a_pmech84 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 I'm running a hob filter in my 20gal and I have used my own filter media. The media is the same layout I did years ago when I first tried this hobby and it worked great. The only difference is my filter then was a canister and now i have a hang on back. The media is laid out with live rock rubble on the bottom and then filter floss on top. There is no carbon or crushed coral. I change the filter floss once a week. Here's the issue my nitrates are way high. What am I not doing right? 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 1 minute ago, a_pmech84 said: I'm running a hob filter in my 20gal and I have used my own filter media. The media is the same layout I did years ago when I first tried this hobby and it worked great. The only difference is my filter then was a canister and now i have a hang on back. The media is laid out with live rock rubble on the bottom and then filter floss on top. There is no carbon or crushed coral. I change the filter floss once a week. Here's the issue my nitrates are way high. What am I not doing right? I’d lose the rubble, keep the floss. 2 Quote Link to comment
SaltyBuddha Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Are you trying to get bacteria that consume nitrates in the filter? (ex. Seachem's de-nitrates?) For de-nitrates the flow is very important to get the proper bacteria growing to consume nitrates. A standard HOB will have too much flow to get this bacteria. Most HOBs are used for chemical and mechanical filtration. 2 Quote Link to comment
a_pmech84 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 So I need to go back to the basic hob filter media is what I'm understanding right? Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 It's the rubble. If you have liverock there is no need for the rubble which in an hob will cause detritus to trap and cause negative effects. Hobs need regular cleaning, the rubble makes that difficult. I use to suck up any detritus with a Turkey baster in my hob weekly. Running a good carbon and floss will be easier to maintain 1 Quote Link to comment
WhatsReef Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 16 hours ago, a_pmech84 said: I'm running a hob filter in my 20gal and I have used my own filter media. The media is the same layout I did years ago when I first tried this hobby and it worked great. The only difference is my filter then was a canister and now i have a hang on back. The media is laid out with live rock rubble on the bottom and then filter floss on top. There is no carbon or crushed coral. I change the filter floss once a week. Here's the issue my nitrates are way high. What am I not doing right? You could put a bio media in there. It should decrease nitrates as long as you spray it out with a baster every time you change the floss. I don't know about the flow being too high for the bacteria, but it should do some work. Just blow it off and let it shoot the detritus back out into the tank and blast off the rocks and stuff too and let it collect in your floss. Those types of media are CHEEP, never need to be replaced, and will pack much more densely AND be easier to keep detritus-free than live rock rubble if you want bio-filtration in there. Quote Link to comment
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