Acoustic Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Ok I've read all the threads from prior. SHould I get rid of the bio balls and spomges or not? If I do what should go in it? And lastly (unrelated), Do led lights provide any benficial lighting? example: growing seaweeds for refugium. Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 I would remove the bio balls because you don't need the extra biological filtration. I'm not sure where the sponge is located, but you might want to keep the sponge for a pre-filter. Link to comment
Acoustic Posted February 9, 2003 Author Share Posted February 9, 2003 Anyone else havew any thoughts on this? Link to comment
Brianc_4 Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Get rid of the bio balls and sponges, let your live rock do its work. Live rock=nitrogen and oxygen disipated out of your tank...Bio balls= nitrate. I don't know enough about LEDs to give you anything worthwhile there.. sorry. Good luck;) Link to comment
OxInYourBox Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Brianc_4 is right regarding the bioballs and the LR. I pulled every thing out and replaced the stock pump with a RIO 600 (only thing laying around at the time unfortunately). I placed an EBO Jager 50W (in retrospect I should have gotten a 25W for size even though it is rarely needed) heater in the partition beside the pump return. The other two have nothing in them besides a fine particle sand substrate (~2" deep) that came in from the bottom intake (I have a 3-7" DSB depending) while the tank was being setup. Currently my water level is 1/4" above the hi water level mark (once it's even with that mark it will be surface skimming ) and the water drops 3/4" from the bottom of the intake to the water level in the sump area. IMO the prefilter isn't needed however I enjoy the water crash sound that it makes (it's very relaxing). The prefilter would alleviate this sound though. I would strongly suggest retrofitting the hood with a workhorse 2 ballast (long or cube style-cube will fit into existing screw holes and long will need some simple work done) and also picking up a replacement bulb (they are not commonly found but are available-better safe than having a dark tank for a week like I did...). This way you won't have any heat problems due to the original ballast and you can take out the fan which will become very annoying very quickly. As far as LED's-They are generally used for a moon light effect when the main lights are off. If you would like to grow seaweeds (macroalgae is a more general term per se) for your refugium you will want to buy a seperate light setup that runs independently (24X7 or reverse) from your main lighting. What size refugium do you have or are planning on? I (as well as others here) can give you some simple, cost effective ($10-$infinite), and local options for lighting. HTH. Link to comment
sjpresley Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 I'm not a big fan of sponges (or any mechanical filtration for that matter) in reef tanks simply because they filter out particles that animals in the tank feed on. Link to comment
Acoustic Posted February 11, 2003 Author Share Posted February 11, 2003 Thanks everyone. I removed the bio balls and sponges today. I also put about a 4 inch layer of live sand in the back refuge. Hope this works. Link to comment
Nano-Nut Posted March 2, 2003 Share Posted March 2, 2003 I just had a thought. Would it be large enough if I removed the skimmer from my skilter and put some macroalgae in the canister? The canister is 4"x5+" X 9" deep. Link to comment
sjpresley Posted March 2, 2003 Share Posted March 2, 2003 Where is light for the algae coming from? Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted March 2, 2003 Share Posted March 2, 2003 the sponge prefilters are good when needing to remove particulate sediment. I add poly-fill- pillow batting in my HOB's with a satchel of carbon every few waterchanges just to clean out some of the "muck" when I stirr up sand bets. IT REALLY ####es off the worms Link to comment
Nano-Nut Posted March 2, 2003 Share Posted March 2, 2003 sjpresley, I was thinking of a palm light, 7watt. All that would be left of the original filter would be the pump. Link to comment
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