Bio Load? and denitrifier

[tkjeffrey]

Got a couple questions.

1. How much of a bio load is introduced to the tank by adding corals, zooantids, polyp's and the such? Does it tax the system when you first introduce to tank like a fish does? And if it doesnt can you add alot of coral at one time or no?

2. I have a monster fuidized bed filter (which is a denitrifying filter). If i have this do i need a refugium?

Thanks people

[thefatman]

i belive i have read that inverts and corals do NOT add bioload to the system. only fish and food.

some poeple's tank are overflowing with corals, so i belive its true.

[MontanaRocknReefer]

I believe Jay hit the nail on the head!

Bio-load = ammonia produced from the waste of fish and other livestock, foods, and decomposing organic animal and plant matter.

By this statement corals are not a part of the process unless dieing!

[tkjeffrey]

bump

[Geoff]

everything we put in our systems adds to the bio-load. whether it is fish, clams, corals, snails, crabs, and even sand. they all feed on something and produce some kind of wastes. it is a matter of which wastes they are producing and whether or not we care. fish, and crabs are the biggest waste producers. particularly if we are talking about ammonia.

G~

[180 large]

crabs?? did not know that

[PJenkins]

First time I've heard of a fluidized bed filter being used as a denitrifing filter. Maybe I'm behind the times, but last time read up on fluidized beds they were a great aerobic filter for breaking down amonia and nitrite but the efluent was hi in nitrate. Is yours something new or plumbed somehow to be a anerobic denitrifier?

I agree with Geoff, anything/creature that metabolizes creates waste of some sort, therefore =bioload

[Geoff]

it all depends on which part of the nitrogen cycle we are talking about. fluidized bed filters are great at reducing ammonia to nitrate, but do not go beyond that. they can get clogged sometimes so they need to be watched.

if this is going to be a FO system than the fluidized bed filter would be fine. if not then you will need to find someway to remove the nitrates that will be produced by the bed filter. a refugium is a great place to grow algae for this purpose or house more LR.

G~

[tkjeffrey]

From what i read when I bought it (on the box) it says it is almost all anaroabic bacteria inside the filter and evens says its a denitrifier, but it might be a sales gimmick I guess. Type in Seastorm 240 on a google search and tell me what you guys think. Why do I need a refugium when my main tank is nuthin but algae anyway?

[PJenkins]

tkjeffrey, I did the Google search, which took me to the premium aquatics site. I saw nothing about anerobic or denitrifing cababilities. Only compared it to a trickle filter. I suspect the marketing guys are using the broadest definition of "denitrifing" in that it is very efficient at reducing ammonia, or amonium, depending on the pH, which is a nitrogen based compound ,through the first 2 steps of denitrification. The output of the filter is most likely high in nitrate. Corals seem to react badly to high levels of nitrate in the bulk water and we as reefers try to keep the levels as low as we can. Nitrate is also one the nutrients needed for many of the nuisance algae we always seem to be fighting.

I think there are plenty of reef keepers who do not have a refugium and do very well without them. They can,however, be a convenient place to grow caulerpa and harvest it , without having it in the display tank. Also if you maintain fish or inverts that are "pod" eaters it give them a place to propagate without predation pressure form the other animals

[tkjeffrey]

Should I not use the filter anymore? just use my skimmer and live rock? Will the filter hurt my tank? Or is it doing more harm than good?

[PJenkins]

I can only say what I would do, which is not use it. But, if your tank is newly set up it may be helping right now to keep your amonia levels down,I don't know. If the tank has been up for a couple months, then I would slowly reduce its use and just use the best quality skimmer I could afford.
You may see a reduction in caulerpa growth when you stop using it

[tkjeffrey]

anybody else have an opinion? PJ what you say makes sense not trying to say I dont believe ya, just would like at least one more opinion before I take it out and put it up on Ebay.

[PJenkins]

Absolutley! What's the old saying? Don't believe anything you read and only half of what you see.

[tkjeffrey]

bump