Why is it so common to see wet/dry trickle filters on grow-out tanks? Folks with reef tanks abandon these quite a while back stating that they were nothing more then a nitrate factory. I realize that there is a huge bio-load in a grow-out tank so I would think that the potential for nitrate production would greatly increase. Wouldn't a large protein skimmer be a better solution? I haven't set up a grow-out tank yet I am just doing a bit of research to find out what type of filtration would be best before I start spending money on it.
Wet/dry filters
- Thread starter jetfixr
- Start date
The reason they are such good "nitrate factories" is that they are very good at transforming the ammonia to nitrate. Nitrate is not really a problem to fish till it gets to exceptionally high levels (easily over 100ppm). So in the case of larval rearing, it is very good for biofiltration. A protein skimmer, while a useful part of a filtration system, does nothing for ammonia 
Nitrate control in a grow out system is handled with water changes, typically enough of those need doing to prevent nitrate from hitting levels that are a concern with fish. Remember, it's a fish tank, not a reef tank
Nitrate control in a grow out system is handled with water changes, typically enough of those need doing to prevent nitrate from hitting levels that are a concern with fish. Remember, it's a fish tank, not a reef tank 
