Freaking Out- Calm a Newbie Down

[hmspradlin]

I'm with Crazyeyes. Ditch the bio balls completely. I don't use anything in my sump but a sock, chaeto for nitrate removal, and rock. (Skimmer too, but that doesn't count) Change the sock out once every two days and you won't ever have an issue.

Bah! wth is chaeto? Well, I'm thinking I might do the marine pure because there is a possibility I'll not be able to change the sock out as often as needed because I won't be home.

 

[Lauracooks]

Cheato is a macro alge you keep in your refugium

 

[risin]

It's macro algae. Don't worry about the chaeto for now; you would add it later down the line if desired. +1 on ditching the bio balls now.

 

[CrazyEyes]

Yeah I saw the sump on numerous occasions, and everytime I did I told him he should remove the bio balls. Just run it with the rock for now, I just don't see a point in letting it cycle with bioballs only if you're going to be removing them in two weeks anyways. Also, if you're not going to be able to change the sock out every 1-3 days I'd suggest running a larger micron sock, I run a 100 in my sump and it clogs fairly quickly.

 

[hmspradlin]

alright, if I ditch the bioballs and start up the tank, I just leave it empty? until I can get the spheres?

 

[anbosu]

Yeah the bioballs aren't really going to make a difference.

 

[janes_mw]

ok, take a deep breath

What is it that you are setting up for? If Fish only, then you need some minor source for nitification bacteria. Rock will suffice surely if you cycle with some amount.

Bio balls, live rock, bumpy surface, what ever is just a place for the bacteria to colonize. Problem with most is detritus build up. Soooo, a display tank with some good rock to build up the bacteria with good flow to keep detritus moving into sump (and caught by some form of mechanical filtration (socks or...) and changed frequently where as you don't have a nitrate factory. A skimmer to get high organics, carbon to get hard metals, etc, and back to tank. It is that simple. If you run a refugium it has a purpose to export phosphate and nitrate (consumed by macro algae), it serves a purpose of that plus the deep sand bed actually can act as a de-nitratification filter as well as ....

if it were me and setting up a simple setup with a sump, i would do live rock (or dead rock and cycle to make live), sump with mechanical filter, skimmer, carbon and return. High flow in tank is for many reasons, so powers heads for sure!

Don't over think this, the process is simple, don't make it complicated

 

[hmspradlin]

ok, take a deep breath

What is it that you are setting up for? If Fish only, then you need some minor source for nitification bacteria. Rock will suffice surely if you cycle with some amount.

Bio balls, live rock, bumpy surface, what ever is just a place for the bacteria to colonize. Problem with most is detritus build up. Soooo, a display tank with some good rock to build up the bacteria with good flow to keep detritus moving into sump (and caught by some form of mechanical filtration (socks or...) and changed frequently where as you don't have a nitrate factory. A skimmer to get high organics, carbon to get hard metals, etc, and back to tank. It is that simple. If you run a refugium it has a purpose to export phosphate and nitrate (consumed by macro algae), it serves a purpose of that plus the deep sand bed actually can act as a de-nitratification filter as well as ....

if it were me and setting up a simple setup with a sump, i would do live rock (or dead rock and cycle to make live), sump with mechanical filter, skimmer, carbon and return. High flow in tank is for many reasons, so powers heads for sure!

Don't over think this, the process is simple, don't make it complicated

One answer, I am a woman- I complicate EVERYTHING! Haha.

I'm doing a FOWLR to get the hang of things and then hoping to move to Corals etc in the future. I know I will be moving to a sump with a better set up before I move to Corals. So ditch the bioballs. What if I put rock rubble instead of bioballs or the spheres?

 

[CrazyEyes]

Rubble rock will work but, you still might get some detritus build up underneath/around the rubble rock which could lead to nitrate problems. I personally think you should get just stick one of the ceramic blocks in there where bioballs were.

 

[nitr8]

Sump, quality skimmer, carbon, return pump, power heads, live rock, RODI unit and routine husbandry. In terms of filtration, this is all I believe you need to be successful at FOWLR. (Probably wouldn't hurt to have an aquarium as well)

When/if you decide to add corals I would increase mechanical filtration with socks, add a refugium, and probably think about PO4 export options in addition to the fuge. In either case, try to get the most out of the area you have available for your sump (see signature).

 

[CrazyEyes]

Or, get a bigger skimmer.

 

[LiquidCache]

I use rubble in my sump and have a large clean up crew down there to take care of any algae that forms. It seems to work very well.

 

[risin]

Not sure if this has been said. If you go with rubble instead of Bioballs, do not run the rubble in a trickle setup; it should be submerged.

 

[hmspradlin]

Not sure if this has been said. If you go with rubble instead of Bioballs, do not run the rubble in a trickle setup; it should be submerged.

No it hasn't, thank you for adding that

 

[Edudek]

I have a bio cube that's been running for little over a month. I have the bioballs in it and I just saw that they are bad.. Will it hurt anything taking them out?

 

[rogergolf66]

I have a bio cube that's been running for little over a month. I have the bioballs in it and I just saw that they are bad.. Will it hurt anything taking them out?

Take 1/3 out a week. U will be fine as long as u have another source of biological filtrating running, and enough to keep up with your system

 

[Lauracooks]

I have a media basket with combo of purigen, chemipure and filter padding in the back of my Biocube works great