When can I lose the canister?

[fishmom]

OK guys--I have had the protein skimmer going for 2 weeks now...still adjusting it a bit but so far no HUGE issues. It seems to take spells of pulling out a lot af cloudy looking water...but no real "nasty gunk" I hear others talk about.
My question for right now is: When can I lose the canister filter.....I really think that thing is the source of a lot of water issues and would be more than happy to pull-the-plug right now.

P.S. the return for the canister flows thru the water heater (I think)...will that be an issue?

Thanks in advance for all the wonderful advice I KNOW you will be giving!!!:bowdown:

 

[little_fish]

Pull it now! YAY!

But im not really sure by what you mean in the PS statement.

 

[Bifferwine]

You can take it off now. If you don't have a lot of fish, and you don't feed heavily, the protein skimmer won't pull much gunk.

 

[Ogaawd]

can we get a nice picture of the skimmer? sounds like your wet skimming

 

[fishmom]

can we get a nice picture of the skimmer? sounds like your wet skimming

[/ATTACH]

Forgot I had the camera set to black/white for snow pictures.....:frustrat:

 

[fishmom]

P.S.---the hose that pulls water from the tank to the canister runs "through" the heater (hollow tube)...then thru the canister and back out that spray thingy....will the heater still work?

 

[bjohanson1234]

Could you get a pictureof that? Most heaters that I have seen are about a foot long and sit inside the tank. Never have seen one like you describe.

The way you are descibing it, the heater wont work because it is heating the water in the tube of the canister. so If you remove the canister, the water wont be going through that tube anymore. You could leave the canister, but remove all the media and use it as an extra powerhead and then the heater would still work.

 

[fishmom]

Could you get a pictureof that? Most heaters that I have seen are about a foot long and sit inside the tank. Never have seen one like you describe.

The way you are descibing it, the heater wont work because it is heating the water in the tube of the canister. so If you remove the canister, the water wont be going through that tube anymore. You could leave the canister, but remove all the media and use it as an extra powerhead and then the heater would still work.

Ah-ha!!!! Great idea....my hubs thinks the canister is harmless ---I believe otherwise.....He is thinking about starting his "own" tank"...... I might give the canister to him......

I will look at the heater set-up and figure it all out.

 

[Ogaawd]

Thanks for the pics, looks a bit wet as the bubbles in the riser are pretty big, try lowering the water level a tiny bit, when its like that the bubbles break and wash whats been collected back into the skimmer body and back to the tank, if a little bit lower (gate valve) you will see some dirty froth start to build. Any time your hands are in the tank, adding food etc the skimmer will stop making foam for a bit

 

[BL1]

The HOB skimmers don't use gate valve like the in-sump models.

Give it another week or two two break in, then adjust the cup level to where the bubbles barely start to reach the top of the neck. That'll help to not get such watery gunk.

 

[Ogaawd]

lol, yeah Brian, been a while since I had a HOB

 

[BL1]

It's all good, I just switched out from that same model.

 

[fishmom]

Could you get a pictureof that? Most heaters that I have seen are about a foot long and sit inside the tank. Never have seen one like you describe.

The way you are descibing it, the heater wont work because it is heating the water in the tube of the canister. so If you remove the canister, the water wont be going through that tube anymore. You could leave the canister, but remove all the media and use it as an extra powerhead and then the heater would still work.

Maybe I didn't describe it correctly--the gray tube on the outside of the tank pulls water thru the black tube (heater) in the tank....from there the warmed water goes to the canister and back out.....

P.S. My clown fist is such a 'ham'.......(or hog--thinks I am gonna feed him....lol[/ATTACH]

 

[Cathic]

Buy a new heater IMO

 

[Bifferwine]

That's a strange looking heater. I would also just replace it with a normal one.

 

[fishmom]

Thanks-----since hubs thinks the canister is such a wonderful thing...maybe I will give it to him for "his" tank along with the heater....

 

[Bifferwine]

Thanks-----since hubs thinks the canister is such a wonderful thing...maybe I will give it to him for "his" tank along with the heater....

How kind of you!! :lol:

Canisters are not all bad. I have one (a Rena XP -- it actually looks very similar to what you have), and I used it to run carbon when I had to medicate the tank for flatworms. They have their uses here and there.

 

[fishmom]

If I remove all the media from the canister and use it as a powerhead--could I put some of the live rock rubble in the canister? Will it still require 'cleaning' with the live rubble in it?

 

[little_fish]

Nope, and i think that is a great idea

 

[sen5241b]

How kind of you!! :lol:

Canisters are not all bad. I have one (a Rena XP -- it actually looks very similar to what you have), and I used it to run carbon when I had to medicate the tank for flatworms. They have their uses here and there.

1+

Canisters are only bad when you let detritus build up in them and they become a huge detritus trap leaching nitrates and phosphates back into the water. IF you use them 24/7 they can help with water quality but most people get sick of cleaning them out every few days.

KEEP the canister filter for emergency situations where you need to run the water thru some media for a limited amount of time like a day or two to remove something toxic.