What Else Do I Need?

[Nemo Keeper]

WOW Zhenya, I didn't know that. I was thinking more in terms of catching particles such as uneaten food or large particles as such. I do have carbon media which I replace every water change monthly.

[zhenya]

WOW Zhenya, I didn't know that. I was thinking more in terms of catching particles such as uneaten food or large particles as such. I do have carbon media which I replace every water change monthly.

Well yes, that's the purpose of the prefilters but if you leave it there with all that "catch" for a while the process of decaying begins. This results in ammonia and everything else that follows in the denitrification process. ;)

When I ran wet/dry filter as a sump, and once I removed all of the bio-balls, I never looked back as far as using any prefilter material. I did clean the wet/dry itself every water exchange, plus used efficient skimmer to pick up slack in removing anything that was in the water column.
I never could test for any NO3 after that, ever.

[Nemo Keeper]

I have what I consider a VERy efficient skimmer. Now as far as running you wet/dry as a sump, are there any special features you have to add to it to make it a sump. That's basically what I am trying to do.

[Nemo Keeper]

Ok...just finished taking out the last of the bio balls. My Nitrates have plumeted to 10 ppm. Now I have this annoying "raining" like noise coming from the stand. Any suggestions on how to make this sound go away?

[denhay14]

Yeah I have that noise too, but luckily I had some strips of plasitc sheets from lowes and put them at a slant to let the water run down easily without dropping straight. After a while when I remove all the bioballs completely I will add the LR to where the bioballs where to rid the noise with out the help of plastic.

[Seige]

maybe a filtration sock would work temporarily.

[Carissa]

I have a sponge in my sump that I just make sure to clean well every week and rinse everything off. This prevents it from building too much of the debris that will eventually generate nitrates. I have it as a spare for my QT for biological filtration if need be, it also helps to filter particulates but I make sure to remove the debris regularly rather than letting it break down in the tank.

Any sort of "media" (carbon, bioballs, sponge, whatever) can grow the bacteria that will in the end generate nitrates. The main thing is that you physically remove the waste before it can get to that point where the waste is building up and then breaking down in the tank, and it's generating more nitrates than the live rock can deal with effectively.

[metalhead]

maybe a filtration sock would work temporarily.

I run a filter sock on the inlet to my sump and it works very well for keeping the sump clean and keeping floating particulates out of the water column. It also seems to deter the spread of certain types of algae. Just make sure you rinse/clean it out every day or every other day minimum to avoid nitrate biuld up. The same could probably be said for sponge type filters.

Be prepared though, this process becomes a chore rather quickly and cannot be neglected if you want to keep your nitrates down. I'm sure it would help to have more than one filter sock which currently I do not. IMO it is worth the trouble though.

On a side note, if you are trying to promote the presence of phytoplankton or other means of nourishment for filter or other specialized feeders in the water column then a filter sock should probably be avoided along with any other form of mechanical filtration.

[Nemo Keeper]

Well, since the last post, I have 0 Nitrates!!!!!!!! All other parameters are perfect. I have added a filter sock (thanks metal head) and some sponge filters which I clean out every other day, and let me tell you, when I rinse them out, the water comes out BLACK!!! Like I hadn't washed it in weeks. I want to thank all you guys and gals for your help with this.....THANKS

[metalhead]

Well, since the last post, I have 0 Nitrates!!!!!!!! All other parameters are perfect. I have added a filter sock (thanks metal head) and some sponge filters which I clean out every other day, and let me tell you, when I rinse them out, the water comes out BLACK!!! Like I hadn't washed it in weeks. I want to thank all you guys and gals for your help with this.....THANKS

That's great to hear!

Glad I could help.