Preferred Filter

[newatthis]

Two days, my fish look as good as ever. Smidoid said wet/drys are falling out of favor. I am looking at getting a 280 gallon. What kind of filter would ya'll recommend?

[Steven Pro]

It depends on what you want to keep. If you were going with a heavily stocked predator tank for instance, I would get a wet/dry. But for most setups, I simply use sand, liverock, protein skimming, and a refugium with the ocassional use of chemical filtration media such as activated carbon, polyfilter, or phosphate resins.

[smidoid]

It depends on what you want to keep. If you were going with a heavily stocked predator tank for instance, I would get a wet/dry.

Why for a predator tank Steven? I'm curious as to the distinction. Is this something to do with the types of bacteria feeding on the detritus?

Most of what I've read seems to suggest that wet/dries are yesterday's tech and now we're moving forward (I originally designed my sump with a wet/dry area on the inlet using bioballs). I ran one for many years in freshwater with great success and had thought to migrate a bigger version to the marine tank. My research suggested that Berlin is better - just a lot more expensive in the short term (which it was, my wallet is still feeling it).

I know everyone has a different idea, but I'd appreciate your thoughts (or better still one of your great articles!) on how to decide on the best filtration for a given system.

[John Hamilton]

Two days, my fish look as good as ever.

Man, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I use a wet/dry, sand, LR and a PS for reef fishes and an anemone. No worries.

[smidoid]

Man, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I use a wet/dry, sand, LR and a PS for reef fishes and an anemone. No worries.

Ahmen to that! Favour or not, if it works for you...

[Steven Pro]

Wet/dry's are exceptionally good biological filters. There downside is nitrate production. But for messy predator tanks, a massive biological filter is a good thing and outweighs the drawbacks.

[smidoid]

Application of the correct tool for the job! Even works in reefkeeping.

[newatthis]

I guess I posted this in the wrong forum. Didnt see the one at the top. Wouldnt the wet dry do the same thing if you removed the bio balls which everyone says is the cause of the increase in nitrates??? You guys are great.

[smidoid]

As a side issue NewAtThis, the bioball mass is used in the Ecosystem with Miracle Mud which, as others have discussed works rather well. What we've also discovered is that Miracle Mud isn't (a miracle). In fact, it might not even be mud.

Sounds to me, although I'm only part way into my experiment, like the Caulerpa in the Ecosystem absorbs the excess nitrate from the bioball bacteria. I'm using spaghetti algae on a reverse photoperiod with mine (rather than Caulpera on a 24/7 hour light period).

But like I said, it's early days yet.

[BubbaWPB]

Many differnet types of filters work - as long as you do proper maintenance for the type of filter you have. No one type of filter is absolutely necessary - successful tanks have been demonstrated with many different types of filters. The combination of live rock and protein skimmers is the most common recently since it is very effective and "relatively" low maintenance.

Bioballs do provide a large surface area for nitrifying bacteria, but as with any mechanical filter, you need to clean (rinse) the detritus off on a regular basis or sooner or later you'll have problems with nitrogen compounds (usually later after you have been lulled into a false sense of security).

As long as you have sufficient cured live rock (at least a pound per gallon) the bioballs are not necessary. They'll most likely do no harm either, IF you keep them rinsed, but who wants to do extra maintenance?

Note that the bioballs should be rinsed in saltwater. You don't want to wash them thoroughly, or rinse them in tap water, or you'll kill all the beneficial bacteria off. You just need to rinse off the detritus (fish poo and other solid nasties).

The amount of bioballs in an Ecosystem is minimal... usually about 10-15 balls. This is pretty low compared to several cubic feet of bioballs in some wet-dry filters. Much fewer balls = much less nitrogen compounds to accumulate over time.