wet/dry fliter, reverse osmosis water?

[frogz]

i am starting a 55gal saltwater tank
i am going to use 50 lbs of live rock and 90lbs of sand with 10 pounds of live sand
at the lfs they told me that my new wet/dry filter with portein skimmer would not work for this setup and that i also needed to use reverse osmosis water
can anyone help i paid 200.00 for the filter can i use it i am all confused now
i

 

[civickid]

WHAT KIND OF FILTER IS IT LIKE WHAT NAME IS IT

 

[frogz]

its a aqua clear aquatics

 

[frogz]

pro 75

 

[legion]

You don't need RO/DI water but it will help reduce the risk of cyano blooms and other water chem problems.

 

[birdy]

I would sell the wet dry personally and set up a sump with a skimmer and possibly a refugium.
I agree with the RO/DI water, you will not have nearly as many problems with nusiance algea.
I am not sure how much sand that is but, I would be sure it is at least 4" deep.
You might want to add a few more lbs of LR, I like at least 1.5 lbs per gallon of water.
The reason your LFS said you don't need the wet/dry is because they can cause problems with too many nitrates in the system.
The LR and DSB should be enough biological filtration. Some people do run a wet/dry with a DSB and LR maybe they will respond.

 

[robn70]

If you are just doing a Fish only the wet/dry should be fine. You can alwas leave out the bioballs and use it as sump with the skimmer that it comes with and go with the LR DSB method. I have a cpr wet/dry that i just use for the skimmer and a place to hide other equiptment in (this i had purchased before is started reading this board. will build my own next time from a spare tank.), i removed the bio material when i started to convert my tank to a reef. You may need about 50 lbs. or a little more of sand for the dsb, as I have around 30 lbs. +- of southdown playsand in my 38 gal.
Also definitly use RO/DI water. It will save you alot of headaches from diatoms.

 

[frogz]

so i can take out the bio balls and just use it like that , should i take out the sponge filters also and just leave the skimmer as is cause its built in . the lr and sand will do the rest ?

 

[birdy]

yes, you can do that, I just thought you might be able to save some money the other way, but if your skimmer is built in then yes you can just use it without the bioballs. I think you can leave the sponge filter in but you will need to clean it frequently.

 

[robn70]

I eventually removed my spong filter as i got tired of cleaning it. I haven't noticed much of a differnece with it in or not. If it insn't cleaned regulary it may contribute to elivated levels of nitrates which you don't want.

 

[tangman99]

I also removed all the bio-balls from wet/dry, the drip plate, all filtration and the sponge. It is nothing more than a sump now that houses my return pump and protein skimmer. I also got tired of cleaning the sponge and all seems well without it.

 

[goldrush]

More live rock(25 lbs or so). Remove the bio-balls over a period of time,not all at once. RO/DI water is a must in my opinion.Good luck.

 

[birdy]

I don't think he has set up his tank yet, so he can just set it up without the bioballs. Otherwise that is very sound advice