Do I NEED a wet/dry filter?

[patsfan1130]

Hello,

Let me start by stating I have had many tanks over the years including a thriving reef tank for nearly 6 years.

It's been close to 2 years since I broke down by reef tank and now want to set up a salt water fish tank. I will be using my 110 gal tank and plan on using a Berlin protien skimmer in my sump but my question is.....Do I need a wet/dry filter? I have been doing a lot of reading on the topic and the general opinion seems to be divided. I have a Magnum 350 canister for mechanical/chemical filtration and simply am unsure if a wet/dry is a must.

I'd like to avoid filling my tank with hundreds of pounds of live rock but will do so if that is the best route to go.

So I ask you,the experts...... Do I need a wet/dry filter?

Thank you for reading and any opinions.

[Penguin]

I take it you had a wet/dry on your previous reef tank?

No, you do not really need a wet/dry filter. Many if not most reef tank owners are using live rock for biological filtration now. The rule of thumb is to use 1-1.5 lbs per gallon. If you do not want this much rock in the tank, then you could certainly go the wet/dry route instead. The problem with the wet/dry is that it is extremely efficient at converting nitrogenous waste to nitrate, which can make it very difficult to maintain acceptable levels of nitrate over time, and since many invertebrates are very sensitive to it. Did you ever have a problem with high nitrates in your old setup?

[zhenya]

If you trying to avoid filling your tank with rock(which I can certainly understand if it is FO tank), the most efficient way to proccess nitrogenus waste would be the wet/dry filtration, which in turn requires a lot of maintanace/cleaning.However,you can always get an oversized skimmer and only have 40-50lbs of live rock in there,but you'll need to be very,very dilligent with water changes to stay on top of water quality.
In a way, NO3 levels of 20-40 ppm in a fish only tank are not that horrible,it only becomes serious problem if you don't stay on top of water changes and allow it go higher,IMO IME.

[patsfan1130]

Thank you for the responses thus far. No, I did not use a wet/dry on my old reef setup. I used an overflow,protien skimmer & a canister filter with carbon or phosguard when/if needed. Had a few hundred lbs of premium live rock and used VHO lighting and the tank thrived for years.But this setup will be a F/O tank and will also be my first so I am somewhat of a novice.

I have never used a wet/dry in my life. I guess I am trying to avoid the sometimes absurd cost of live rock and am really not convinced I could get away with only 50 lbs or so of the stuff. Are wet/dry filters really that much work?

Please excuse my ignorance on this topic but again...I have never owned one and really pretty "wet/dry dumb".

I really appreciate any and all opinions and ultimately will go with live rock if that is..in your opinion, the best way to go.

Mark

[zhenya]

Mark,

First off, I completely forgot to say Welcome to Reefland, most of the time I look at the post count and see if people are new here or not...sorry about that.

Now, in regards to the wet/dry, the maintanance that I mentioned is basically keeping it clean.Most of them have the prefilter area(drip plate) where you would have some sort of sponge/floss type media that you have to clean or replace almost every other day.At least in my case that was the problem. You have to make sure that you keep those bioballs clean and not allow detritus to accumulate there or it will clog up the surface of it and rot in there poluting your water. It was just way too much for me to do so I just kept on doing large water changes instead and removed the bioballs and added rock when I had fish only tank(s).I also had an undergravel filter as well when I started my first saltwater tank in 1982 :eek3: that didn't last very long as you can imagine. So take my advice with a grain of salt ;)
BTW, I completely understand your feeling on the price of live rock but the cost is understandable IMO. You can always buy cheaper,uncured rock though for the price of a dissent wet/dry that you'd need for the size of your tank or close to it. Uncured rock could still be bought at about 3 bucks per pound and a good quality wet/dry cost anywhere in the 250-300 dollars range if not more.
What type of fish are you planning to keep?

[patsfan1130]

Thank you for the warm welcome

Would setting it up so that the water gets "skimmed" prior to entering the wet/dry solve the "constant cleaning" problem?

I'll be honest, right now I am leaning towards just breaking down and going with the live rock and maybe upgrading to a newer/better protein skimmer (can you recommend one?)

I've always wanted to own some fish I was never able to purchase with my reef such as Triggers,Groupers etc..hence,my desire to go F/O.

So..unless I am mistaken, my options are

No live rock|wet/dry|oversized skimmer

SOME live rock|oversized skimmer

all live rock|decent skimmer

[zhenya]

Would setting it up so that the water gets "skimmed" prior to entering the wet/dry solve the "constant cleaning" problem?

I'm not sure if you could do this.I mean the water will have to drain into the wet/dry via overflow box/boxes and go through the drip plate into the bioballs chamber and then pumped back into the tank.Most of the time the skimmer/intake pump from skimmer is in the return portion of the wet/dry filter/sump and water from the skimmer is returned into the same portion of it and get pumped back into the tank.Some people have large enough return pump that return from it could be split to power the skimmer.
I'll give you a link to sponsor of maker of wet/dry filters,browse it and see how they set up their filters.They make custom wet/dry filters that are not overly expensive.
http://www.wetdryfilter.com/WetDry%2...nd%20Sumps.htm

Good luck with the groupers...I always liked them but they grew so big and so fast that you could hardly keep anything with them,except the triggers of course

[the_blue_tuna]

Patsfan,
Some people dont like to fill the tank with live rock as it takes up swimming room . One thing you might want to consider doing is to put a lesser amount of rock in the tank and fill the sump with it. The rock doesnt care where it is . If you are using it just for filtration , putting it in the sump will work fine . Put the inlet at one end of the sump and the return pickup at the other end so all the water flows across the rock and you will be set. Just another way.Welcome to the board.