Which bio media?

[scotty]

Do you guys suggest bioballs the ceramic rings for wet-drys? Thanks.

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by scotty
Do you guys suggest bioballs the ceramic rings for wet-drys? Thanks.

Not sure about what the "ceramic rings" are, but the only time I would recommend a wet/dry filter at all would be in a FO system with a bare bottom and NO live rock...

In reef systems, the use of bio-balls produces large amounts of nitrate (which is better than nitrite or ammonia for fish). which tends to feed nuisance blooms of algae and, if allowed to accumulate, can have detrimental effects on many corals (heh, clams seem to like it though!). Ideally for corals, you would want a system that produces nitrates in close proximity to the types of bacteria under the proper conditions that will allow for denitrification of the aquarium. When it goes into the water column (from a bioball wet dry), it is immediately available for nuisance algae to uptake the nutrients and lock them into their bodies. When Live Rock is the source of mineralization of ammonia/ammonium, it produces the nitrates in the insides of LR, usually adjacent to areas where the O2 level is low and denitrifying bacteria live. This allows the bacteria to strip the Oxygen from the nitrate for internal metabolic oxidation of carbon, releasing the nitrogen as gas (same process occurs in deep sand beds) which bubbles out of the water column.

What do you want to keep in your aquarium, and what are yourspecs?

[scotty]

Thanks for the reply. Specs are as follows:

55 g hex with central prefilter which trickles through biomedia to a 15g sump with a Venturi protein skimmer and more biomedia; also Fluval 403 with sponge and biochemzorb. I am seeding the argonite crushed coral with live sand and introducing about 50 pounds of live rock. I am using three powerheads plus the return from the sump and the return from the Fluval. I just put in a 24" power compact which is exactly the width of the hood.

As far as stocking. I plant to put in a light bioload with a few gobies, a sailfin Tang, a couple of clowns, shrimp, snails, hermit crabs and a few hardy corals.

Does this sound reasonable? Thanks for the input. I am very experienced with complicated Tanganyikan Cichlid tanks yet have yet to set up a salt tank.

Your response is VERY appreciated.

[scotty]

Oh yeah, also I will be doing 5 - 10 gallon water changes per week to remove the nitrate build-up.

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Do the sailfin tang a favor and leave it at the LFS! You need at least 75 gallon tank but I believe a tank of 100 gallons or more would be more beneficial for a tang as they need alot of swim space. JMO Johnny

[Brooke]

Hi Scotty and welcome!

You shouldn't need much bio-media at all with 50 pounds of live rock. I would be careful using prefilters as well. They should be cleaned just about everyday. I would also recommend using sugar-grain size aragonite with a mix of the "reef grade" on top instead of crushed coral.

Unfortunately, Johnny is right about the sailfin. They get very big. A 55g hex really isn't an ideal tank for any tang. If you like fish that swim a lot try chromis, six line wrasse, dottyback, etc.

HTH..let us know if you have any more questions.. we were all beginners once!

Brooke

[mojoreef]

HMmmmm the bio ball thing again. Hmmmmm nope not this time.

MIke

[scotty]

What bioball thing again? (confused)

And I am using the sugar-sized argonite not the cheap crushed coral stuff. But you mentioned about cleaning the prefilter... Why does it need to be cleaned so often, and why is everyone discouraging the wet-dry filtration? Is it because of the high nitrate output as mentioned above? And if so will a steady regimen of water changes alleviate that?

Point taken about the sailfin. He will stay where he belongs. The dealer at the LFS told me he would be fine but even then I doubted it... Any Tangs that will stay small? And if not Tangs, what other kind of high mobility fish graze alot?

THAAAAAAAANKS!

[mojoreef]

Hey scotty I have a slightly different view than most on the bio ball thing, so I decided to not start a big debate. Nothing on your questions buddy. With the prefilter cleaning scenerio, alot of matter will flow through your system as is natural in a reef enviroment. With this matter and the food that you feed the tank will become lodge in the prefilter, this will attract bactria that will feed on it, this bacteria will then produce nitrates as a biproduct. so the cleaning of the prefilter will stop the bactria from feeding on it and thus no more nitrate. YOu will eventually tire from this clean and pull the thing out so I geuss what everyone is says, is to pull it out know and not bother. The Live rock in your tank will filter and clean your tank on its own as it does in nature, thus it is really not worth it.


Mike

[scotty]

Thanks Majoreef,

Your straightforward explanation was much appreciated. On a larger scale this seems like the same debate that goes on in the so-called lesser hobby, freshwater aquarium keeping, of which I am an obssessoid. Anyway, the debate in fw is that the cell pad (which is made of spun silica glass: a large surface area for bacterial colonization) will catch too much of the detritus and become anaerobic so what we do is put a pad filter in front of the cell pad...

Therefore, in my tank, where the water spills into a central prefilter I will have a three pad layer of filtration foam to catch all the gross particulates. Will this not cure the problem if I am vigilant on keeping that pad detritus free?

I sincerely hope that I am not coming across argumentative. Basically, I already have this setup and am trying to find a way to make it the best it can be...

PS If anyone has read my tank specs and has any suggestions above and beyond what I am doing, I would greatly appreciate it.

[scotty]

Sorry mojoreef, I meant mojoreef not majoreef.

[Scrooge]

I'm not sure I completely understand your last post, but I'll take a stab at it. It sounds like you are equating the pad filter in FW to the prefilter in SW and the cell pad to the bioballs. So, the pad filter in FW keeps the cell pad aerobic. This is different than the problem with wet/dry.

With wet/dry, if it gets clogged with detritus you would have a similar problem. But, the bad thing is that even when working correctly and perfectly clean, the wet/dry will raise nitrates. So keeping the prefilter clean or not, it makes no diff, the wet/dry will cause problems IMHO.

As far as the prefilter itself, I don't use one either. You have to clean it every day to keep detritus from accumulating. Not only that, it can trap some of the small animals that benefit our tanks.

I understand if you are skeptical about these ideas, many people are at first. My suggestion is to not use the prefilter or bioballs at first. After all, you can always add them later if you think you need too (you won't )

You also asked for more input on the rest of your setup. First, I agree with the above, don't get the Tang.

How big are the powerheads? Also, do you have any kind of wavemaker planned?

The 24" PC is 96 watts right? If this is your only lighting you will need more for just about anything. If your hex tank is like other hexes I have seen, you will in fact need much more because they are so deep. Of course, lighting will depend a lot on what corals you want to keep. If you could narrow that down you can choose your lighting better. Think about what you want in general at least: mushrooms and polyps; soft corals; LPS stony corals; SPS and clams? Those choices go from least lighting to most lighting requirements, although there are exceptions.