reefwisher
New member
Just curious if corals produce bio-load on the filtration and if how much? I know fish can produce more. I have a 2 month old tank and wanting to add some corals without raising the ammonia.
Corals Produce Bio-Load
- Thread starter reefwisher
- Start date
If I remember correctly the answer I've heard from our resident experts on identical questions is that the answer is yes, but it tends to be pretty negligible in most cases.
psteeleb
Team RC
all living things add to a bio load.
with that said the term "bio load" is mostly put in the context as an over ballance of higher end life to lower end life forms that consume their wastes
"ballance" meaning what creatures waste is in ballance with what others consume or what you can remove mechanically. This is far more complex then just fish and corals as all living creatures consume and waste.
Just one example is; I don't feed my tangs, I let them be consumers of algea growth. They still waste but they also consume what is "in system"
So in some sense you can also consider "bio load" in our reef tanks as what we directly feed.
but back to corals, generally speaking:
SPS get most of their food from the excess sugars their symbiotic zooxanthellae produce and waste little.
LPS tend to want to consume some food and will excrete more then SPS
Softies vary but some like leathers can generate more bio load on a system then several large fish.
with that said the term "bio load" is mostly put in the context as an over ballance of higher end life to lower end life forms that consume their wastes
"ballance" meaning what creatures waste is in ballance with what others consume or what you can remove mechanically. This is far more complex then just fish and corals as all living creatures consume and waste.
Just one example is; I don't feed my tangs, I let them be consumers of algea growth. They still waste but they also consume what is "in system"
So in some sense you can also consider "bio load" in our reef tanks as what we directly feed.
but back to corals, generally speaking:
SPS get most of their food from the excess sugars their symbiotic zooxanthellae produce and waste little.
LPS tend to want to consume some food and will excrete more then SPS
Softies vary but some like leathers can generate more bio load on a system then several large fish.
frankpayne32
New member
Really??! That's interesting, didn't know that.
psteeleb
Team RC
not in terms of only consumed food waste but for leathers like toadstools include chemical warefare and they shed their skin continuosly. When they get large plan on extra skiming and running carbon 24/7.
schoch79
New member
Something else to consider. Though plenty of people have added large amounts of coral to their tanks at once plenty of times before it can happen that if you add alot of coral at once you have a greater chance of any one of those coral dieing. If one of them die it puts off ammonia and phosphates and all the other nasties into your water thus poisoning your other new corals to a certain extent and possibly causing another to die and make more waste etc.....Again not saying this "will" happen or happens often or not often but just something to consider......I hope this made sense. I dont know how else to say what I'm trying to say.
frankpayne32
New member
I was aware of the chemical warfare but don't really consider that as bioload. But the shedding of mucous by a large toadstool definitely makes sense. Thanks for the info.
Bioload is a handy but an ambiguous term. It would , I suppose include all living things in a tank from protists and bacteria and phytoplanton to large fish and corals. In cxontext, it is often used to asses the ability of a tank to sustain a certain load of "nutrients".
Corals will convert nitrogen and phosphorous and some organic carbon ( the amount of organic carbon they need from outside sources depends on how atotrophic the particular corals is ) into living tissue thereby removing it from the water.
Fish waste and respiration will contribute organic carbon , fixed nitrogen and phosphorous from what they eat but don't use. Corals,etc. may take up some ammonia,nitrite and/or nitrate and phosphate as they grow new tissue.
There are 3 major nutrients in living things organic carbon, phosphorous and nitrogen. All are needed ; all cause harm as they build up to excessive imbalanced levels in a closed system, like an aquarium.
Unfortunately, as hobbyists , we can 't measure the organic carbon since analyzers run in the 5 figure range.So we tend to forget them and concentrate only on inorganic phosphate (PO4) and nitrogen( NH3/4, NO2 and NO3). However, high TOC( total organic carbon) can be quite harmful.
The autoropohic ( photosynthetic types) animals and algae we keep create sugars from light and CO2 as a source of organic carbon(food) and will add some organic to the water via exudates like slime, shed , alelopathic compounds, etc.
So while fish add nutrients to the water in proportion to what they eat; photosyntetic animals take CO2 and make it a nutrient as an organic carbon source
Photosynthesis adds organic carbon which needs to be exported.
Granulated activated carbon and resins like purigen as well as skimming remove some organics and help manage organic carbon levels.
Corals will convert nitrogen and phosphorous and some organic carbon ( the amount of organic carbon they need from outside sources depends on how atotrophic the particular corals is ) into living tissue thereby removing it from the water.
Fish waste and respiration will contribute organic carbon , fixed nitrogen and phosphorous from what they eat but don't use. Corals,etc. may take up some ammonia,nitrite and/or nitrate and phosphate as they grow new tissue.
There are 3 major nutrients in living things organic carbon, phosphorous and nitrogen. All are needed ; all cause harm as they build up to excessive imbalanced levels in a closed system, like an aquarium.
Unfortunately, as hobbyists , we can 't measure the organic carbon since analyzers run in the 5 figure range.So we tend to forget them and concentrate only on inorganic phosphate (PO4) and nitrogen( NH3/4, NO2 and NO3). However, high TOC( total organic carbon) can be quite harmful.
The autoropohic ( photosynthetic types) animals and algae we keep create sugars from light and CO2 as a source of organic carbon(food) and will add some organic to the water via exudates like slime, shed , alelopathic compounds, etc.
So while fish add nutrients to the water in proportion to what they eat; photosyntetic animals take CO2 and make it a nutrient as an organic carbon source
Photosynthesis adds organic carbon which needs to be exported.
Granulated activated carbon and resins like purigen as well as skimming remove some organics and help manage organic carbon levels.
inigomontoya
New member
I will target feed my blastos and have seen them spray a jet of brown waste up in the air. Same from acans though it is less dramatic- kind of interesting, just illustrates how unique they are. However as far as taxing the system goes, this is minimal enough to not be a worry.
psteeleb
Team RC
here's a video of my CAR zoas adding to the "bio load"
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frankpayne32
New member
Amazing video and gorgeous zoas!
