[Psycho graphic]

I'm glad you like this idea.

Like this topic, I think there are many things that are taken for and accept as truth, when if you take the time to figure it out are'nt really as true as we are led to believe.

I recently gave up on posting on one site for a few reasons, one was the fact that people there tend to just regurgitate a lot of what they read without having a working knowledge of what they are talking about or bothering to do some research on their own. When you go against the pack, you kind of get labeled a trouble maker (hence my title).

[inline6]

Quote: Originally Posted by jackson6745 Every crevice in your reef will collect detritus. A good skimmer, refugium, and proper husbandry will keep great water quality regardless. My 2 cents

Thank you Rich, well said.

[noodleman]

here's a pic of my old 30 gal....it had bio-balls, a sea clone skimmer and good old tap water ....thats xenia all over my front glass btw

[WaterPlant]

associations and assumptions

a lot of members may have associated bio-balls with wet-dry filer and thus users of them were assumed to have no other means of exporting the nutrients nor even the will to "clean the balls"-a phrase borrowed from another thread. so far i have seen only one member here continuously telling people to "clean the balls" and add nutrients exporting components in the system provided that they already have the balls in the system.

a lot of members may have also associated live rock with super high flow and cleaning with turkey blaster by default and thus users of live rock were assumed to know what to do with the rock and has the will to clean them regularly.

in addressing the point about if we already have enough nitrate decomposing bacteria somewhere in the system why bother to have duplicates. one member advised me that it's always safer in case one component is not doing the job. also if the balls are there in the first place, I see no point of removing them as long as we change our habit of not cleaning the balls. like solby said, rocks also collect dirt. but a lot of us already assumed we will clean it by powerheads, pumps and turkey blasters.

we probably have a lot of knowledge in how to use live rock but very little in how to use bio-balls nor willingness to understand how they can be used.

[Awibrandy]

I hope this thread continues on. It will make for some interesting reading, and learning.
My 75g.FOWLR, southdown sand, lr, and yes a wet/dry with bioballs running without it's skimmer. Skimmer got borrowed for the 155g.bow temporarily. This tank doesn't give any of the troubles the 155g. w/refugium,cheato, calurpa, skimmer, iwaki wmd40 return pump, phosban reactor.
Just an observation.

[meschaefer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Awibrandy I hope this thread continues on. It will make for some interesting reading, and learning. My 75g.FOWLR, southdown sand, lr, and yes a wet/dry with bioballs running without it's skimmer. Skimmer got borrowed for the 155g.bow temporarily. This tank doesn't give any of the troubles the 155g. w/refugium,cheato, calurpa, skimmer, iwaki wmd40 return pump, phosban reactor. Just an observation.

What are your nitrates?

[tomzpc]

Quote: Originally Posted by solbby Some definitions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_organism The idea that live rock can provide the niche for anaerobic respiration to occur is a myth IMO. Oxygenated water is going to penetrate all aspects of the rock, especially with all the flow we have in our tanks. Even if there is a microaerophilic space within the rock, I don't think that the amount of space is enough for a sufficient quantity of bacteria to reside to perform significant nitrate conversion.

I don't think that this is a myth at all. I've been running nitrate-free systems for years with little or no sand whatsoever. Where is the anaerobic bacteria if not in the rock?

[tomzpc]

I agree on bio-balls getting a bad rap. They aren't necessary or even desirable but they also aren't the demon that many make them out to be. The term "nitrate factory" pertains more to wet/dry filters which more often than not make use of bio-balls in an oxygen rich environment. Using bio-balls in a submerged environment won't have nearly the same effect when it comes to producing nitrates.

[Awibrandy]

Quote: Originally Posted by meschaefer What are your nitrates?

para. in that tank are as follow, also consider that the tank has been neglected due to all of my time going to the doctors, and the researching and planning of the 155. But my life is begining to settle down. I will have the time to care for it as it should be.

PH 8.4
salinity 1.020
Temp.79-80
ammo. 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20
phosphate 2.5
Besides monthly wc, your also suppose to rinse the bioballs. Which I normally do every couple of months. Had not done so in 5 months hence the high nitrate which for a fish only tank it is not disatreous.

[jackson6745]

Awibrandy your water parms are poof of the inefficiency of your filtration system. Corals would not do well in there and if you put bright light on that tank, the algae would be out of control.
I don't mean to sound like a jerk, I just don't want people to thing that wetdry filtration will give good results for a reef (or FO for that matter).

What are the water parms on the 155? what sort of trouble are you having?