wet/dry filter

[u571]

:help: im still learning all the terms (fo, lfs ect.) and all that stuff, but i need to know i have a 100 g. tank with another i think 20 g. glass tank under the main tank in the drawers. and my water goes through the main tank down to the smaller tank through these blue and white balls and threads then into the other half of the tank( the 20 g. tank in divided in half) were their is a power head pumping the water back to the main tank through a hole in the back of the main tank is this a wet/dry filter (sorry if it sounds like a stupid question) and in the half of the 20 g. tank without the balls were the water is being pumped back to the tank, there is alot of dirty brown stuff do i need to clean all that out of there ? thanks shawn
and another thing what is a R/O and do i need one

 

[dreeves]

Yes, thats sounds like a wet/dry filter...you should keep it clean. Anything in there can and usually does affect your main tank.
RO is Reverse Osmosis...a highly purifying water filer. Do you need one? Most will say yes. Some will say no...in most domestic water supplies, there is bacteria, cyst, heavy metals, chemicals, ions, and what have you...most of these we do not desire in the closed marine environment...they usually contribute to poor water quality, nusiance algae, and general lower health for the tank inhabitants.
The RO generally makes about 98 to 99% pure water, removing all of these items...we are then able to add back in what we so desire in our tanks.
A very worthy add-on investment for the RO is the Deionization cartidge (DI). This removes through the use of Anion and Cation resins virtually all negative and positive charged ions...nitrate and phosphate to name a couple...both these ions contribute to nusiance algae growth.
Though seemingly expensive up front...they are a very wise and beneficial investment.