Lava rock for filtration and filtration help.

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Tanyoberu

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 10, 2006
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Ok, I keep my tank from 1.010 to 1.018 (no more than a .002 change per week). I just read that external filters aren't good for SW tanks and you can see I get to the tip of SW swings. Is lava rock a good replacement for live rock or should I shell out the cash for live?

Also, I do have a fluval 405 and a aquaclear 500 or whatever number they are using now. Also I keep sponges on my intakes that get rinsed using the aquarium water on the opposite week that the water gets changed. And for just that umphf, I have a sponge on a water jet all for my 80 gallon brackish tank (The 6' long version). Is this enough filtration?

I have messy eaters and plan on adding two to three more fish.

So far I have
2 Terapon Jarbua
3 FW Moray Eel
2 Columbian Shark
3 Silver Scat
WTB (2 ruby scats and 1 Dogface puffer)
 
I have the brackish book edited by Neale Monk and it states that the dogface puffer can go as low as 1.010 and that it does not need the higher salinities. If there is other information out there stating otherwise, please share. I don't want to make a fatal error like that.

Now what types of Lava rock? I have the red variety, didn't know there were others. So let me look that up.
 
Wow, I just found that I have Clinkers!!!

East of the Mississippi, lava rock are colored clinkers a silicate slag waste product from iron ore smelting, steel making blast furnaces, or silicate type slag from coal fired electrical generating plants.

I don't want no stinking clinkers! I hope this is not the 'bad' type of lava rock. My eels love it, but how do I tell if it's no good?
 
i herd salt water breaks down lava rock over time...but good for taking out nitrates and airating fresh water
 
live rock would be a waste of money... it will only be 100% effective if it is at a stable SG. when you change your SG weekly (good practice in a brackish tank) some bacteria will die of.

if you want to have more filtration. why not see if a protein skimmer is the option. they remove waste before it can break down. and can be effective in brackish, and fresh water aquariums also.

and dont worry about the external in marine. i have a fluval 405 on my reef. i only use it for the sponge and for water flow. as long as you keep it maintained and cleaned it shouldnt become a nitrite factory.
 
protein skimmer for FW? I thought there had to be a specific gravity before they could even be used. But here's a question. How are canister filters nitrate factories, I thought they help remove waste helped reduce the whole nitrate cycle. Please explain.
 
Tanyoberu;3301765; said:
protein skimmer for FW? I thought there had to be a specific gravity before they could even be used. But here's a question. How are canister filters nitrate factories, I thought they help remove waste helped reduce the whole nitrate cycle. Please explain.
Click to expand...

yeah, protien skimmers in FW can be used to good effect. as they can in brackish too.

in FW aquariums canister filters are great, as they remove the waste (like you said), and can push a lot of water through themselves, so they can be a really effective form of filtration. they do still make a small amount of nitrate though, but not enough to cause any harm, as nitrates are not as poisonous as in SW.

in salt water though, the levels are obviously more deadly to fish/inverts. and the nitrogen cycle has a greater significance. generally anyway. the reason externals tend to be nitrate factories is basically because detritus and other fish waste, plus uneaten food or dead organisms, get trapped in the mechanical stage of the canister filter, and because the bacteria in the biological filter doesn’t get chance to get at it, the waste won’t be converted via the bacteria into harmless nitrogen gas.

the anerobic bacteria that convert nitrate into nitrite cannot survive in the oxygen rich water in the canister, they like to live deep inside live rock, or under a Deep Sand Bed. also the waste is just trapped in sponges or falls to the base of the canister and would start to rot. this could become a serious problem if left unattended. However, if cleaned regularly, this can be avoided. but it means that you would have to do it every week.

it is possible though. i have a canister on my reef. i only use the canister with sponge though, its mainly there for water movement. all my corals are fine and dandy. just keep up the cleaning schedule and your good to go.
 
Wow I think I need to invest in a nitrogen kit because I need to see what my tank is doing. It looks good, the fish are doing well, but I did add a puffer in the tank that died in a matter of days. (Nitrogen spike? Who knows now.) But I see that I MUST invest in this kit.

No according to what you are saying I should also have a deep sand bed type. I resorted to using play sand, but me thinks it may be to compact and or not deep enough. I'm not able to afford live sand and I'm looking for ways to cut costs with maintenance on this tank. (Salt aint cheap!) I may end up adding crushed coral and other 'fillers' to my sand to make it 'live' as well.

My fish look healthy but I see I still have a lot to learn. Thanks for the input so far.
 
so you added a dog face? it may be able to live in brackish if its aclimatised slowly, like over a period of days/weeks, rather than in a few hours, but is more suited in marine environments. maybe at higher SG's 1.018+ it could be done on the day, but its not too far from marine, and most marines will live at this level.

i would just stick with brackish puffers at this stage. if you get say a GSP, it will live happily at anything above 1.010, and progress with you if you decide to go to marine. they stay resonably small (6"), have loads of personallity, and more importantly, will melt the hearts of anyone who looks at it.

your other option is a figure 8 puffer but these prefer an SG of around 1.005.


i wouldnt worry about having a deep sand bed on a brackish tank, i mean you can if you want, it wont have any negative effects. i wouldnt worry about live sand either. live sand is a waste. sand will become 'live' in any tank in time. in your brackish tank, all the marine micro fauna, and critters, bacteria ect would just die anyway as its not designed to be used in brackish aquaria.

and using playsand is fine £3 for 15 kilos... bargin :). im using it in all my tanks. marine and freshwater. its cheap and it just rules as a substrate. i dont have a brackish tank at the mo, as it is now my marine setup i raised my GSP in, but if i set up another brackish tank for brackish puffers (my last GSP jumped, still not over it yet:cry:) i will use playsand on that too.

oh i wouldnt beat yourself up over making mistakes sh1t happens.
 
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