sand question

[piranhaking]

thats what i figured, but i didnt know if reverse flow could work with sand sorta along the lines of a fluidized bed filter if there was a screen to keep the sand out of the filter plate

 

[Paul B]

i considered the reverse flow with a prefilter like that. Does he have many fish in the tank or mainly just inverts? Part of the reason i want to do a plenum is that the tank has a sizeable fish load and im sure they will want to add to near the limits of what can be kept, and there is no sump no refugeum so there is no nitrate removal unless i add a plenum or dsb. I would do a sump, but again the budget is an issue. thanks for the help.

Piranhaking, My reverse UG filter has been working since 1972, I have dolomite which is like crushed coral. I run it slow and I think it will eliminate nitrate like that because some areas will be lacking in oxygen thereby growing anerobic bacteria.

My fish load is a 6" moorish Idol, a 3" long nose buterfly, a 3" clown and about eight or ten assorted gobies, pipefish etc.
The tank is 100 gallons, (there are pictures in my gallery)
I also have a shallow trough above my water which grows algaw which is removed if it becames full. This trough is a new addition only about a year old and it is an experiment. The nitrate was zero before it's addition. I also have no refugium or sump but I do have a large homemade skimmer and I use ozone.
There is also some macroalgae and plenty of corals both hard and soft.
Have a great day.
Paul

 

[piranhaking]

i didnt realize they were run slow enough to have anerobic zones, but then again i dont know much about rfugf's. I wonder how much of a difference it would make though by only having a backpack filter with a skimmer (which is just a cup with micro bubbles rising under it from the pump that sends water into the filter). Its very interesting though to hear all the different methods people are using sucessfully.

 

[Paul B]

Piranhaking, I am fairly sure that mine is the only one running running like that and there are no studies on them. The went out of fashion because people try to use them the way we did on fresh water 40 years ago. They will not work for long that way.
Mine is the oldest reef here so I know it can work,
Have a great day.
Paul