1 More Question

[matthrushford]

okay so i have everything up and running in my 24g nano
20 lbs of live sand
about 30lbs of live rock
do i need to keep my bioballs, ceramic rings or the blue sponges in the tank? and if i do will it hurt?

 

[matthrushford]

??

 

[geoj]

If your nitrate reads 0 then you can do, as you want. If it goes up then undo...

 

[spanko]

Originally Posted by MATTHRUSHFORD
http:///forum/post/2994795
okay so i have everything up and running in my 24g nano
20 lbs of live sand
about 30lbs of live rock
do i need to keep my bioballs, ceramic rings or the blue sponges in the tank? and if i do will it hurt?
This is a personal choice as is everything. The standard filtration you speak of is fine. Just be aware that there is maintenance that must be done to it to keep it functioning properly. It seems most people remove them and do something else for filtration in their systems. Read up on the maintenance required and then do some searching about changing the chambers they are in. Plenty of posts here on fuges in nano cubes.

 

[matthrushford]

question
i read and the only maintenance there is to do is replace the bio balls and carbon monthly.
other people said to remove that and put crushed live rock instead?
not sure what to do.

 

[crimzy]

Originally Posted by MATTHRUSHFORD
http:///forum/post/2995652
question
i read and the only maintenance there is to do is replace the bio balls and carbon monthly.
other people said to remove that and put crushed live rock instead?
not sure what to do.
You should never replace the bio balls. These maintain important bacteria for your system. However you should wash them, (in a bucket of old tank water), just to make sure that you don't get a buildup of crap which causes nitrates to go up.
Bio balls are fine as long as you keep them relatively clean. Most prefer live rock rubble so they don't have to clean it. However just be aware that if you don't have a ton of flow and have "dead spots" in the filter, then the live rock can hold particles that will raise nitrates too.
If it were me, I'd go with live rock rubble. It generally has more capacity to hold beneficial bacteria and critters then bio balls.

 

[geoj]

You need to choose what you are going to do and then make changes as you need. If you let your set-up cycle you will end up with a zero nitrate tank, as you add life this will change. Keep testing nitrate and when it goes up then start to figure out how to fix it. You can always do water changes to keep things in line. There is lots of deferent opinions as you can see...