Stingray tank filter discussion

[DB junkie]

I would like some input from some of you ray filter gurus.......

My question has to do with bio filtration overkill.

Say in your filter the water goes through the socks for mechanical filtration, then flows through submerged ceramic rings, then splits to a bio reactor or wet/dry, and back to the tank.

My question is, IF there is enough ceramic rings is the reactor even doing anything?

For those of us trying to use all means of bio filtration (submerged, wet/dry, reactor) are we really achieving the result we want from using different forms or does the bio population run out? Will it just populate the first media it travels through and if there's enough there the population of bio doesn't even thrive in the last leg of the filter?

Can you really be kicking yourself if you're using too much scrubbie before the reactor?

Can having too much bio be a flaw in the design? By ways that you are primarely using inefficient media and your most efficient media isn't even being used cause all the bio is living in the inefficient bio material?

Please share your thoughts........

Thanks!

 

[dxdx]

I don't think all the bio would concentrate heavily in one place, rather, I think it would be spread out in smaller amounts across your whole media... don't have any proof this is true though.

plus, I don't think you can have too much bio media.

My setup is the reverse of what you describe - K3 chamber first, which should be the most effective, then rings for anything leftover.

 

[framcosco]

I would like some input from some of you ray filter gurus.......

My question has to do with bio filtration overkill.

Say in your filter the water goes through the socks for mechanical filtration, then flows through submerged ceramic rings, then splits to a bio reactor or wet/dry, and back to the tank.

My question is, IF there is enough ceramic rings is the reactor even doing anything?

For those of us trying to use all means of bio filtration (submerged, wet/dry, reactor) are we really achieving the result we want from using different forms or does the bio population run out? Will it just populate the first media it travels through and if there's enough there the population of bio doesn't even thrive in the last leg of the filter?

Can you really be kicking yourself if you're using too much scrubbie before the reactor?

Can having too much bio be a flaw in the design? By ways that you are primarely using inefficient media and your most efficient media isn't even being used cause all the bio is living in the inefficient bio material?

Please share your thoughts........

Thanks!

Not a guru, but here's my 2 cents:

the good bacteria grows where ever it can on a tank, ..... bio-filtration is essentially "space" we make available so the good bacteria can attach itself and "thrive". By thriving I mean the bacteria has room to increase or decrease contingent upon bio-load. Adding more bio-filtration will not increase your good bacteria as this is mainly contingent upon your bioload (this is assuming your old bio filtration was capable of handling current stock). Increasing bio-filtration allows the system to adjust its self much more effectively & efficiently if lets say you add another ray to your tank. Having ceramic rings, wet-dry, bio reactor is a good thing and no, the bacteria will not only grow on the ceramic rings in your sump.... it will grow on all three bio filters. I suspect with your set-up a lot of good bacteria will grow in the wet/dry area as it has a higher content of oxygen vs the submerged media. Remember even the the filter socks will be seeded with good bacteria...when you replace these, there is a "shortage" of good bacteria which is then "replaced" in your bio-filtration. Can one type of bio filtration (if large enough to allow bacteria grow based on bio-load) be enough for a tank? technically yes, but in my opinion, different bio filtrations have its strengths and weaknesses and by combining them, we can have a healthier system in the long run. for example water flow can be reduced going into the bio-reactor to house/seed anaerobic bacteria, while the others will thrive with aerobic bacteria. increasing/combining bio filtration is a great thing with the understanding that these systems must also be "cleaned"/maintained. Hope this is of some help.

 

[DB junkie]

Next question....

IF there is a clear overabundance of bio can this actually be a bad thing? Is it possible for the unused areas of bio to harbor "bad" things? Disease, bacteria?

Wet/dry for example- there's a rediculous amount of buildup in the bottom of the thing. Assuming this "buildup" is old dead bio. Can a significant buildup of this stuff be "bad" for your tank?

IF this buildup was in the reactor then a crack of a valve and the stuff is gone, however it's nothing like that in the wet/dry.

My initial thought is to rely more on the reactor and shrink the wet/dry. The wet/dry was a successfull filter on my old pond all by itself, no other filters, no other bio. There's probobly close to 1500 scrubbies in this thing. Considering there's 6 cubic feet of K1 in this sytem I'm wondering if the dead areas in the wet/dry are actually hurting the system since I'm assuming they're unnecessary with that much K1.

 

[Tor-Eriik]

When i bought my bio reactor there was info about how much you could stock with it. I bought a Powerbead85, was suppose to take a 12000 liter heavy stocked koi pond. With feeding around 2-300g food a\day. With that said, this filter is going in a 1200 gallon tank with 9 rays, am i worried? Not at all.. I will not get near what it is suppose to take..

And also a little note, im doing the worst thing possible when comming to ray keeping, with success..9 rays, 2000 liter pond, filtered by 2xfx5 and eheim 2080, find 3 wrongs Have not had trouble with this setup til now, and cant see it comming either.. When i look at peoples filtratrion systems, mine must be the worst filtered ray tank even known to mankind. Why does it work? I think i know the answere, i have always had these filters on the rays, since they were 5 inches til now that they are 12-13 inches, so the filters have grown with the ammound of waste, biovice.

I think you are onto something here DB.

 

[MrBlakcIS300]

Good stuff and keep it coming.

About to set up a 125g sump for my newly acquired 4'x4'x2' ray tank.

 

[Zoodiver]

Not a guru, but here's my 2 cents:......

Not a 'guru', but that is indeed a 'guru' answer. Very well put, couldn't have said it better myself. That is exactly what is going on. I tip my hat to you.

 

[T1KARMANN]

i dont use the sock i ***k the 1st compartment of the sump with jap mat its much better

 

[HackJob]

it seems like it is contingent of bio-load. Having more "bio" area allows more BB if bio-load does increase. That being said, at some point you are looking at a reduced return on investment.

 

[scott s]

I don't think all the bio would concentrate heavily in one place, rather, I think it would be spread out in smaller amounts across your whole media... don't have any proof this is true though.

plus, I don't think you can have too much bio media.

My setup is the reverse of what you describe - K3 chamber first, which should be the most effective, then rings for anything leftover.

With my system, I only have fliter pad then K1. I would like to add filter socks before the pad...but that will happen later. Anyway, I get very little build up in my K1 and return chamber. So going through rings after the K1 may not be such a bad idea. Overkill...maybe. I think if I were to add anything to my system, it would be a pond canister between the return and the tank. Only because it would be very easy to back flush the build up. More of a water buffer as the K1 should take care of the bio load first.
Cleaning the build up in the scrubbies/ceramic section would be a worry for me, because after something like that is done, the rest of the system may not be prepared for the immediate bio load it would recieve. Just my thoughts...