Berlin Method

[reefNewbie]

Alright, I am gonna be doing some reading on the berlin method because i have heard so much positive from people using it. I wanted to ask a few questions first.

My current setup is a 30 gal tank with a penguin 280 filter, Hamilton 48in dual 175w MH 10000K/dual florescent actinic, 20#'s of fiji/bali live rock, 1inch layer of crushed coral and an overflow box.

My 20 gal sump looks like this:

Sea clone 100 skimmer in sump

My question is, what alterations, besides adding southdown, more LR and a few cups live sand will i have to do to my tank and sump in order for the berlin method to efficently work? Also i am eventually replace the 30 with either a 55, or 75 gal tank. would that PH provide enough water flow for this new system? thanks guys

 

[Len]

Your LR amount is fine as is, and addtion would mainly be for aesthetics and areas for coral placement. Definitely add some small particulate sand in there. About 3 inches is adequete for denitrification to occur.

Skimmer is the main cog in a berlin system, and while most will tell you Seaclones suck, it should be able to handle a 30 gallon aquarium. A better skimmer is definitely recommended, but isn't necessary unless you plan on very heavy stocking levels. My experience tells me Seaclones shouldn't be used on tanks larger then 30, so you've just snunk in under that magical theoritical number

Junk the Penguin when the sump is up (I'm sure you were planning on it already, but might as well mention it).

Get the heater out of the downflow compartment. Any bubbles may cause it to explode. It did in my tank once. Put it in your pump section (doesn't have to be vertical if you have a fully submersible one). You may want to put more baffles in the pump section if the sump is still being built. The more baffles, the less bubbles :p

 

[reefNewbie]

ok, thanks for the advice! So there doesnt need to be any kind of charcoal or anything in the sump? About the sea clone, since i new this would come up, i do have a 30 gal, but i also have a 20 gal sump, so really there is 50 gal of water. so is this still enough filtration? thanks

 

[oimate84]

I had some questions about this method a while back. The Key is plenty live rock, 1.5-2lbs a gal, a deep live sand bed about 3 inches, good skimming and lighting. Any additional bio media (bioballs/biowheel) you have in your sump you can take out. Go to www.berlinmethod.com for more. Hope this helps...

 

[reefNewbie]

i dont get why that site is usefull. all it does is show a picture and then talk about his tank. I am looking for actual information/write ups on this topic.

 

[Anonymous]

The berlin methed includes the use of carbon. Many ways to run carbon, the simplest would probably be putting a bag of ChemPure in your sump in an area where the majority of the flow would go though the bag. This is cheap ($5-$6) per bag, and it last 3-6 months.

Louey

 

[jamesw]

Never mind.

Cheers
James Wiseman

 

[reefNewbie]

I was put here to make your day! lol