Best Biological Filtration?

Nanos With A Backbone · Mar 30, 2020

Hello...I am in the process of setting up a ULM 40 gallon breeder with a Synergy reef 30 gallon sump. I have about 37 pounds of dry rock in my main display and I do not wanna throw any more in there. Will this be enough to achieve the biological filtration for an SPS tank? I keep seeing others having extra rock in their sumps...or bioballs...or ceramic rings...or those Marine pure plates. But ive also seen people call those nitrate factories, and seen negative remarks about the marine pure plates. Dr Times did a live demo a few months ago talking about using bio balls and or glass gems to be the best??? I just need a little guidance in this sea of information. If anyone could give me a little guidence and the why to what theyd suggest...id really appreciate it

Nanos With A Backbone · Mar 30, 2020

Also...going bare bottom so no sand.

Pntbll687 · Mar 30, 2020

You can use whatever type of media you want. Most people gravitate towards media with large surface area for bacteria to grow on.

Anything will be a nitrate factory if it isnt properly cleaned and maintained.

You don't have to use any extra media if you dont want to.

Spare time · Mar 30, 2020

You are probably fine. The only differene between biomedia and rock is that the biomedia is typically more porous and doesn't take up space in the display. And no, biomedia is not a nitrate factory in that they produce unwanted nitrates. Whatever nitrates they produce will come from what you are putting in the tank. Now if you don't have filter socks or anything like that then yeah all the crud will land there and rot without being taken out. Some biomedia will remove nitrate.

However, no sand is going to give you plenty of algae issues and bacterial issues for a decent amount of time as sand is a massive source of good bacteria. In this case, biomedia may be a good idea (avoid bioball though as they are terrible.

xxkenny90xx · Mar 30, 2020

It's not so much about how many lbs of rock as much as how porous it is. I like having extra rock in the sump but in reality the biological bacteria doesn't care what it attaches too, so use whatever has the most surface area

Nanos With A Backbone · Mar 30, 2020

I was hoping that the rock in the display would be enough as ive heard that the bacteria grow everywhere in the system, not just on the rock. So to sum up what I have for water quality... I have a 6 stage RODI system, Tunze ATO system, the 37 pounds of rock, 2 filter socks, a protein skimmer, a carbon reactor, and the Ecotech Versa 4 pack for dosing and doing a 1 gallon AWC each day. Outside the water quality aspect I have 2 Ecotech mp10s for flow, a Ecotech Vectra S2 for return, and 2 XR15 G5's on order. Does this sound like a good setup to start getting my hands dirty in SPS?

ryshark · Mar 30, 2020

Nanos With A Backbone said:
I was hoping that the rock in the display would be enough as ive heard that the bacteria grow everywhere in the system, not just on the rock. So to sum up what I have for water quality... I have a 6 stage RODI system, Tunze ATO system, the 37 pounds of rock, 2 filter socks, a protein skimmer, a carbon reactor, and the Ecotech Versa 4 pack for dosing and doing a 1 gallon AWC each day. Outside the water quality aspect I have 2 Ecotech mp10s for flow, a Ecotech Vectra S2 for return, and 2 XR15 G5's on order. Does this sound like a good setup to start getting my hands dirty in SPS?

Yes, but just know with what you’re doing you possibly won’t be able to successfully keep acros for the first year. Myself and many others have experienced this when starting with mostly dead rock. I could have saved a lot of money had I known this. You’ll need to seed it heavily with more than just bottled bacteria in order to keep acros sooner.

Nanos With A Backbone · Mar 30, 2020

Yeah I’ve been hearing that a lot about bare bottom tanks. That was one of the reason I was curious if I needed more rock or some sort of biological filtration in the sump. Would adding more make a difference? Or do you still think a year is a good starting point either way?

ryshark · Mar 30, 2020

Nanos With A Backbone said:
Yeah I’ve been hearing that a lot about bare bottom tanks. That was one of the reason I was curious if I needed more rock or some sort of biological filtration in the sump. Would adding more make a difference? Or do you still think a year is a good starting point either way?

It’s not so much the bare bottom it’s the dry rock with no bacteria from the ocean or biodiversity. Someone posted a link with a bunch of options where to get some to seed. I’ll look for it

ryshark · Mar 30, 2020

ryshark said:
It’s not so much the bare bottom it’s the dry rock with no bacteria from the ocean or biodiversity. Someone posted a link with a bunch of options where to get some to seed. I’ll look for it

Here you go: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sources-of-biodiversity.673184/

Nanos With A Backbone · Mar 30, 2020

ryshark said:
Here you go: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sources-of-biodiversity.673184/

Wow thanks for the help

I really appreciate it!

Graffiti Spot · Mar 30, 2020

I would just find someone that can give you a piece of rock from their tank to start. Make sure you get a piece that has a little sponge on it and that can be a good judge of how well the tank is doing. Ime when sponges are growing well the tank is in optimal shape. Plus they are good for the tank too.

Nanos With A Backbone · Mar 30, 2020

I don’t mind waiting the year to be honest for corals. If you’ve seen the pet stores around here, or some of the personal tanks I’ve seen...you’d understand why I’m going with dry rock...and why I’ve decided that everything that goes in the tank will be quarantined first.

ryshark · Mar 30, 2020

Nanos With A Backbone said:
I don’t mind waiting the year to be honest for corals. If you’ve seen the pet stores around here, or some of the personal tanks I’ve seen...you’d understand why I’m going with dry rock...and why I’ve decided that everything that goes in the tank will be quarantined first.

You can probably keep other corals before a year, but the acros will be hit or miss before then.

Hopper123 · Mar 30, 2020

If u use biomedia sintered glass is more pourous ceramic media. Siporax and biohome are good and seachem matrix

NS Mike D · Mar 30, 2020

several marine pure blocks (or similar media) in the sump that you can pull out rotationally before they start to crumble.

I agree with @Spare time , the only way they would be nitrate factories is if your filter socks and skimmer are insufficient to remove organics before they can break down.

There is a reasonable theory that live rock eventually clogs and thus loses its efficiency overtime and thus the idea of rotating marine pure blocks in the sump

Seems to be a consensus building in sand. Great for new tanks, but over time, as the tank matures, bare bottom becomes easier to maintain. Not something i would recommend to a new reefer - hobby at first is hard enough. But an interesting approach for second tanks and tank redos for experienced reefers.

fishguy242 · Mar 30, 2020

hi like the responses,LIVE rock ,skimmer is your friend,love bare bottom,just my opinion

suggest go to meet n greet ,meet the reef,start a build thread ,happy reefing

fishguy242 · Mar 30, 2020

hi welcome to the reef going to love it here!
lots of fun/info/fun/help/fun!!!
pics!!...we all love pics!!!!

xxkenny90xx · Mar 30, 2020

NS Mike D said:
There is a reasonable theory that live rock eventually clogs and thus loses its efficiency overtime and thus the idea of rotating marine pure blocks in the sump

So is all of the live rock in the ocean that's 100s of millions of years old clogged and inefficient? How exactly does that theory go?

fishguy242 · Mar 30, 2020

xxkenny90xx said:
So is all of the live rock in the ocean that's 100s of millions of years old clogged and inefficient? How exactly does that theory go?

n skimmer does not break either, sorry ,happy reefing all stay safe