Need help deciding on Wet/Dry

[murph1083]

im looking at 2 different wet/dry filters and need help deciding:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3589&N=2004+22778

OR

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=13648&N=2004+22778

thanks for any help

 

[mg426]

If you are setiing up a reef tank a wet dry is a debatable subject.Sooner or later It will most likely become a refugium or a DSB after the coming battle with nitrates. mabe you could just think about some sort of sump setup minus the bioballs. Its usually cheaper and less hassle than a wet/dry

 

[murph1083]

no its a FOWLR

 

[TekCat]

Agree with mg426. Unless you want it to use wet/dry just as sump/fuge (without biomedia), IMO it is useless. LR in tank will do denitrification just fine (got to have at least a pound per gallon of LR).

 

[murph1083]

so then what kind of fuge do you suggest?

 

[LoneStar45]

Change your sump into a refuge. Put a baffle in it if it doesnt already have them. Wet/drys are just Nitrate factories.

 

[Paintbug]

for a FOWLR your second choice will do fine. you may want to shop around for prices though. nitrates are not harmful to fish until you get around 100ppm+. so even if your filtration does produce some nitrates, the LR will keep them well below the level they become toxic to fish. but if you end up like most people and want to add some inverts, and corals thats when you start having problems with nitrates.

 

[murph1083]

what about chemical and mechanical media?

 

[murph1083]

so you guys think I should go with the 2nd one?

 

[dchao]

2nd one is fine for a FOWLR tank. But it doesn't look like there is enough room for a really good skimmer.

IMO, I rather spend that money on a good needle-wheel skimmer, so I will just get a 10-20G tank as sump. Cut some acrylic as baffles, and use silicon to glue them to the sump as dividers. Simple.

 

[murph1083]

what in your opinion makes the 2nd better then the 1st one. I know this is a stupid and annoying question but Im trying to learn.

 

[dchao]

There is probably not much of a difference between the 1st and 2nd. Both Bio-Wheels and Bio-Balls are very efficient in converting ammonia to nitrate. A sump is a sump, you can make a sump out of 5 gallon bucket if you want.

2nd one has the advantage of letting you add a protien skimmer into the middle chamber at a later stage. There is still a baffle between the skimmer and return pump to reduce micro-bubbles.

 

[dchao]

I've found a brochure from all-glass:

http://www.all-glass.com/products/featured/megaflowsump/MegaFlow_Sumps.pdf

 

[murph1083]

I wish they tell me the media capacity :-(

 

[aufan1]

The second one also looks as if it has more room for equipment such as heaters in addition to the skimmer.