Wet dry with reef tank? Fuge the alternative....

[reeferchief]

This is probably the age old question... My tank is reef set up with a wet dry system.
Im under the impression that wet dry do not hold up well for reef tank application. To me it seems the wet dry holds nitrate but can be avoided with regular maintenance. Where as a fuge seems to be pretty self sustainable, just add RO and pull out overgrown cheato, which will feed off nitrate. Also does the wet dry hurt growing Copepods or phyto for a reef system, where as a fuge can provide a haven for copepods and phyto?
I have a living good wet dry if anyone is familiar with this brand. Is the any way to modify it into a fuge? If not how big of a fuge would be needed to work with a 65gal tank? 10g-15gal? Also any downside to a fuge style set up?
If I switched to a fuge system would it do any harm to a 4 months old tank with coral and fish? Are there certain steps I would need to take or just a simple conversion?
My main concern for this is copepods population and phyto as well as reducing nitrates..
Thank for any advice that can be given!!

 

[reeferchief]

Anyone????

 

[snakeblitz33]

Hey there. Sounds like you've done a little research.
Wet/dry is common on reef tanks, more than you think. The bioballs do have to be taken out regularly with every water change and washed in the old saltwater. Copepods, if they have a place that fish and other preditors can not get to them, will breed. Phytoplankton in most tanks will have to be dosed regularly by the aquarist. Very rarely will an aquarist actually get true greenwater growth in their tanks. Those who are lucky enough to get greenwater hate the look. lol!!!
Nitrate and phosphates are reduced by macroalgaes, nuisance algaes (algae scrubbers), regular water changes, really deep sand beds, and various other husbandry practices. Wet/dry filters simply create a medium for bacteria to grow on that converts ammonia into nitrate. It does not "denitrate" the system.
IMHO, HTH, FWIW.

 

[slice]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/388271/wet-dry-with-reef-tank-fuge-the-alternative#post_3423248
Hey there. Sounds like you've done a little research.+1
Wet/dry is common on reef tanks, more than you think. The bioballs do have to be taken out regularly with every water change and washed in the old saltwater. Copepods, if they have a place that fish and other preditors can not get to them, will breed. Phytoplankton in most tanks will have to be dosed regularly by the aquarist. Very rarely will an aquarist actually get true greenwater growth in their tanks. Except BTLDreef.Those who are lucky enough to get greenwater hate the look Including BTLDreef. lol!!!
Nitrate and phosphates are reduced by macroalgaes, nuisance algaes (algae scrubbers), regular water changes, really deep sand beds, and various other husbandry practices. Wet/dry filters simply create a medium for bacteria to grow on that converts ammonia into nitrate. It does not "denitrate" the system.
IMHO, HTH, FWIW.
Another FWIW, I've been running a refugium for a year now and have not seen any detectable nitrates since. I also have a healthy population of copepods.

 

[reeferchief]

Ok so do copepods survive in a wet dry system or is this something that needs to be dosed for also?
When you say cleaning bioballs with every water change ( which I do 10-15 gal weekly on my 65g tank) do you mean all bioballs or maybe a 1/4 of them? Also by clean do you mean just rinse or actually scrub clean?
I think I'm leaning toward making a fuge just not sure if the advantages are there. Also not sure about size because I can't put anything bigger than 10-20g tank under my cabinet. Lastly my concern would be if a conversion to fuge would be a problem to corals and tank life or if it is just a simple swap out of wet dry into fuge. Basically having to cycle?

 

[reeferchief]

 
Another FWIW, I've been running a refugium for a year now and have not seen any detectable nitrates since. I also have a healthy population of copepods.
Did you convert over from wet dry system?
I think it would be easier to scrape out some over grow algae in a fuge then clean bioballs weekly. Another reason I'd like to switch over.
I got into the hobby knowing basically nothing, and after research it appears fuge are the way to go

 

[slice]

Quote:
Originally Posted by reeferchief http:///t/388271/wet-dry-with-reef-tank-fuge-the-alternative#post_3423258
Did you convert over from wet dry system?
I think it would be easier to scrape out some over grow algae in a fuge then clean bioballs weekly. Another reason I'd like to switch over.
I got into the hobby knowing basically nothing, and after research it appears fuge are the way to go
Nope, after researching the build of my 1 1/2 year old system, I went straight to the refugium. Mine is HOB, 4.6g for a 47g column. I seem to remember reading somewhere that 10% of the DT is a benchmark for minimum recommended refugium volume, could be wrong on that.
Another thing about harvesting chaeto, both my LFS take balls of the stuff in trade, so it pays for itself in time.

 

[reeferchief]

Ok cool....So 10G should be enough for me then. I want something that isn't as maintenance prone as the bioballs..I have no problem doing weekly water changes but i would have a problem constantly cleaning bio balls weekly.
An employee at my LFS said that if the holding part of the tank isn't fairly big for the chaeto to grow then it really isn't worth it because I won't see the results I'm looking for..Not sure if this is true or not?

 

[slice]

There are those who say chaeto needs to be tumbled. I believe this is more to allow light coverage over the entire mass more than anything else. All I can tell you is what I experience with mine. My HOB fuge is only 4.5" front to back and does not allow the cheato to tumble. It grows thick and dense instead of big.
It may be only marginally easier than weekly cleaning of bio balls. I have to take my cheato wad out and swish it in used SW during changes to rid it of detritus buildup. I call it my "living filter floss". Then again, I don't do water changes every week and really only rinse the cheato maybe once a month.
As for the volume of cheato, others should be able to tell you better than me, but I have not seen any deteriorated performance when I've harvested it down to only a grapefruit sized wad.
HTH

 

[tur4k]

I run both a wet/dry and a fuge. The most important thing with a wet/dry is to keep clean filter floss in front of the bioballs. Change the floss when water starts flowing over the floss instead of through it. I only float my balls once every few months. Weekly cleaning is overkill. They should always look clean. If they start to look nasty then something is wrong.
I don't subscribe to the "a fuge has to be a certain size based on your tank size" school of thought. Any tank big enough to grow some macro's in will be beneficial. I have a custom 15gal fuge on my 90G and it provides plenty of space for pods to breed and chaeto to grow.
If you decide to ditch the wet/dry, don't do it all at once. Gradually remove the bioballs over the span of a few weeks.
Here is a pic of my messy tank stand. Wet/dry is on the left. Fuge in the middle. Top off reservoir on the right.