Canister filter question

[Karlo]

So a friend passed me on his 65gal tank setup that he drained about a year ago. He never empty the canister filter. Do I need to get new media? Or can you just rinse them thoroughly? They're the white ceramic pieces and some other black little pebbles (not carbon ones, they kinda look like ceramic too).

[crabbysd]

IMO rinse scrub and bleach. After I did that I ran the whole thing with tap water and a capfull of bleach in a five gallon bucket on a table(as if it were a tank) for a day out in the sun to get the funk outta the tubes and pump.. use New floss. the media is cheap too.

[davocean]

Canister media is not ideal for reefs, nitrate sinks, if you run a canister take everything out and just use for flow, and that includes any type of sponge as well.

[Karlo]

Thanks. I think I need a mentor haha. I guess I have a lot of post to read to start in this hobby

[Karlo]

Canister media is not ideal for reefs, nitrate sinks, if you run a canister take everything out and just use for flow, and that includes any type of sponge as well.

So if I take the media out and only use for flow, if the tank going to get cleaned by a cleaner crew (I think this is how they call the snails and shrimps and so on)?

[davocean]

Your live rock is really one of the biggest parts of your biofiltration, add water movement and that is really the bare bones basics of a reef.