aquaman2000
Member
fowlr
for now
later i will be making it a reef
the question i have is which of the three mention would best suited for my tank
wet/dry
sump
refugium
which one fo the 3 different filtration systems is best
- Thread starter aquaman2000
- Start date
fowlr
for now
later i will be making it a reef
the question i have is which of the three mention would best suited for my tank
wet/dry
sump
refugium
lion_crazz
Active Member
I would do a combination of a sump and refugium.
stanlalee
Active Member
wet/dry=best for breaking down ammonia. doesn't do much in the way of breaking down nitrates. not what I'd chose for a reef tank.
refugium=best for reducing nitrates. best for the lazy. not that great for a high bioload unless your skimmer is well oversized. Not what I'd chose for a FOWLR with a full stocked tank with groupers, puffers and triggers.
sump=best for being under the tank
sump by itself does nothing but add water volume and circulation.
refugium=best for reducing nitrates. best for the lazy. not that great for a high bioload unless your skimmer is well oversized. Not what I'd chose for a FOWLR with a full stocked tank with groupers, puffers and triggers.
sump=best for being under the tank
russy pelican
Member
Suppose it was a predator tank (I am setting one up for my clown trigger early next year). With wet/dry, in theory, even with great skimmers, you would have high nitrates, thus algae problems. Where does a wet/dry ever come in as being the optimum filtration system?
ophiura
Active Member
Originally Posted by Russy Pelican
Suppose it was a predator tank (I am setting one up for my clown trigger early next year). With wet/dry, in theory, even with great skimmers, you would have high nitrates, thus algae problems. Where does a wet/dry ever come in as being the optimum filtration system?
Nitrates are far less of a concern in a tank than ammonia. Predators are big eaters, and messy. Ammonia is a big problem. So a wet/dry, IMO, is preferable to quickly deal with that fatal problem.
Nitrate can be handled with water changes and with watching feeding. You can run a wet/dry with little or no nitrate issue. It is a matter of staying on top of cleaning and water changes. There is also no reason whatsoever you couldn't plumb in a refugium into the system for macro growth.
Suppose it was a predator tank (I am setting one up for my clown trigger early next year). With wet/dry, in theory, even with great skimmers, you would have high nitrates, thus algae problems. Where does a wet/dry ever come in as being the optimum filtration system?
Nitrates are far less of a concern in a tank than ammonia. Predators are big eaters, and messy. Ammonia is a big problem. So a wet/dry, IMO, is preferable to quickly deal with that fatal problem.
Nitrate can be handled with water changes and with watching feeding. You can run a wet/dry with little or no nitrate issue. It is a matter of staying on top of cleaning and water changes. There is also no reason whatsoever you couldn't plumb in a refugium into the system for macro growth.
stanlalee
Active Member
Originally Posted by Russy Pelican
Suppose it was a predator tank (I am setting one up for my clown trigger early next year). With wet/dry, in theory, even with great skimmers, you would have high nitrates, thus algae problems. Where does a wet/dry ever come in as being the optimum filtration system?
you shouldn't have problematic nitrate levels with a wet dry if you are doing appropriate water changes and keeping the bio media from getting filthy. I have had FOWLR with nitrates in the 40-50ppm range without algae problems. If you arent keeping corals and inverts up to 40ppm shouldn't cause any real issues. Light, circulation and phophates are likely bigger issues with algae problems than nitrates alone. If you do have a nitrate problem its likely from slacking maintenence or overstocking.
Suppose it was a predator tank (I am setting one up for my clown trigger early next year). With wet/dry, in theory, even with great skimmers, you would have high nitrates, thus algae problems. Where does a wet/dry ever come in as being the optimum filtration system?
you shouldn't have problematic nitrate levels with a wet dry if you are doing appropriate water changes and keeping the bio media from getting filthy. I have had FOWLR with nitrates in the 40-50ppm range without algae problems. If you arent keeping corals and inverts up to 40ppm shouldn't cause any real issues. Light, circulation and phophates are likely bigger issues with algae problems than nitrates alone. If you do have a nitrate problem its likely from slacking maintenence or overstocking.
aquaman2000
Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
I agree the above summary is quite good.
The important question is what do you mean by a FOWLR?
i am going to put some clowns (nemo) and dory from nemo lol
basically i will try to get fish that get peoples attention but are not that aggressive against a diverse fish population
then latter on i will add corrals
help would be grate full :help:
right now i have taken out the wet/dry since i will be having live rock and from what I've read the rocks is all the biological filtration a tank may need
the two left are a
sump and refugium
which is better?
is a combination of both good
I agree the above summary is quite good.
The important question is what do you mean by a FOWLR?
i am going to put some clowns (nemo) and dory from nemo lol
basically i will try to get fish that get peoples attention but are not that aggressive against a diverse fish population
then latter on i will add corrals
help would be grate full :help:
right now i have taken out the wet/dry since i will be having live rock and from what I've read the rocks is all the biological filtration a tank may need
the two left are a
sump and refugium
which is better?
is a combination of both good
aquaman2000
Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
The important question is what do you mean by a FOWLR?
i am going to put some clowns (nemo) and dory from nemo lol
basically i will try to get fish that get peoples attention but are not that aggressive against a diverse fish population
then latter on i will add corrals
help would be grate full :help:
right now i have taken out the wet/dry since i will be having live rock and from what I've read the rocks is all the biological filtration a tank may need
the two left are a
sump and refugium
which is better?
is a combination of both good
The important question is what do you mean by a FOWLR?
i am going to put some clowns (nemo) and dory from nemo lol
basically i will try to get fish that get peoples attention but are not that aggressive against a diverse fish population
then latter on i will add corrals
help would be grate full :help:
right now i have taken out the wet/dry since i will be having live rock and from what I've read the rocks is all the biological filtration a tank may need
the two left are a
sump and refugium
which is better?
is a combination of both good
1journeyman
Active Member
A sump isn't a type of filtration. All a sump does is add a body of water to place heaters, skimmers, top offs, etc. into. Often sumps are done in combination with refugiums.
aquaman2000
Member
do you recommend going for a comb of sump and ref or do you have another one in mind 1journeyman
lion_crazz
Active Member
A combination of a sump and refugium works very well. The refugium will allow you to remove nitrates and phosphates from your system while the sump will provide you a place to store equipment and add extra water volume to the tank.
hatessushi
Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
A combination of a sump and refugium works very well. The refugium will allow you to remove nitrates and phosphates from your system while the sump will provide you a place to store equipment and add extra water volume to the tank.
And if you add a DeNitrator to the sump you won't have to worry about nitrates which are not as big a problem in a FOWLR. You still do water changes though.
I just had to throw that in.
A combination of a sump and refugium works very well. The refugium will allow you to remove nitrates and phosphates from your system while the sump will provide you a place to store equipment and add extra water volume to the tank.
And if you add a DeNitrator to the sump you won't have to worry about nitrates which are not as big a problem in a FOWLR. You still do water changes though.
I just had to throw that in.
lion_crazz
Active Member
Originally Posted by HatesSushi
And if you add a DeNitrator to the sump you won't have to worry about nitrates which are not as big a problem in a FOWLR. You still do water changes though.
I just had to throw that in.
But a denitrator certainly is not a neccessary part of any set-up. There are ways to have no nitrates without the use of a denitrator.
And if you add a DeNitrator to the sump you won't have to worry about nitrates which are not as big a problem in a FOWLR. You still do water changes though.
I just had to throw that in.
But a denitrator certainly is not a neccessary part of any set-up. There are ways to have no nitrates without the use of a denitrator.
xdave
Active Member
A sump in it's true application is just more water, I'd rather just have a bigger tank with the same amount of livestock.
Being an old guy and living through the evolution of reef filtration I feel the different methods all have good and bad points. If you use different methods in the proper sequence the bad things kind of get canceled out.
Heres what I do:
Water first goes through a wet/dry, I generally use a prefilter sheet on top and lava gravel for the other layers. IMO Bioballs are too big and don't have the best amount of surface area. This method is great for removing ammonia but also removes oxygen and adds nitrates.
This drips into one side of a refugium with a bunch of macro algae and a deep sand bed of 3" to 5". This step keeps the nitrates down.
Then it goes through a baffle with my favorite ion exchange and chemical filtration medium, ChemiPure.
On the other side of the refugium is a protein skimmer. This is also where the return pump is.
This may sound complicated because I've added some details but basically it's just a wet/dry sitting over a refugium.
Being an old guy and living through the evolution of reef filtration I feel the different methods all have good and bad points. If you use different methods in the proper sequence the bad things kind of get canceled out.
Heres what I do:
Water first goes through a wet/dry, I generally use a prefilter sheet on top and lava gravel for the other layers. IMO Bioballs are too big and don't have the best amount of surface area. This method is great for removing ammonia but also removes oxygen and adds nitrates.
This drips into one side of a refugium with a bunch of macro algae and a deep sand bed of 3" to 5". This step keeps the nitrates down.
Then it goes through a baffle with my favorite ion exchange and chemical filtration medium, ChemiPure.
On the other side of the refugium is a protein skimmer. This is also where the return pump is.
This may sound complicated because I've added some details but basically it's just a wet/dry sitting over a refugium.
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by aquaman2000
do you recommend going for a comb of sump and ref or do you have another one in mind 1journeyman
I made my own... was quite an experience considering I'm not much on DIY projects!
I ordered a custom size acrylic tank to go under my stand. Put baffles in it. 1/2 of the tank is for skimmer, heater and return. Other half is a refugium. Half of the water from my tank goes straight to skimmer. Other half goes into refugium first. I don't have a wet/dry setup. I think they work, but I don't feel I need it.
do you recommend going for a comb of sump and ref or do you have another one in mind 1journeyman
I made my own... was quite an experience considering I'm not much on DIY projects!
I ordered a custom size acrylic tank to go under my stand. Put baffles in it. 1/2 of the tank is for skimmer, heater and return. Other half is a refugium. Half of the water from my tank goes straight to skimmer. Other half goes into refugium first. I don't have a wet/dry setup. I think they work, but I don't feel I need it.