filter media

[mymindseye81]

"75 gallon tank with a CPR overflow box going to a 3 chamber sump"

Question 1:
what is the best filter media for a sump, is it bio balls, carbon bag, live rock, ceramic plugs, aragonite, wool, etc. i have bio balls right now with one filter pad and i just dont think its cutting it anymore. i want the best media that creates the best buffer.

Question 2:
i have been closely examining my sump these past couple of days and i have noticed this brown material covering the sump floor, its very light and almost untouchable. what is this stuff? should i clean this out? what about my "healthy bacteria" will this hurt that?

 

[Toby_H]

If your ammonia and nitrite is consistently at zero... your bio filtration is fine...

There are materials available that will contain more surface area per gallon than bio balls, but in all reality it is very unlikely that your system "lacks enough surface area" to maintain a suitable bacterial colony for your tank. Therefore increasing surface area will not benefit your system.

In my opinion... or according to my understanding... bio media with more surface area typically has more narrow passages within it meaning less water actually flows through it. If water is not flowing through the passages and therefore coming in contact with the "surface area" within them, this surface area is not able to benefit your system.

In my experience, a typical aquarium with zero "bio media" will have ample surface area to house a suitable amount of bacteria to handle a typical stock list. The one situation this may not be true is in an aquarium with little to no substrate & decor that is grossly overstocked. I do not personally enjoy this stocking approach therefore I have no experience with them.

As long as your ammonia and nitrite are staying at zero, I would stick with the bio media you have.

As a basic perception... Avoiding bypass is essential to efficient filtration...

Feel free to clean the brown stuff out of your filter if it's bothering you... Beneficial Bacteria has a very high doubling rate therefore it will repopulate any that you remove very quickly.

 

[sostoudt]

nutcase still waiting on the zero filtration tank to be completed.

but anyway hes probably right if you have zero ammonia and nitrites, unless your starting to get cloudy water, sludge in the filter, or algae?


also some dirt build up in the sump is inevitable, so dont worry about the brown dust or detritus.

edit: i guess pm me, nc, when you create a tank thread or when ever you write about it thanks

 

[mymindseye81]

nutcase still waiting on the zero filtration tank to be completed.

but anyway hes probably right if you have zero ammonia and nitrites, unless your starting to get cloudy water, sludge in the filter, or algae?


also some dirt build up in the sump is inevitable, so dont worry about the brown dust or detritus.

(DITRITUSE) i knew it! i thought this stuff only developed in salt water aquariums. I tested my nitrates yestrday 24 hours after a 25% water change and they were a little high. im thinking maybe a small bag of aragonite in the sump's middle chamber under the bio balls. i will be switching my substrate to pool filter sand very soon. this will allow for me to clean my surface a lot better (hopefully). in this sand should i also put aragonite on the suface of the sand? my 2 plecos are very dirty, im thinking of getting rid of them and getting some Mystery Snails. anyway thanks for the reply

 

[sostoudt]

(DITRITUSE) i knew it! i thought this stuff only developed in salt water aquariums. I tested my nitrates yestrday 24 hours after a 25% water change and they were a little high. im thinking maybe a small bag of aragonite in the sump's middle chamber under the bio balls. i will be switching my substrate to pool filter sand very soon. this will allow for me to clean my surface a lot better (hopefully). in this sand should i also put aragonite on the suface of the sand? my 2 plecos are very dirty, im thinking of getting rid of them and getting some Mystery Snails. anyway thanks for the reply

well most filtration doesnt do anything about nitrates, you need either a coil denitrator or plant filtration. (a guess a deep sand bed could possible work but theres little data on them in freshwater i think)

the best way to keep substrate clean is by making it very thin. the sand wont trap waste as easily as gravel at first. but over the long run it will trap waste just as bad because its hard to clean. i guess you could put argonite on the surface it would probably look better. but it may get mixed up eventually. yea plecos are very messy, most plant eaters are. the snails will probably leave strings of poop too but there not anywhere near the bioload of plecos

 

[jus85411]

since you dont have saltwater i wouldnt bother with live rock, you will only kill off the BB that is on the rock that is made for SW. same goes with live sand i believe, someone else could shed some better light on this though.

 

[Toby_H]

The purpose of “Bio Filtration” is to convert ammonia into nitrites and nitrites into nitrates… therefore if this is being achieved, your bio filtration is fine… regardless of cloudy water, sludge in the filter, or algae.

Cloudy water, sludge in the filter, or algae can be caused by many things. The way to find out if poor bio filtration is the cause is to test for ammonia or nitrites. If they are at zero, it is from one of the other many possible causes.

Although I do have an experiment tank underway, please do not mistakenly think that my theories / understandings of bio filtration have not been personally put to the / a test. My ideas are not based on what I’ve read on the internet alone, they are the result of a lot of years keeping fish tanks in a lot of different conditions as well as a lot of hours reading information from a lot of sources both within and beyond the aquarium hobby.

 

[yogurt_21]

The purpose of “Bio Filtration” is to convert ammonia into nitrites and nitrites into nitrates… therefore if this is being achieved, your bio filtration is fine… regardless of cloudy water, sludge in the filter, or algae.

Cloudy water, sludge in the filter, or algae can be caused by many things. The way to find out if poor bio filtration is the cause is to test for ammonia or nitrites. If they are at zero, it is from one of the other many possible causes.

Although I do have an experiment tank underway, please do not mistakenly think that my theories / understandings of bio filtration have not been personally put to the / a test. My ideas are not based on what I’ve read on the internet alone, they are the result of a lot of years keeping fish tanks in a lot of different conditions as well as a lot of hours reading information from a lot of sources both within and beyond the aquarium hobby.

well if you could offer a better nitrate approach than a ton of plants or a ton of w/c I think everyone here would jump on it.

 

[Toby_H]

The vast majority of hobbyists use “bio filtration” to convert ammonia to nitrites to nitrates… and water changes to remove nitrates…

I’ve never suggested I had any theories outside the norm on that one

I think the theory of a refugium could be employed in freshwater in place of large sections of a sump dedicated to bio media… But until I’ve put that theory to the test I don’t readily suggest it (I try to share only from experience).

 

[mymindseye81]

The vast majority of hobbyists use “bio filtration” to convert ammonia to nitrites to nitrates… and water changes to remove nitrates…

I’ve never suggested I had any theories outside the norm on that one

I think the theory of a refugium could be employed in freshwater in place of large sections of a sump dedicated to bio media… But until I’ve put that theory to the test I don’t readily suggest it (I try to share only from experience).

I for one really appreciate your shareing, its always good to hear personal experiance aswell as personal knowledge. i just went to the LFS about an hour ago and talked to the owner, i told him all of my concerns and worries and he asked me about my sump media etc. "WE" thik its because i am only useing 1 media filter pad, which sits on top of the bio balls. he showed me on one of his tanks in the back that was hooked up with a sump, that there is a stiff thick pad in between the bio ball chamber and the return chamber. i have never had that pad before. could this be my debris problem in the tank? there is also this flexible media pad that comes in a 4 foot roll that you cut up as needed that i think im going to purchase, i will put those inbetween the filter pad and the bio balls for a finer filter. also he suggested a carbon bag in the filter to help make the water crystal clear, i would put this under the bio balls. but i do not want my water clear until i clean up the floating debris because then it will just look worse, being more visible. anyway keep the knowledge flowing here, i need it.