Berlin Filteration System?

[Holygrail45]

Hello,

Im just starting up my reef tank again and am near completion with the cycle phase. Its a 55 gallon tank, with a wet/dry filteration system. My local fish store guy, who really seems passionate about the hobby, suggested taking out the bio balls and replacing the entire case with cured live rock completely submerged in water, add some snails and use that. He said it was called the Berlin Filteration system and from what I've researched on the topic, the two sound fairly the same.

I hear Bio Balls will create excess Nitrate for a reef system? Is this the commonly accepted thought?

Thoughts on the live rock approach?

 

[AngeloM3]

Well.... it all depends.

If your doing fish only (with maybe 10lbs of live rock) you can use the bio-balls. If your doing a reef tank (40-60lbs of live rock) take out the bio-balls completely. The live rock will naturally filter the system. The bio-balls do the same thing but just not naturally, so if you have both you'll ALWAYS have a high nitrate!

In my case I have a wet/dry with no bio-balls b/c i have 60lbs of LR in my 50gal tank.

If you are going to add LR and take out the bio-balls... add all the rock and then take out the bio-balls over time. Like remove 1/4 of the bio-balls every 3-4 days. This will just keep the levels stable.

Also... when you get your rock, even if its cured, its going to start another cycle (might only be a week) so just make sure your levels stay at 0.

Really it all depends on what kind of tank you want.

 

[skimmy]

replacing your bioballs with live rock in the sump has nothing to do with the berlin method, if anything with berlin method, there would be only a felt filter sock and an oversized protein skimmer in the sump. and you would have at least a pound per gallon of live rock with a bare bottom in the display.

 

[TekCat]

IMHO, Yes, artificial bio-media will become a nitrate factory over time. Your LFS guy is richt on track. Get rid of the bio-balls, and use the available space for a fuge (growing macro algae such as chaetomorpha and for growing pods). To have an adequate filtration (nitrogen cycle implied) you need to have 1-1.5lbs of LR for each gallon of water in your system (total volume, not just tank)

good luck

 

[Sk8r]

This is what most reefers use nowadays. Your lfs is advising you correctly.

You'll want live rock at least, a sump and a skimmer. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes. My last reef was in the 80's-90's, and I used the drip filter method, with bioballs, and high intensity fluorescents: we were good if we kept any coral alive---buttons and mushrooms alone thrived.

Now I use the Berliner method, and coral growth in a year can help defray expenses of---well, at least it pays for the salt. People trade 'frags', bits broken off their colonies, and superglue them to bits of rock or coral, trade them for other frags, fish, or equipment, and in general, you can watch something like montipora, which you couldn't even grow in the old tanks, morph and curl week by week as it grows. Watch where you set your digitatas, because the fingers start to 'bend' very soon, and you want them at a good angle. This is living coral stuff, and it's exciting and fun to watch. I'm keeping things that even public aquariums had trouble with a few years ago.

Toss those bioballs, indeed---but do it slowly, handful at a time, because otherwise you'll get a bad chemistry spike. And rely on your live rock. If you don't have live rock, get some and prepare for another mini-cycle, but nothing long at all: your sand should now be live. One hopes you're using aragonite, not crushed coral, but if not, don't rush right out and change: just a question of good v better.

You're into a huge nest of berliner methodists and we can collectively answer questions and steer you the right way, but it sounds as if your lfs guy knows what he's doing. THis is good.
I have a 52. I keep lps, sps, (stony coral) and fish, with some hitchhiker mushrooms that are starting to multiply like crazy.

Basically---empty your trays, take off the lid (you need evaporation) install a skimmer (in-sump is the way I went) and consider a ro/di unit (water purification: you'll need to add about half a gallon of fresh water a day to keep up with the evaporation that represents cooling and gas exchange for a berliner tank.)

You'll need to watch alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium if you do a coral reef: I don't even own a ph meter any more. Salinity and temperature are your other two. It's a brave new world---I stepped into it 4 months ago and am continually amazed at my corals.

 

[skimmy]

i run my reefs berlin style, with the addition of a refugium for biodiversity.
i have less micro algae and the system requires less maintenance than my non-berlin tanks.


but i forgot to say that yes, your lfs owner was right to tell you to ditch the balls