KevyKevTPA
Community Member
So, we're getting to upgrade from our (very) old school 55g to a new Redsea 350 73g (90 total inc sump) one. Exciting!! The sump has 2x filter socks, that will be feeding into a Redsea 300 skimmer, then a properly lit refugium (or maybe refugium first, the documentation I've found so far isn't completely clear about that), and then to the return pump (where we'll have activated charcoal in a bag), and back to the tank. There is no dedicated place for bio media.
As far as in the tank, we'll have 200 lb. of brand-new live sand, roughly 50-60 lbs of live rock (that's in our existing system, so it's cured, and filled with lovely bio-filtering bacteria already). We will be reusing all the water in the tank as of moving day, plus the additional water required, made with the same RODI water, salt, and salinity. Our current official bio-filter is one of these: , and I can't imagine the surface area for bacteria is even as much as a single mid-sized rock.
My question is that is it generally accepted these days that the rock and sand are sufficient bio-filtration by themselves? When we very first setup our tank, probably around 2007ish, and plastic bioballs were all the rage, but it seems like the general assumption now is that they were worthless with bio filtration, which leads me to think we were probably using 98% rock and sand even back then. That sump broke during a move, which is why we ended up with the HOB version.
Your thoughts? Are we good?
If it matters, we have 2x clowns, 4x pajama cardinals, 1 frammer (frogspawn-hammer hybrid), medium sized, single head, and a total of about maybe 10 sq inches of assorted zoas. Probably a bit less.
Kev
As far as in the tank, we'll have 200 lb. of brand-new live sand, roughly 50-60 lbs of live rock (that's in our existing system, so it's cured, and filled with lovely bio-filtering bacteria already). We will be reusing all the water in the tank as of moving day, plus the additional water required, made with the same RODI water, salt, and salinity. Our current official bio-filter is one of these: , and I can't imagine the surface area for bacteria is even as much as a single mid-sized rock.
My question is that is it generally accepted these days that the rock and sand are sufficient bio-filtration by themselves? When we very first setup our tank, probably around 2007ish, and plastic bioballs were all the rage, but it seems like the general assumption now is that they were worthless with bio filtration, which leads me to think we were probably using 98% rock and sand even back then. That sump broke during a move, which is why we ended up with the HOB version.
Your thoughts? Are we good?
If it matters, we have 2x clowns, 4x pajama cardinals, 1 frammer (frogspawn-hammer hybrid), medium sized, single head, and a total of about maybe 10 sq inches of assorted zoas. Probably a bit less.
Kev
