Beginners question...

[neker]

Hey all I am a new member and need some opinions. I have been told that I should get rid of my bio balls and sponges of the in my wet/dry filter as to eliminate nitrate levels. Would this be a good idea? Also how is it possible for the water to be clear and healthy if this is done? Also how many lbs. of live rock is recommended for a 72 gallon bow front tank. I already have 60lbs. of live rock. I would appreciate some feedback from you guys. Thanks.

 

[reefman]

do u have live sand? if u do, i would go with 1lb/gal as a rule of thumb. bio balls n sponges r use as places for nutrifying bacterial to grow. this performs the ammonia nitrate thing. however is does not do as good a job as live rock. good live rock can reduce it to a level acceptable to corals whereas bio balls will only reduce it acceptable to fishes. how clear the water is has not much to do with nitrates. clearness is mostly mechanial filtration. u can accomplish this by using carbon n protein skimmer n WC.

 

[bad coffee]

Moved to the Beginner's Forum.

Welcome to MR. Yeah. Bio balls and (prefilter)sponges can become nitrate factories if not kept clean. As for the LR, it depends on how porous the rock is, what look you want, and how much bio-load the rock can handle.

How about more tank specs? what are your current parameters?

Lighting, skimmer, sand?, what animals you have in there. . . Let us know what you have now so we can help you work on it.

B

 

[neker]

Okay here are the specifics of my tank:
sp. gravity 1.023
temp. 80 degrees
ph 8.4
40lbs live sand
60lbs live rock
wet/dry filter proclear 75 with protein skimmer (came together)
coralife 48" compact flouresance lighting
19" refugium with 4gallons of water, culebra and 3" live sand
yellow tang
hippo tang
maroon clown fish
6 line wrasse
yellow goby
14 hermit crabs
3 snails
button polyp coral
green star polyp
torch coral
pumping zenia

 

[bueller]

I would take the bio balls out, slowly if their already in for a while[ a few each day] and when you finally get them all out replace them with live rock [10 lbs in the proclear] you can also add another 10 to 15 lbs of rock for the main display. {your call thou for the display]

Bueller