With what we can do "New-School" Why do you Still rock that Wet/Dry??

Crazy idea, but what if someone was to use a wet/dry in conjunction with some sort of bio-pellet reactor?

I am new to the whole reactor thing and currently have a slow flow fuge, so go easy on the flaming...

Sent from my Evo

 

You will not be flamed here.

I don't really know what the bio-pellet reactors are all about.

 

There is just no point. For a reef tank, well you want a reef... which means lots of live rock. Live rock can process all the waste and the nitrates... bio pellets come in to mop up the nitrates that are left over. LR can reduce a lot of nitrates, but there are reasons more float around... biopellets use bacterias to not only reduce nitrates, but to reduce phosphates which is another thing that needs to be kept low on a reef. So there are other things for other uses.

I don't actually know if you used pellets with a W/D that they could mop up all the nitrates because they could easily become phosphate limited. The ideal thing to do with nitrates is to keep things clean, remove as much waste with a skimmer before it can be broke down to nitrates... have lots of live rock to process the rest including nitrates... feed properly and have a good clean up crew of all kinds of scavengers...then deal with what is left over either with macro/micro algae in a fuge or scrubber, use deep sand bed, use GFO, use bio pllets or a combination of them.... and the point is this is really only for maintaining very low nutrient systems which really means SPS tanks... not everyone needs a low nutrient system.

 

My way if dealing with nitrates is to change enough water to keep them down.


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Sent from Tapatalk, so please forgive grammar and spelling

 

Bio-pellets are great for ultra low nutrient systems like mine cause I want to keep my SPS colorful and happy. They kinda take the place of carbon dosing, providing a place to feed the bacteria. I am saving for a reactor now as I dose vodka and MB7 and this will alleviate the daily dosing.

Heidi

 

I had an Eshopps wet/dry on my last tank that I took down about a year ago. It was a 29 gal tank and I did 2.5 gal water changes weekly. Didn't have a problem with nitrates. I don't really see the need for bioballs though if the tank has a lot of live rock or sand.

I think wet/drys could be more useful for hospital tanks. They keep the water well oxygenated and are a great biofilter for a tank without rock.

 

I respectfully disagree with your last statement. You don't want a biofilter in a QT or HT in the event you need to use meds to kill a parasite or infection. The majority of the meds available will also kill the nitrifying bacteria which will create an ammonia spike. QTs and HTs are best maintained with water changes rather than chemical or biological filtration.

I do agree with the rest of your post, though- bioballs are just something else to maintain if you have adequate live rock and sand.

 

I stick with Mardel medications, like Maracyn (erthromycin) and Maracyn 2 (minocycline), and the biological filter continues to function during and after the treatment.

Wet/dry's are also really good to use for hypo treatments since oxygen can go down quickly as you bring the salinity back up.