i Have A Question About Filters.
Im Starting A 36g FOWLR Bowfront Tank and I Cant Figure Out What Type of Filter to Use??
I Do Have Space For A Little Sump But I Like The Canister Filters Refugiums Are Good, Wet/Dry Might Work For The Size?
An Advice??????? Please Help!!!!!!
Any of those would be fine for a FOWLR system. Generaly canisters and wet/dry are not used for reef systems because they can generate excess nitrates. Are you planning on staying FOWLR, or might you go full reef one day?
Phurst is right. You'll have no problems using a canister filter with a FO/LR. I still like using sumps on any tank. I've even used them with fresh water systems. It allows you to hide equipment that may distract from the tank.
Hello Privitor to TR! I agrre with the others. I have a 20G nano, but do not have a sump for it, so I use a HOTskimmer and once in a while put on a Magnum HOT filter to polish the water.
Any of those would be fine for a FOWLR system. Generaly canisters and wet/dry are not used for reef systems because they can generate excess nitrates. Are you planning on staying FOWLR, or might you go full reef one day?
i do plan on going full reef soon but since this is my first salty i wanted to start with the rocks first before building the reef. I DO WAN TO GO FULL REEF (with some fish!!!)
so whats the best filter to start with?
like said i like the canisters because its compact and i dont have alot of space in the cabinet.
and just like JustDavidP said i do want to hide most of it.
Well, if you want to go reef, IMO, it's best to set up the system as though it were a reef now, and then you can gradualy make it so. As PhotoJohn mentioned, a sump really is the way to go. Depending on how big it is, you can have a combination sump/refugium. I'd skip the canisters and wet/dry in favor of 1 to 2 pounds of live rock per gallon and a deep sandbed. That, plus a protein skimmer and some good water circulation are all the filtration you'll need.
Agreed... the type of natural filtrations that we use on a reef set up will work just as well with a FO tank. Then, it doesn't take much to switch over, once we convert you
so whats the difference between a sump and i refugium?? they look like the same thing to me except one goes under the tank and one goes on the back. is this correct.
Sumps are primarily used to house filtration, heating, dosing systems etc. Refugiums are just that, a "refuge" for "something". In our case, it's macro algae, pods, mysid etc. that would be quickly consumed (preyed upon) in the display tank.
With that said, some folks, like myself, design and use sumps with a refugium section built in. In my picture below, the entire left section of the box is what a traditional sump would be. I've added the right side, with refugium as a part of the design.
Refugiums need not be above the tank. Some folks feel that they must, so you can "gravity" feed the water and such from the refugium to the tank. They feel that a pump would chop the mysid, copepods, amphipods, isopods and other critters to shreds. I've done my own (sick) testing, by pumping the micro crustaceans caught in a filter sock, from a bucket, into another bucket. I found losses only in the huge gammarus amphipods. Like the one below (actually just a molt). Otherwise, the smaller critters made it through unharmed.
In actuality, you want these larger monsters to stay behind in the fuge, as breeders, and let the smaller versions thereof into the display as seed. I've NEVER had a problem with a refugium pumped up, from below the tank.
to TR! I agrre with the others. I have a 20G nano, but do not have a 
It's only a few days from being in my home!!
