snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
Snake's Guide to Biological Filtration
If you are looking for a guide to cycling, you can find a link to that article here.
Biological filtration is the process by which bacteria breaks down ammonia into nitrites and nitrites into nitrates. This is important, because without bacteria, we could not keep anything in our tanks alive. Ammonia has to be processed by the bacteria in the aquarium, and there are many ways of introducing that bacteria to the tank.
Perhaps the most common way of introducing live bacteria to our aquariums is through live rock and live sand. Live rock is alive because of the bacteria, sponges, worms, tunicates, hard and soft algaes, crusteaceans and all forms of sea life inhabit the rock. By introducing live rock into our tanks, we give our tank a greater amount of biological diversity than with other methods.
Biological filtration is achieved not only the aerobic bacteria acting on the surface of the rocks, breaking down waste, but also the anaerobic bacteria within the rock in extremely low flow, oxygen deficient zones of the live rock. Biological filtration is also achieved by the filtering capacity of all of the filter feeding invertebrates, detrivores (detritus eaters) and worms that fruther break down fish food into smaller and smaller pieces for the bacteria to process.
If you start your tank with "cooked" base rock or "once live" live rock that has been treated by various acid and vinegar baths to start your tank, you will need to add some bacteria. There are a few options here. First, we could simply add one small piece of live rock to add the bacteria necessary to start the cycle. Second, we could buy bottled bacteria from the store. Bottled bacteria that sits on a shelf is full of preservatives, and very little, if any bacteria is actually alive. However, this is just one way to start the tanks bacteria cycle off. The third way to kick start biological filtration is to add a mechanical filter from an already well established saltwater tank to your own filtration.
There are many ways of biologically filtering your water for ammonia. The first is simply by providing water flow over and through your live rock. Having water flowing over and through your live rock ensures that any ammonia is swiftly taken care of by the bacteria on the live rock. Also, particulate organic matter that will break down into ammonia is passed by filter feeding invertebrates that further break down the waste into lesser forms.
Secondly, you can use a well seasoned mechanical filter that has bacterial colonies already well established as your main filtration. However, I caution that if you use that method solely, you should use your mechanical filtration in doubles and only take one filter out every week to wash, clean, or replace.
A third way of biological filtration is to use live rock in a swift flowing part of the sump. Bacterial colonies multiply quickly with more water flow - as well as the filter feeding inverts that do not rely on photosynthesis to break down waste.
You can use media such as plastic sponges and bioballs to establish bacterial colonies. These types of filtration have to be maintained regularly. Tanks with bioballs should have half of the bioballs washed and cleaned once at every other water change or at minimum once every three months. Plastic kitchen sponges are pretty much the same. For high fish loads, you could use what is called a fluidized sand bed filter. A fluidized filter grows enormous amounts of bacteria in the sand, and then is sloughed off into the water column. Adequate protein skimming is a must in order to run one of these filters. Fluidized bed filters only convert ammonia into nitrite and into nitrate. They do not eliminate nitrates and phosphates from the system. Fluidized bed filters are more common in large tanks with high fish loads, such as in live fish stores and public aquariums. There has been an advancement in biological filtration called Bio Pellets, which claim to use bacteria to decrease nitrate in a saltwater aquarium. There are still mixed results using BioPellets - some swear by them and others shun them. Research them thoroughly before making the decision to use them.
Yet another way to think of biological filtration is to use naturally growing algaes to remove nitrate and phosphates from the water column. Algae scrubbers have the ability to reduce and eliminate ammonia, nitrates and phosphates quickly and efficiently from any saltwater aquarium. Macroalgae also has the ability to absorb ammonia - and should be used liberally in any saltwater aquarium.
So, what is the best form of biological filtration? Well, I believe it is a combination of a few things.
1. Adequate amounts of live rock in the display tank - not excessive and not sparse combined with plenty of water flow.
2. Live rock in the swift part of the sump helps break down and filter out additional waste.
3. If you have a FOWLR, bioballs and plastic sponges with sponge filtration media is perhaps all of the biological filtration you need without much if any live rock. Of course, bacterial cultures have to be added to the tank first.
4. For instant ability to break down ammonia, use a pre-grown algae scrubber for immediate results.
Biological filtration is the term used quite frequently to mean the ongoing process of the Nitrogen Cycle. Without the cycle - we could not have our beautiful saltwater aquariums. By providing enough surfaces for bacteria to culture and colonize, we ensure a healthy and stable saltwater aquarium.
For more information on saltwater aquariums, please visit my thread, Snake's Methods.
If you are looking for a guide to cycling, you can find a link to that article here.
Biological filtration is the process by which bacteria breaks down ammonia into nitrites and nitrites into nitrates. This is important, because without bacteria, we could not keep anything in our tanks alive. Ammonia has to be processed by the bacteria in the aquarium, and there are many ways of introducing that bacteria to the tank.
Perhaps the most common way of introducing live bacteria to our aquariums is through live rock and live sand. Live rock is alive because of the bacteria, sponges, worms, tunicates, hard and soft algaes, crusteaceans and all forms of sea life inhabit the rock. By introducing live rock into our tanks, we give our tank a greater amount of biological diversity than with other methods.
Biological filtration is achieved not only the aerobic bacteria acting on the surface of the rocks, breaking down waste, but also the anaerobic bacteria within the rock in extremely low flow, oxygen deficient zones of the live rock. Biological filtration is also achieved by the filtering capacity of all of the filter feeding invertebrates, detrivores (detritus eaters) and worms that fruther break down fish food into smaller and smaller pieces for the bacteria to process.
If you start your tank with "cooked" base rock or "once live" live rock that has been treated by various acid and vinegar baths to start your tank, you will need to add some bacteria. There are a few options here. First, we could simply add one small piece of live rock to add the bacteria necessary to start the cycle. Second, we could buy bottled bacteria from the store. Bottled bacteria that sits on a shelf is full of preservatives, and very little, if any bacteria is actually alive. However, this is just one way to start the tanks bacteria cycle off. The third way to kick start biological filtration is to add a mechanical filter from an already well established saltwater tank to your own filtration.
There are many ways of biologically filtering your water for ammonia. The first is simply by providing water flow over and through your live rock. Having water flowing over and through your live rock ensures that any ammonia is swiftly taken care of by the bacteria on the live rock. Also, particulate organic matter that will break down into ammonia is passed by filter feeding invertebrates that further break down the waste into lesser forms.
Secondly, you can use a well seasoned mechanical filter that has bacterial colonies already well established as your main filtration. However, I caution that if you use that method solely, you should use your mechanical filtration in doubles and only take one filter out every week to wash, clean, or replace.
A third way of biological filtration is to use live rock in a swift flowing part of the sump. Bacterial colonies multiply quickly with more water flow - as well as the filter feeding inverts that do not rely on photosynthesis to break down waste.
You can use media such as plastic sponges and bioballs to establish bacterial colonies. These types of filtration have to be maintained regularly. Tanks with bioballs should have half of the bioballs washed and cleaned once at every other water change or at minimum once every three months. Plastic kitchen sponges are pretty much the same. For high fish loads, you could use what is called a fluidized sand bed filter. A fluidized filter grows enormous amounts of bacteria in the sand, and then is sloughed off into the water column. Adequate protein skimming is a must in order to run one of these filters. Fluidized bed filters only convert ammonia into nitrite and into nitrate. They do not eliminate nitrates and phosphates from the system. Fluidized bed filters are more common in large tanks with high fish loads, such as in live fish stores and public aquariums. There has been an advancement in biological filtration called Bio Pellets, which claim to use bacteria to decrease nitrate in a saltwater aquarium. There are still mixed results using BioPellets - some swear by them and others shun them. Research them thoroughly before making the decision to use them.
Yet another way to think of biological filtration is to use naturally growing algaes to remove nitrate and phosphates from the water column. Algae scrubbers have the ability to reduce and eliminate ammonia, nitrates and phosphates quickly and efficiently from any saltwater aquarium. Macroalgae also has the ability to absorb ammonia - and should be used liberally in any saltwater aquarium.
So, what is the best form of biological filtration? Well, I believe it is a combination of a few things.
1. Adequate amounts of live rock in the display tank - not excessive and not sparse combined with plenty of water flow.
2. Live rock in the swift part of the sump helps break down and filter out additional waste.
3. If you have a FOWLR, bioballs and plastic sponges with sponge filtration media is perhaps all of the biological filtration you need without much if any live rock. Of course, bacterial cultures have to be added to the tank first.
4. For instant ability to break down ammonia, use a pre-grown algae scrubber for immediate results.
Biological filtration is the term used quite frequently to mean the ongoing process of the Nitrogen Cycle. Without the cycle - we could not have our beautiful saltwater aquariums. By providing enough surfaces for bacteria to culture and colonize, we ensure a healthy and stable saltwater aquarium.
For more information on saltwater aquariums, please visit my thread, Snake's Methods.
