1300 gallon system
- Thread starter Jennilyn
- Start date
I would think 150 gallon fluidized bed filter would be enough bio to support a whale! I would suspect that could do about 30,000 gallons. With about 21,400 sq feet of bio surface area. Depending on media of course. Just have a good power backup plan as in my experience they go anaerobic fast, with not movement.
I actually think you would probably need a bigger system. The fluidized filters are actually far less efficient than stationary media, like ceramic rings. Joey goes over this in one of his videos and gives calculations of what they can handle. Basically, on a small water bottle scale, it would take six moving bed water bottles to filter the equivalent of one stationary media water bottle. Now, with sand, you actually get fantastic surface area and a very high capacity for a very small amount. With K1/K3 though, you need a lot. This is why Joey has a 100 gallon moving bed sump for his 375 gallon tank.
As far as the nitrification process goes, moving bed filters do a great job. They convert everything very well, it's just that you have to have a lot of media and space to do it.
As far as the nitrification process goes, moving bed filters do a great job. They convert everything very well, it's just that you have to have a lot of media and space to do it.
I use a reverse undergravel filter in my 55 with playsand. It works like a dream. More surface Area than if the whole tank was full of bioballs. Water pumped under the sand keeps it aerated. I have some mts to take care of any dead spots. Sand has much more surface area than anything else. The only Issue is keeping it from going anaerobic. I hate moving beds, though. Like Travis said, they go anaerobic when you lose power, but they are also power hungry and noisy. Why don't you build a remote sand bed reverse undergravel filter out of your 150g sump? I don't know if that would be enough, but it should beat using it as a suspended bed.
Moving bed is deff the way to go with rays. Self cleaning is priceless to me. 150 gal sounnds plenty large enough