bio-load?

[WRASSER]

how do you figure out the bio-load for any size tank?

 

[Anonymous]

I'd recommend giving a suggested stocking list and asking for comments. It's clearly more complicated than the old inches per X number of gallons people used to talk about, as you have to take into account eating habits/swimming habits/aggression etc as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Well it's kind of a tongue in cheek type calculation, along the lines of heavy-"normal"-low. Depends upon many factors, how much you feed, how many fish you have, and I'd wage corals might have a bigger impact than what most people think as well.

 

[WRASSER]

ok, here is the list of what i have so far... ... it is a 220 gal. tank with a 20 gal refugium/filter system. lfs saya it a 900 gal rated refugium. its like 40l x 16 h x 12 1/2 w.

bi-color angel
coral beauty angel
flame angel
blenny (some kinda russian name, startin with a k)
neon dottyback
2 mandrins
dusky wrasse
dragon wrasse
hurliquin tusk
3 anthias
naso tang
hippo tang
sialfin tang
male and female maroone gold clowns
a torch, 2 gorgorians,coral banded shrimp, some snails and blue leg hermit crabs
and bout 150 lbs of live rock, with 6" live sand bed

 

[Anonymous]

Wrasser, I don't quite know how the LFS would rate a 'fuge of 20 gallons as appropriate for a tank of 900 gallons. That's less than 10% of your total display volume. Honestly, if it were me, I would have put a 'fuge of around 50 gallons along with.

Well it's kind of a tongue in cheek type calculation, along the lines of heavy-"normal"-low. Depends upon many factors, how much you feed, how many fish you have, and I'd wage corals might have a bigger impact than what most people think as well.

I disagree with that. I've found invertebrates, in total, place almost no load on a system. Motile inverts will obviously place a larger load than stationary, but the impact is still, again in my experience, negligible. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do things like load up my nanos to the gills with inverts, including stony corals.

Vertebrates are the main factor of consideration for me when it comes to calculating bioload. Activity level is another factor. Feeding style is yet another factor. I won't include animals like cleaner shrimps and hermit crabs because they've never proven to be the cause of a problem (assuming health and vigor and stable parameters in the system).

Edit: Ok, looking at your stocking list it's clear you're not going to be putting in any shrimps or similar. Your stock list looks fine for a 220gal.

 

[WRASSER]

i think the refugium is a berlin style refugium. and i dont know the exact gal. it could be more. :? i wanted something to assit me with the nitrates and nitites with the tank. i am hoping that it is not tooo small.
annnnd another question, with the list i have posted, can i put a couple more tangs in the tank, or am i at my limit? ty

 

[Anonymous]

To my eye the tang limit has less to do with bioload than it does their interpersonal relationships. Personally, I'd throw in some butterflies to round it out. 220gals seems like a lot to us, but not to the fish. Imagine those fish in 1500 gallons, then I'd say you might have the space (territory) for adding more tangs. I say this because I've seen sailfins and Nasos in the wild, and they get HUGE. You want that in your tank, I promise.

As for the 'fuge, something is better than nothing, for sure, and I am sure it will not be a detriment to the system. It just won't serve (if it's really 20 gallons) as the sole filtration for the system when you're using less than 1lb/gal of live rock. Foam fractionation as adjunct will, of course, help greatly, and perhaps if you have the room make up for some of that live rock in the 'fuge (or add it to another open sump that just passes water through).

Should be a beautiful display.

 

[WRASSER]

i have put a couple small rock in the sock chamber, do i need the socks? i know it acts as a filter, but can i take the socks out and load it up with live rock? aren't the butterflies hard to keep up? i hear horror stories of people trying to take care of them.

 

[Ben1]

FIlter socks are only good if they are kept clean and regularly swapped out. If you are not keeping them rotating then you might as well remove them.

 

[Anonymous]

It depends on the butterfly (species). Yes, some are certainly very delicate, just as many angelfish species are. I think that if you're able to keep corals and the like, the butterflies should be alright. Just be sure to get a species you know will feed in captivity.

Live rock in a sock? Never heard of such a thing. I can't visualize your refugium, so I'm not sure what you're asking.

Oh, and if you do get a butterfly that's a little tough to get eating (again) live bloodworms usually send them into a frenzy. Not a good permanent food, but the thing is that you just have to get them eating something. Once they've gotten started they'll continue with other foods most of the time (this is reminding me of a mare we had, took years to get her in foal, but after that it was easy-peasy to get her bred). Obviously it's better to acquire an animal that's been feeding well already.

 

[Ben1]

Live rock in a sock? Never heard of such a thing. I can't visualize your refugium, so I'm not sure what you're asking.

I think he was asking if he could replace the area in his sump where is socks go with just some live rock instead.

 

[Anonymous]

Ah...! Ok, thanks. I really didn't get what he was saying, now I see what I ditz I am.

I don't really like hanging filter socks in sumps/'fuges. Seems kind of useless to me, if you need the water to pass through the media then it's got to be pretty well-directed or it will, you know, follow the path of least resistance.

 

[WRASSER]

ok, i am going to try to "paint" this pictire.. ... the sump is 40l x 16 h x 12 1/2 w. from left to right, the return water (from tank to sump) has 4 socks that the water passes through. the chamber is big enough for small rocks, up bout 50lbs worth into. the water flows from the socks to the refugium. then the water cascades onto the sponge and into the (supply back to the tank) area were the pump/ skimmer area.
i attached a pic, the one in the pic is smaller than the one i am using.

 

[Ben1]

Yeah some people use this area for live rock. I know tyree does this dark slow flow sponge filtering type set ups, but I dont see the point of LR in there. I just think its going to end up trapping a lot of detritus and make it harder to keep the sump clean, I doubt it would add enough extra biological filtration to do much for you. If you dont like keeping the socks clean I would just leave that section empty and run my drain lines so they sit an inch below sump water level.

Ah...! Ok, thanks. I really didn't get what he was saying, now I see what I ditz I am.

I read it the same way first and thought why would someone put LR in a sock, had to go back and re-read.

 

[WRASSER]

thank you for your help i appreciate the info :wink: