Salt tank no live rock?

[Fishysweet]

The reason you don't see gravel in sw tanks is because most people use aragonite sand or crushed aragonite to help maintain ph. Also you don't want two bio filters in a saltwater tank for example I have live rock in my tank I added a new emperor 400 and forgot to take the bio wheels out I had a huge nitrate spike. I couldn't figure out what was wrong and kept doing water changes I knocked the top of the filter of and seen the bio wheels I took them out on the spot and had no more trouble. I would think you would have the same type trouble with gravel.

 

[Jag586]

I don't think gravel would cause spikes that's like saying you can only have sand or live rock the bio wheels caused spikes because they didn't complete the nitrogen cycle all the way to gas like a deep sand bed or live rock can do bio wheels can't create a oxygen free environment that's why you don't run a salt water tank with loads of live rock and a wet dry because the wet dry will cause the same spikes


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[Zoodiver]

The idea of 'two biological filters' isn't bad. The biological part is just surface area for the aerobic bacteria to grow. That colony of bacteria will only grow as large as the ammonia production. It is a living part of your tank that is constantly growing and dying off. I can run an 8 ft tall fluidized bed on a 3 gallon tank....doesn't mean there will be as much aerobic bacteria as running that same 8 ft bed on a 3,000 gallon shark tank.

Live rock is just surface area. People tend to use it for how easy it is and how it looks. You don't need it as long as you have water moving over another surface.... bio balls, fluidized bed, undergravel filter etc. Think of the rock/fluidize bed as an apartment complex. You only need enough tenants to get the job of breaking down the ammonia completed. The rest is just wasted space. That is one reason you want to make sure to match what you set up to the bio load in the tank.

You can run a very healthy bare glass SW tank with water if you have the proper biological filtration running. I've run bare coral tanks with nothing more than a pt skimmer and fluidized bed running on them.

 

[dreadfish04]

I have run tanks devoid of L/r before, you just need to ensure all 3 parts of the nitrogen cycle are accounted for , if you remove l/r which provides a home for both aerobic bacteria (convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate ) and anerobic (converting nitrate to nitrogen gas) you have to provide the bacteria a home by different means, standard biological filtration in any form wil account for the first half, with an algae scrubber or regugium for of macro algae would work, or running a Deep sand bed either in the display tank or in the sump would work as well, DSB can be made of a mixture of gravel and fine sand, but works better with just a fine sediment, but it does have to be real deep , and dont forget with a dsb quality live sand is essential as its all the little critters turning over the top layers that make it work , if your running a sump you could always allow space for L/R in there which keeps your display clear

 

[Cu455]

Biological filtration is good for your tank. It can be rocks, sponges, pot scrubbers, ceramic rings or bioballs. You don't want to cut back on your filtration because of nitrates. Use pre mechanical filters. and keep them clean. The whole point of it is to convert the ammonia into nitrates.

I like live rock because a lot can grow on it to help keep your water good. This includes sponges and feather dusters. One disadvantage of using all live rock is water displacement. You lose a lot of water volume with all the rocks. In my reef I run a 40 gallon refugium with just sand and water to make up for the 100 pounds of rock in my display tank.

I like sand bottoms because a lot of animals need a sand bottom. If you go with gravel you might see something you like and have to pass on it because of the substrate.

 

[Cu455]

I like live rock because a lot can grow on it to help keep your water good. This includes sponges and feather dusters.

Nitrate factories can also grow good stuff. Here is a nitrate factory that ended up in my tank. I have a second factory filled with sponge. My sand is red it is not cyno.

 

[Rafini]

Biological filtration is good for your tank. It can be rocks, sponges, pot scrubbers, ceramic rings or bioballs. You don't want to cut back on your filtration because of nitrates. Use pre mechanical filters. and keep them clean. The whole point of it is to convert the ammonia into nitrates.

I like live rock because a lot can grow on it to help keep your water good. This includes sponges and feather dusters. One disadvantage of using all live rock is water displacement. You lose a lot of water volume with all the rocks. In my reef I run a 40 gallon refugium with just sand and water to make up for the 100 pounds of rock in my display tank.

I like sand bottoms because a lot of animals need a sand bottom. If you go with gravel you might see something you like and have to pass on it because of the substrate.

Its that I already have gravel and i was just wondering if it had to be thrown out, I guess it does.

so HOB biological filtration is a bad Idea then? Cause I was thinking of just having x2 100g rated HOB, and live rock around 100 lbs
Would it be good to say have one bio and one chem? ALso there would be a skimmer

 

[Cu455]

How big is the tank? Don't forget about a powerhead for the tank.

If you go with the hang on back filters put media which is easy to clean. Something which is reusable is also helpful. You won't have to worry about running out. Ceramic rings in bags will work and easy to clean. In one of them I will use a product like chemi pure elite. This will act as both chemical and mechanical filtration.

 

[Cu455]

Here is my hang on back filter. It is filled with rock rubble and mangroves. The rocks catch a lot of crap but it is a pain to clean. It might be good if you want a mandrin or something.

 

[Macenzi]

Can lava rock turn into live rock?


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