How do you set up your AIO filtration?

[Hexabonal]

Hi guys,

Here in Hong Kong AIOs are quite common. I think things are a bit behind the times here. The shops I see stuff the filter compartments with ceramic rings and filter floss and some take pride in having filter material of slowly decreasing sizes. Online, however, most people say this is a ''nitrate factory" if left uncleaned. I don't quite understand why it's any more of a nitrate factory than usual porous live rock - yes it will trap detritus but doesn't it just provide more surface area for bacteria to thrive on and therefore speed up decomposition?

Anyway, do you use filter floss and other filter material? How?

 

[James M]

I use filter socks for mechanical filteration, then next chamber I use carbon and chemipure.

 

[btmedic04]

I use filter floss for mechanical filtration, marinepure gems for biological filtration, eshopps nano skimmer and an innovative marine minimax media reactor with carbon and gfo mixed

 

[RFL]

I have an Innovative Marine 25 gal Lagoon tank. There is an Innovative Marine media tower on one end of the rear sump with filter floss on top and the rest of the tower is filled with ceramic media for biological filtration (to supplement the live rock and sand). The next chamber over has the inlet and outlet from my hang-on-the-back AquaMaxx HOB 1.5 skimmer (awesome skimmer btw). In the middle chamber I have two 50 watt heaters, the return pump, 2- part dosing tube outlets and auto top-off tube outlet. In the next chamber there are 4 probes in a rack for my Apex Controller. In the final chamber there is an Innovative Marine 200 micron filter sock into which I can drop a bag of activated Carbon when I want to. I keep a spare Innovative Marine media tower on hand to put in place of the filter sock when I want to run GFO, Chemipure or any other media I might need to deal with a particular issue. I also keep an Innovative Marine MiniMax Reactor around in case I need to run Phosphate absorbing resin media or anything else that requires higher flow or to tumble in order to do its job effectively. Due to the limited amount of sump space available I change how I use that space depending upon what's going on in the tank. I've never had a refugium or an algae scrubber for controlling PO4 and NO3 but have been toying with that idea a bit lately just shake things up a little. Cheers!

 

[NY_Caveman]

I use no socks. I throw them in sometimes when I blow off the rocks with a powerhead or turkey baster. You can see my 45 filtration layout here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cavemans-ancillary-thread.484918/#post-5267905

 

[TheWalkman99]

Nuvo 40
One side I have filter floss then live rock rubble in the next chamber. Other side I have the IM sock then carbon or chemi pure.
I don’t like the IM sock I’ll go to filter floss when I get another media basket.