Hi been looking for my first set up went to a local shop that recommended a wet dry, they said it would get me started for the first couple of years, seems like a lot of other places have switched to a refugium. Trying to keep costs down. Looking at a 93 cube or a Red Sea Reefer 350. Thanks
bio balls or refugium
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I'm still kinda new to saltwater. Here is my opinion. I would go with a refugium for 2 reason it's a natural filter and everything I've read so far said stay away from bio balls. Don't know if that was much help.
nitroleviathan
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Bio balls trap detritus and cause nitrate problems. Go refugium
WetWhistle
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If you are willing to keep the bio balls clean they export a lot of nutrients. They need to be rinsed on a weekly basis. Dirty bio balls do produce a lot of nutrients. Most people don't do proper upkeep on the bio balls so I would recommend a refugium. It helps process nutrients and adds to the food web.
steve&mari
Blessed Reefer
Agree totally with this fuge is way to go.
Bad Company
Well-Known Member
A waterfall algae scrubber is awesome! I have a 9"X9" scrubber on my 63G square tank, and my nitrates always read ZERO. I do water changes every six months for trace elements, and can do that because I only have two small SPS (not a lot of calcium uptake). The reason why nobody promotes algae scrubbers is because they can't make money of off them. I spend zero on chemicals except for Seachem prime to treat the TAP WATER I use. The scrubber takes out heavy metals ammonia, and nitrates. It's the only way to go. I've had my tank almost 3 years, and do about 30 minutes of maintenance a week, and haven't bought any chemicals except for the Seachem Prime.
4FordFamily
Tang, Angel, and Wrasse Nerd!
Fuge no doubt. Bio balls are old school. Not sure why "tanked" uses them, or does many things they do as they mislead newbies
Virtualbasil
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Oops I have never cleaned my bio balls, I should probably get on that !
A fuge is fun as a second tank and does provide a food source. Bioballs in a wet/dry setup will work too. They aren't as bad as their reputation.
The red sea reefer will be a good choice. It is a little more expensive then buying everything separate but it is a good route to go. It will make the whole setting up process
less overwhelming. All you will need is a light, skimmer and return pump and you will be good to go. I don't think the sump has an area for bioballs or a fuge, unless you turn skimmer compartment into a fuge.
If you want to set the tank up from scratch. Marineland is having a good sale on tanks. Ask you LFS if they can order you one.
Bioballs are used on large aquariums with messy fish because it will take excessive amounts of rock to provide enough surface area to support the tank. Lots of tanks on the show have sharks and stingrays so the perimeter of the tank doesn't have rock so the fish can swim without obstructions leaving less room in the tank for bacteria to colonize. Many of the tanks have the fake rock/coral decoration which doesn't provide lots of surface area, so a very large sump with media will be needed to support the bacteria. A lot of the tanks are themed tanks with decorations in the tank and little to no rock. Sometime they use bioballs to simplify things and save space.
Bioballs also keeps the dissolved oxygen high. Many tanks are built with a tall bioball tower just for the purpose of gas exchange. Sometimes aiming a powerhead at the surface or just having a skimmer doesn't suffice. The way they overstock those tanks they need to remove the CO2 in a pretty efficent way.
The red sea reefer will be a good choice. It is a little more expensive then buying everything separate but it is a good route to go. It will make the whole setting up process
less overwhelming. All you will need is a light, skimmer and return pump and you will be good to go. I don't think the sump has an area for bioballs or a fuge, unless you turn skimmer compartment into a fuge.
If you want to set the tank up from scratch. Marineland is having a good sale on tanks. Ask you LFS if they can order you one.
Bioballs are used on large aquariums with messy fish because it will take excessive amounts of rock to provide enough surface area to support the tank. Lots of tanks on the show have sharks and stingrays so the perimeter of the tank doesn't have rock so the fish can swim without obstructions leaving less room in the tank for bacteria to colonize. Many of the tanks have the fake rock/coral decoration which doesn't provide lots of surface area, so a very large sump with media will be needed to support the bacteria. A lot of the tanks are themed tanks with decorations in the tank and little to no rock. Sometime they use bioballs to simplify things and save space.
Bioballs also keeps the dissolved oxygen high. Many tanks are built with a tall bioball tower just for the purpose of gas exchange. Sometimes aiming a powerhead at the surface or just having a skimmer doesn't suffice. The way they overstock those tanks they need to remove the CO2 in a pretty efficent way.
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Virtualbasil
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I just looked in the second chamber of my biocube where the bioballs are and it was bad, very bad ...
LILBUDDHA
Valuable Member
Well said . I see no reason not to use bio balls on new tanks . During the initial set up stage imho a refugium takes a while to kick in and balance the system out . Using bio balls during this process gives the tank a buffer zone like stated above . The fish store was right on their advice . Refugiums are just as old school as bio balls so the thinking they are something new is incorrect . Dutch style aquariums are one of the reasons salt water / reefs starting becoming popular because the methods worked .
Feet4Fish
Valuable Member
The question really is what is your vision for your tank. I relatively low bioload such as a reef would do wonderful with a sump/refugium/ skimmer combo. If you want a heavy bioload such as a fish only or heavily stocked reef a wet/dry would serve you great! The idea of a wet dry being a nitrate factory is how's a lack of understanding. The wet dry is far more efficient on breaking down ammonia down to nitrate then live rock/sand/sump refugium. The problem lies in the fact that if you don't handle the nitrates after the wet dry you will have big problems. The set up I have historically use is inline in the following order skimmer, wet dry, large refugium or algae scrubber. This way the skimmer will handle ammonia spikes From new fish introductions or if something dies until the bacteria in the wet dry can upregulate to handle the new bioload. The refugium or scrubber will process the nitrates and you are left with pristine water. The idea that a wet dry is not natural is misplaced. Te wet dry uses bacteria ...quite natural. How natural is carbon, gfo, uv??!?
The idea of running a system solely on a slate scrubber is valid as well. Personally o have not used a waterfall type, but have no il qualms with it. I have used upflows and currently setting up a system that will use a dump bucket style.
