do salt water fish tanks really need a dry vac filter???

Question

ok i have a salt water fish tank with a fuval 405 and a fuval 305 canisters on a 75 gallon tank....i want to put soft corals and enniamis (i dont know how to spell that) 2 clown fish 1 blue tang 1 yellow tang and three star fish.... the people and the fish store are saying i need a special light...ok i got it it cost me $400 and now thier saying i need a wet/dry filter.....but why???? because it needs oxygen ok so i put some bubbles in the tank does that help???? i'm so confused...do i really need to spend another $200 on a wet/dry vac or will my canisters create enough good bacteria with no problem????? to support what i want??? HELP!!!!

Answer 1

They were correct in telling you about lighting requirement for corals. And your investment for the lighting will pay off with healthy corals.

But you don't need a wet/dry filter for a 75 gallon as you have plenty of good filtration from the setup you described.

If you are concerned about oxygen level add an air diffuser stone (real fine air stone) or a regular one.

Your setup sounds fine to me. I don't have corals but I breed anemone fish and have many anemones and plenty of spawning and hatching going on and I do know that the lighting you were told to get is an absolute must for corals as well as breeding and anemones.

Good Luck and remember that as long as your tank is doing good and you are taking care of the water quality with partials and you have cycled your tank properly don't worry.

Somebody is always trying to sell us saltwater people something we don't need.

Answer 2

No you dont need a wet/dry filter. However if you plan to keep an anemone and soft corals i would suggest spending the cash on lighting. Corals and anemones are photosynthetic so they require more than just a standard aquarium fluorescent lighting system. Minimum lighting for those species you wish to keep would be T5 lights, VHO, or Power Compact lights. A protien skimmer would be a good idea as someone else has stated but more importantly lighting should be the biggest concern on your list of thing to get for the tank. If you need help with figureing out lighting ill be happy to help because i know it is a very confusing topic for someone new to marine tanks. Feel free to email me with any additional questions. You can find my email by clicking on my profile. hope this helps and good luck with the tank

Answer 3

Your filtration sounds fine as is but your live stock list concerns me. Your tank will need a flow rate of at least 800 gallons per hour, tangs need lots of room to swim I would limit your choice to 1 tang in a tank this size. And lastly a good skimmer will benefit your set up the most, do not buy sea clone brand skimmers they leak and do a lousy job.

Answer 4

no, you dont need a wet dry filter. what you have is completely fine.but, instead of an air pump, i would suggest a power head or two. they arent too expensive... and if you havent used the canisters yet ( if they are brand new and unopened and unused) you may want to consider returning one and getting a protein skimmer. but its up to you.
good luck,a nd i hope this wasnt too confusing [=

Answer 5

They do not need a certain type of filter, if that is what you mean, I have a regular power filter, or you can have a canister, or even a wet/dry filter I am guessing that is what your refering to.

Answer 6

In addition to the other answers you can get by with only a good quality protein skimmer(properly named a Foam Fractionator).