Best Biological Filtration?

[jda]

There are no such things as nitrate factories. Just lazy reefers parroting what they have heard when they mostly do not understand what is going on. How is it biologically possible to create nitrate out of nothing like a factory creates something out of nothing? There is no way to just produce it out of thin air. If you have high nitrates, then you aerobic filtering is working correctly, you just have no anaerobic areas/filters to turn the nitrate into nitrogen gas and thus fully complete the N cycle.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Yea I had a friend that had sps in his tank that ran a bioball waterfall style sump and he didn’t have much nitrate at all, but if you let that style filter go without cleaning the balls I can see it becoming an issue with heavy feedings maybe.

 

[rob myers]

Glad to see your going to quartine . I was told get live rock when i started guess what got purple polyps .would grow over all my zoanthids killing them so. Tank tear down .and start over again . My coral quartine I’m using seachem matrix for my live rock in a reactor. Seeded with zeo bac just like starting zeovit system so far so good.im bare bottom. In quartine.

 

[Nanos With A Backbone]

Introducing pests to my tank right off the bat is not part of my ULM approach. As a matter of fact it is not part of my plan on any tank now or in the future as I am using 2 different quartine setups...one for fish, and one for corals. I have learned those lessons the hard way and as a patient reefer these days, I refuse to make those kinds of mistakes again. I was simply curious about using alternative bio filtration for my sump as I didnt wanna use rock as I have in the past. I have a cleaner look in mind these days. I do believe the bio filtration needed is all based on my bio load, and so I was wondering what would be the best alternative for this type of setup and equipment I was running. Also...filter socks are labeled as nitrate factories as well. I believe any of those can be if not implemented properly or properly maintained. Sump and display equally sharp looking is what im looking to do But I definitely want what ever will be used to be functional.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

Limiting the discussion to the abilities as a biofilter, to manage the nitrogen cycle, nitrification/denitrification.

The denitrifying capacity is often based on the porosity of the rock.

In nature, a lot of denitrification takes place in transition zones where the oxygen consumption is very high which creates zones where the oxygen can not be replaced in time and organisms start to use an anaerobic pathway.

In a normal nitrifying biofilm also denitrification takes place when growing on calcium carbonate substrate the denitrification rate may reach +- 16%, without doing a thing.

Using porous rock, if it is covered with a nitrifying biofilm it will be clogged soon. The water exchange rate within the rock will be practically 0. If the rock is grazed one will lose the denitrification capacity of the nitrifying biofilm.
In the best circumstances, the porous rock is colonized by heterotrophic denitrifiers needing organic matter to retrieve carbon and enough nitrate to get the energy for breaking down the organics. Anoxic conditions are maintained due to a limited water exchange rate deep in the rock and as they grow the exchange rate will decrease as the pores get filled with bio-mass which means a very low nitrate provision as nitrification can not take place where the action is. The growing and dying bacteria will provide organics but as nitrate can not be supplied sufficiently sulfate will be used as an oxygen source to provide the energy, producing HS. As the water exchange rate is very low the HS will leak slowly from the rock where it will be used by autotrophic sulphur bacteria to produce sulphate and or elemental sulphur, depending of the nitrate availability. Those sulphur bacteria use an anaerobic pathway needing nitrate as an oxygen source, producing N2 . As this happens more to the surface of the rock even less nitrate is available for the anaerobic heterotrophs but sulfate is provided by the sulfur bacteria, closing the cycle. The autotrophic sulphur bacteria produce acids that will dissolve the calcium carbonate making it possible to use the carbonate as carbon source, deepen out the pores providing more place to grow. Phosphate and other minerals in the rock may leak to the environment if not used for growth.
This theory shows most nitrate in a porous environment is removed using HS and sulphur. The cycle is maintained due to a very low water exchange rate which increases as we reach the surface. What may happen if the cycle is interrupted? For example due to nitrate availability?

Can someone explain how ( porous?) live rock will be able to remove more nitrate from the system by denitrification as does a normal nitrifying biofilm growing on the surface of calcium carbonate-based substrate?

As nitric acid produced by the nitrification process will be used to dissolve calcium carbonate and carbonate is then used as the carbon source, the rock will soon become porous if it wasn't already.

 

[jda]

You can look at my Marshall Island, Great Barrier Reef and other really old rock and see that the porous structures and holes are very much open and teeming with life. Mostly smaller pods and worms and you need a loop or other optical device to see this. The mini brittle stars inhabit the larger places and constant clean them out looking for food. This is why a real swath of microfauna are so important and not just bacteria alone.

FWIW - The MI rock quit exporting in the mid-2000s? GBR was the 1990s. This rock is still awesome. I reject the notion that all rock becomes plugged, but it certainly can with bad husbandry or a lack of diversity.

I can keep nitrate very close to zero in a BB tank with just some of this live rock and a very high bio load. It will get to NSW levels with a sandbed, so the sandbed is by-far the more effective anoix nitrate reducing filter, but the rock does work too.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

I recently set up a tank and used artificial rock for the first time in my 50+ years of reef-keeping. Never again! I've come to learn that the artificial CEMENT rock is very non-porous. This is what Jack (CEO) from Brightwell wrote to me: "Lowering nitrates has so much to do with anaerobic surface area available many times because so much of the “live rock” nowadays is non-porous concrete". (Of course he was recommending his XPort NO3 bricks or cubes, which I know nothing about).
I recently replaced half the artificial rock with rock from LiveRockNReef.com. (Primo Rock). They take rock from the Gulf of Mexico and ship it overnight. Unlike most live rock from the Pacific that has been out-of-the-water for weeks sometimes, the Gulf rock is teeming with life since it has only been out of water for only about a day. It isn't the prettiest of rock (shape) but great for seeding the tank. My 25 lbs of rock came loaded with sponges, 2 lobophyllia, 3 clams, tunicates, macroalgae, feather dusters, etc....(but a few aptasia, too...which I can tolerate).
I plan to replace the other half of my rock with nicer-shaped rock from the Pacific when I come across something nice.

Live rocks porosity comparison | Aquaroche

aquaroche.fr

 

[Thespammailaccount]

You can look at my Marshall Island, Great Barrier Reef and other really old rock and see that the porous structures and holes are very much open and teeming with life. Mostly smaller pods and worms and you need a loop or other optical device to see this. The mini brittle stars inhabit the larger places and constant clean them out looking for food. This is why a real swath of microfauna are so important and not just bacteria alone.

FWIW - The MI rock quit exporting in the mid-2000s? GBR was the 1990s. This rock is still awesome. I reject the notion that all rock becomes plugged, but it certainly can with bad husbandry or a lack of diversity.

I can keep nitrate very close to zero in a BB tank with just some of this live rock and a very high bio load. It will get to NSW levels with a sandbed, so the sandbed is by-far the more effective anoix nitrate reducing filter, but the rock does work too.

Absolutely

Live rocks porosity comparison | Aquaroche

aquaroche.fr

 

[Belgian Anthias]

The best biological filtration in a ZMAS is in the function of the desired bio-load.
A coral reef tank may have a very low bio-load needing a very low carrying capacity, having a low need for supplemental food input and remineralization capacity. A discussion about the porosity of rock has only sense if maintaining a very limited bioload and even then, the filtration capacity will be very low due to the very limited water exchange rate in porous rock. Porosity may influence the denitrification capacity but will do little or nothing for improving the carrying capacity of a ZMAS.
Any nitrifying biofilm growing on calcium carbonate media will remove more nitrate-nitrogen as any porous rock placed in the system and will help to support the carrying capacity.
A ZMAS displaying a reef needs a relatively high carrying capacity and remineralization rate. For showing an active reef we talk about high input high output, the water quality needed must be maintained. The porosity of so-called " live rock" will have very little or no influence on the total filtration capacity needed.


The best biological filtration is "live rock"?
The best biological filtration may not negatively influence coral health and growth?
The best biological filtration provides a reliable filtration capacity?
The best biological filtration is not sensitive to human error?
The best biological filtration is passive?
The best biological filtration is manageable and controllable?
The best biological filtration is easily adjustable to the needs, the carrying capacity is able to follow the constantly increasing bioload of a thriving mixed reef aquarium?
The best biological filtration takes place in the display tank, outside the display, in a refuge, bio-filters.?
The best biological filtration must be able to remove ammonia-nitrogen, nitrate-nitrogen, phosphate, TOC and DOC ?
The best biological filtration is?