[katsuragi]

hi,

i'm very new to saltwater aquariums. i had a question about how wet/dry filtration and protein skimmers work together. i understand that some protein skimmers are placed in the sump. my question is that, is the water In the sump that water that is pumped into the protein skimmer and the water exiting the skimmer is fed back into the tank? or is it water from the tank that is feed into the protein skimmer, where it exits into the wet/dry filtration and water from the sump is pumped back into the tank. which is the proper setup? thanks

[Brian35]

welcome to Reefland! Wew , im not the new kid on the block anylonger.

Ill defer this question to the more experianced on this topic.

But welcome!

Brian

[dougc]

Most reef tanks are not set up using wet/dry filtration. The general consensus is that it leads to incomplete biological filtration and the accumulation of nitrates. Live rock or a sand bed, because it has anoxic zones (low oxygen), further breaks down the nitrates, eliminating the fertilizer that feeds nuisance algae. You can still use the wet/dry filter as a sump, but without bioballs or other biomedia. As to your plumbing question, most skimmers simply return water to the sump. From there, it is pumped back into the tank.

[Brian35]

I have a FO and after some great help from the gang here I am on my 3rd day of no wet/dry. Just going with my well established live rock, substrate and protein skimmer.

I would not suggest starting out this way. I would use the filter for quite a while til your live rock is established and maturing on its own.

I agree that the filter can be an "incomplete biological filtration and (cause)the accumulation of nitrates" so just be sure to keep it as clean and algae free as you can.

[GregD]

Katsuragi,

Welcome!

In answer to your original question, if you place a submersed skimmer in a wet/dry filtration box or even a sump, the skimmer typically takes the water from where it is sitting and outputs the water to the same location. The protein/waste is skimmed off the top of the water in the chamber of the skimmer (the tube) and normmaly collected in a cup at the top of the skimmer to prevent it from returning to the tank.

For flow and pressure reasons I am not sure you would want the inputs or outputs hooked directly to the tank. If you did you would have to be very careful to have check valves to make sure the water flows in the desired direction, especially if the tank lost power.

Also, for reasons cited in the posts above, I would recommend that you use a sump and natural filtration methods for filtering instead of a wet.dry filter. I started my first tank with a wet/dry filter box and quickly eliminated the blue bio balls becuase they were a heavy source of nitrates.

Hope this helps!
Greg

[Reefland]

Some really good advice given here already so I'll just add, Welcome to Reefland!