anyways.

HTH

--
richard reynolds

do you have your mag 7 in your sump under water ? I have mine in a 5 gallon
sump and it seems to get pretty warm and heats the water. Do you know if it
can be safely run without being submerged in water ?


"Greg Bunch" wrote in message
.. .
Pete,

IMO, I don't think you can overfilter a SW tank. A big skimmer will pull
out
some trace elements along with the bad stuff, but that's part of running a
skimmer.

Lots of people will advise you to lose the undergravel filter. They're not
usually recommended for SW.

Personally, I don't think you have a great deal of filtration on that
tank.
I have a 29-gallon fish-only, with a 10-gallon DIY wet-dry/sump. I'm using
a
Mag 7 for a return, so at about 4' head, I'm pushing around 480 GPH.

For reef tanks, many advocate a flow rate of 10 times the water volume!

Take a look at the many superb aquaria forums on the web. You'll get a lot
of great information.

Hope this helps!

--

To see how I cycled a brand-new 5-gallon tank using household ammonia,
take
a look at: http://members.cox.net/gbundersea/aq...on/cycling.htm

Also see my Jensalt sump horror story site:
http://members.cox.net/~gbundersea/a...s/badsumps.htm

Greg Bunch
gbundersea AT cox DOT net
http://www.gbundersea.com
Creator of the Digital Lens Dock,
MXTENDER Optical Strobe Cable System
for the Sea&Sea MX-10, and the Save-A-Lens Kit
for MX-10 and Motormarine



"Pete" wrote in message
...
I am setting up my first sal****er tank. (converted from freshwater)

It is 38 gal

I have 3/4 of the tank with undergravel filter with crushed coral on
top. Using a 145 gph power head

I also have an emperor 280 hang on filter.
I think this is 280 gph ??

I also have a large protein skimmer for a 90gal tank.

I plan on small fish, and hopefully some live rock.

"plaguebeast" wrote in message
...
do you have your mag 7 in your sump under water ? I have mine in a 5
gallon
sump and it seems to get pretty warm and heats the water. Do you know if
it
can be safely run without being submerged in water ?


yes they can, but they still add a good amount of heat to the water. I have
a Mag 12 external and it heats the tank (29 gallon) from 76 up to 82 with
just the pump running closed loop.

kc