Best biological media for sump / refugium

[Rich Klein]

Starting a new tank and trying to plan out my sump.

I do want to have a refugium growing chaeto algae. My question is what should I use as biological media? I originally thought marine pure but after researching and seeing the aluminum talks, I don't want to risk it.

Do I need a sand bed in my refugium? Would some dry rock from brs suffice?

In the sump I plan on having filter socks, protein skimmer , filter pad and media bag with carbon.

I use Marine Pure cubes several layers deep. I recently had an ICP test and aluminum was fine. There are a lot of great holes for pods and other critters to breed. And no filter socks anymore. The Chaeto and critters love the nutrition from the DT overflow. Changing and cleaning filter socks was a major pain. A good strong light is the key. With just the refugium and Skimmer (no GFO, reactors..) I feed my fish a lot and still have to dose phosphate (as phosphorous) and nitrates to maintain them them at .02 and 2 respectively.

 

[ReefInskeep]

Um biological filter? That would be the live rock in the display, 1lb/1gal is all you need for bio filter. Rubble or live rock in your sump creats a place for debris and detritus to catch and break down turning into a nitrate factory. That's why no one uses bio balls in the sump anymore.

Sure, if you want to use a fair amount of live rock. But these newer bio-medias have surpassed the bio-balls of old by orders of magnitude. These new bio-medias allow us to aquascape using little to no live rock, and still achieve or surpass the denitrification properties of a display tank full of live rock, which is pretty cool. I enjoy minimalist aquascapes.

 

[WWIII]

People have pretty good luck with the siporax for ponds (larger rings). That's what I would use if I were to need it ever.

 

[SteadyC]

I have had no ill effects from the product.. my tank is thriving.. 0 Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate

I had marinepure and Triton tests showed I had AI. I removed it, and my AI went down. Also, it gets very soft over time, you can’t touch it without it crumbling. I used it, and would never use it again.

 

[phlibbyreefer]

How about just some dry rock in the sump in the refugium section with chaeto?

 

[bblumberg]

Siporax 25 mm stacked in a basket made from eggcrate.

 

[schooncw]

I have had no ill effects from the product.. my tank is thriving.. 0 Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate

Witch product did you use? I tried 2 of the Brightwell Aquatics bricks and was not pleased.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Good, old fanshion, full of life, real live rock. Not dry rock, wet living live rock. That's the best imo. Dry live rock or dry reef rock as I like to refer to it, is the next best thing if you cant get live rock.

 

[tony'stank]

I used Marinepure for one year. I noticed a decline in my softies. I also saw that the Marinepure block was crumbling. I removed it and replaced with dry rubble rock. My softies recovered and have never looked better

 

[Empress]

ok thanks. I just ordered some BRS dry rock. Stupid question but can I just smash some of this rock to be "rubble"?

You don't even have to smash your rocks. I have full sized rocks in mine. I guess it depends on how much room you have.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Siporax - it's made from scintered glass so no leaching of anything. Easy to put in a reactor, or egg crate basket and works great. I've had to remove quite a bit from my sump because it was working too good, and my Nitrate and Phosphate bottomed out...

 

[Mako61]

I use mostly Siporax and some Marine pure in my sump. I did a triton test worried about Aluminum. It was zero. But my Si was 8300 ug/l . Crazy high. After doing some research I think it may be the Siporax.

 

[BOWHUNTER4250]

Siporax - it's made from scintered glass so no leaching of anything. Easy to put in a reactor, or egg crate basket and works great. I've had to remove quite a bit from my sump because it was working too good, and my Nitrate and Phosphate bottomed out...

Can i ask how much you are using now for what size water volume ?? im using it now and found i had to remove a bunch as well becuse i had absolutely no nitrate or phosphate however i used 50L for 425 gallon total water volume , i need to take some more out i think as im still reading nothing

 

[schooncw]

I have had 2 Marine Pure Blocks in my sump for several months now and have seen no reduction in nitrates, which is why I had them in the first place. I am seriously considering removing them and putting in a Tupperware container with a good, old fashioned sand bed.....sugar size @ 4.5-5" and a thin layer of larger substrate on top, to prevent it blowing around. My thought is that the MP blocs are too porous and is actually, serving as a nitrate factory.

 

[schooncw]

Siporax - it's made from scintered glass so no leaching of anything. Easy to put in a reactor, or egg crate basket and works great. I've had to remove quite a bit from my sump because it was working too good, and my Nitrate and Phosphate bottomed out...

Are you relatively certain that it was the Siporax that reduced your nitrates? My experience with Marine Pure has not been good in that regard and I wonder if the MP blocks are too porous to cultivate anaerobic bacteria.

 

[BOWHUNTER4250]

Are you relatively certain that it was the Siporax that reduced your nitrates? My experience with Marine Pure has not been good in that regard and I wonder if the MP blocks are too porous to cultivate anaerobic bacteria.

I Can say for sure with 100% certainty that Siporax works AMAZINGLY well to reduce No3 and Po4
i have had to take almost all of this out of my sump because i could never get a reading of Nitrate or Phosphate , I am slowly transitioning back to just live rock , my fuge and a very small amount of Siporax. I would say that if you want to reduce your No3 get a small amount and put into a reactor such as something you would use for GFO/CARBON , fill it and give it a good month and half or so to get cultured. I Went too much too soon thinking i will beat it before it gets to be a problem but realized i NEED some No3. This stuff does work and in my experiance from using this and NoPox this is much safer and is a natural process of reduction rather than a chemical .

 

[schooncw]

I will def look into Siporax.

 

[BOWHUNTER4250]

I will def look into Siporax.

Too bad you weren't closer i would give you a bunch of mine ! i just took more out of my sump last night as i have still yet to detect No3 and Po4 , i know its there as i have algae issues now that i know are consuming it , and i beleive that once i get these levels detecting somethng and balanced out then my algae issue will subside as well ?

 

[schooncw]

Here's the funny thing.....my nitrate is literally, off the chart and my PO sticks at around 0.5 but my 120 mixed reef looks fantastic; no algae, no cyano, etc. What also complicates things for me, is I have a vast amount of live rock, much of it over 20 years old, the tank is def overstocked and I overfeed. So I do realize my husbandry has much to do with my situation-I have been at this all of my 59 years and was in the industry for 20 of them-but I still would have expected the MP Blocks to make some measurable difference. Did I mention that I also use NOPOX at full dose every day. I need to study my situation more but again, I may just go old school with a deep sand bed in Tupperware in my tank. My concern w Siporax, is that it too, would be too porous and not cultivate anaerobic bacteria but as I suspect with the MP, actually become a nitrate factory.

 

[BOWHUNTER4250]

Here's the funny thing.....my nitrate is literally, off the chart and my PO sticks at around 0.5 but my 120 mixed reef looks fantastic; no algae, no cyano, etc. What also complicates things for me, is I have a vast amount of live rock, much of it over 20 years old, the tank is def overstocked and I overfeed. So I do realize my husbandry has much to do with my situation-I have been at this all of my 59 years and was in the industry for 20 of them-but I still would have expected the MP Blocks to make some measurable difference. Did I mention that I also use NOPOX at full dose every day. I need to study my situation more but again, I may just go old school with a deep sand bed in Tupperware in my tank. My concern w Siporax, is that it too, would be too porous and not cultivate anaerobic bacteria but as I suspect with the MP, actually become a nitrate factory.

I believe you answered your own question : if your dosing NoPox every dau that is keeping your No3 at zero , your corals are using what they need on a daily basis based on your feeding habits and the rest is being reduced from the NoPox ... just my opinion .... as far as the siporax is concerned i truly believe that if you use this in a reactor or some sort of basket with good flow this will NOT become a nitrate factory , it will do the same as NoPox but in a natural way and not chemical , but if it aint broke dont fix it man ! ................. again just my opinion and my experiance with Siporax