Biological media question

[Salty Swimmer]

Hey reefers, question for those of you with experience with biological media.

I’m in the process of setting up a small sump (10-15g) for my 60g cube build. Sump will be 10” wide and 24” long.

I have been reading great reviews on porous ceramic media (i.e. brightwell bricks or marinepure blocks), but a lot of reports of it crumbling after some time. I am concerned about the maintenance this would require so I am interested if anyone has had a good experience with this, and if so how did you achieve this (sump flow, placement, ect.). I am also curious if anyone has other suggestions that may be more durable. I see fluval has ceramic rings that aren’t as porous. There are always plastic bioballs, but I’m looking for something a little more space efficient.

What are you thoughts?

 

[brandon429]

you wont need any extra surface area beyond the rocks and the sand in the main tank to handle ammonia. adding more/excess presents additional cleaning work, bioballs need to be cleaned off occasionally and then they're not harmful at all along with siporax and other media. but if you fail to clean them and they clog/begin attracting waste and retaining it (why canister filters are so rare for reefs, they have same impact as bioballs) then they start to count as bioload for your tank vs being filters.

marine pure and denitrifying surfaces however have the intended goal of nitrate scrubbing. lowering water changes....im merely clarifying the difference between certain substrates designed for aerobic nitrification vs denitrification which only happens in very specific places.

the marine pure blocks are legit to use for denitrification, but they function differently than aerobic filters do (although they accomplish both...those porous blocks have plenty of aerobic nitrifiers in the outer zones and in the deep zones they scrub out nitrate from the water)

siporax can be used to remove nitrate as well, but I don't think Ive seen such reliable results off that arrangement like we do the blocks. siporax seems more aerobic but I could be wrong. I use it by the pound in freshwater setups its not helping my nitrate there that's for sure.

they need to be occasionally cleaned too, to keep pores open unless flow is doing a great job for you already in that spot. people nowadays play down excess surface area used for basic filtration/we have plenty already in the DT

they use the sumps and extra spaces for nitrate and po4 commanding gear/plants/arrangements it seems.

 

[Salty Swimmer]

Wow thanks for the great and informative response. I will also be running a fuge and skimmer in my sump, hence my space restraints

I should have also mentioned, I am going barebottom in my display. I’ll probably put about 30lbs of rock into it though. Do you still think this would suffice without extra surface area in my sump?

 

[brandon429]

Yes truly I do. Thirty pounds of live rock would run any common fish bioload in reefing.

Plus over time we compile collectibles that add to active surface area, tends to increase with tank clutter over time

Even the walls of an aged aquarium contributed massively to nitrification as they begin to take on surface area from millions of attached organisms that we can't even see- give a few months it's not really just the live rock alone

For sure the trend now is throughput... Feed in nicely, becomes suspended plankton/picked out by animals and then back to detritus you want actively circulating and moving itself, not compiling. Nice call on bare bottom yes agreed it's easier. Sand is great, but presents a cleaning requirement.

If you'll design that system well, then an occasional (or routine :) ) blast feeding of the finest materials will not pollute your tank, it'll barrel-roll around between dt and sump still being accessed in the tumble then eventually removed by skimming and then mechanical filtration you control specifically for removal. This is why automated roller mats are the proper rage for sumps nowadays. They're export machines
They cause growth and sustenance in corals not because you need more ammonia help past ten pounds of live rock, but because you can feed heavy, fatten corals, and never sink up that excess feed. You won't have to be as careful with feed this way, your system will live longer without the extra bacterial loading in place fighting for oxygen during power outages... Yep the new science is precise surface area and liberal feeding no waste compounding. It's all to set the stage for massive constant feeding every coral immune to disease you break them out with pliers to make room, throw some away occasionally, that kind of growth.

 

[Salty Swimmer]

Love it man. Thanks for the info.

 

[Hitman]

I have both the marine pure and brightwell bricks. To answer the disintegration question, yes at o e point there was a production issue, they have been resolved and both companies are standing behind their products and have publicly stated if it comes apart call us and we will ship you a replacement free.
In my new build I’m going very light on live rock so I plan to use several of the large marine pure blocks, and brightwell NO3 bricks just like I’m running in my present tanks.
1 marine pure block = 100 lbs of liverock per their website
1 brightwell bio brick will handle 1000 gallons per their website

 

[ryeguyy84]

Has anyone tried these?

https://clearchoiceaquatics.com/collections/algae-care/products/maxspect-nano-tech-bio-spheres

 

[Salty Swimmer]

I have both the marine pure and brightwell bricks. To answer the disintegration question, yes at o e point there was a production issue, they have been resolved and both companies are standing behind their products and have publicly stated if it comes apart call us and we will ship you a replacement free.
In my new build I’m going very light on live rock so I plan to use several of the large marine pure blocks, and brightwell NO3 bricks just like I’m running in my present tanks.
1 marine pure block = 100 lbs of liverock per their website
1 brightwell bio brick will handle 1000 gallons per their website

Great to know that they stand behind their products. That’s crazy how much surface area the brightwell brick has. Might be a little much for my application. Thank you for sharing your experience

 

[Salty Swimmer]

Has anyone tried these?

https://clearchoiceaquatics.com/collections/algae-care/products/maxspect-nano-tech-bio-spheres

Can’t say I have but they look like they’d be a similar material as the marinepure products

 

[BadFish619]

I go live rock with a few sponges. Can't go wrong with that!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

you wont need any extra surface area beyond the rocks and the sand in the main tank to handle ammonia. adding more/excess presents additional cleaning work, bioballs need to be cleaned off occasionally and then they're not harmful at all along with siporax and other media. but if you fail to clean them and they clog/begin attracting waste and retaining it (why canister filters are so rare for reefs, they have same impact as bioballs) then they start to count as bioload for your tank vs being filters.

marine pure and denitrifying surfaces however have the intended goal of nitrate scrubbing. lowering water changes....im merely clarifying the difference between certain substrates designed for aerobic nitrification vs denitrification which only happens in very specific places.

the marine pure blocks are legit to use for denitrification, but they function differently than aerobic filters do (although they accomplish both...those porous blocks have plenty of aerobic nitrifiers in the outer zones and in the deep zones they scrub out nitrate from the water)

siporax can be used to remove nitrate as well, but I don't think Ive seen such reliable results off that arrangement like we do the blocks. siporax seems more aerobic but I could be wrong. I use it by the pound in freshwater setups its not helping my nitrate there that's for sure.

they need to be occasionally cleaned too, to keep pores open unless flow is doing a great job for you already in that spot. people nowadays play down excess surface area used for basic filtration/we have plenty already in the DT

they use the sumps and extra spaces for nitrate and po4 commanding gear/plants/arrangements it seems.

Also stick to calcium carbonate rock and sand, Example live rock, natural dead rock (what I use now), live crush coral sand, anaerobic bacteria exhale carbon dioxide so create acidic mild conditions so calcium carbonate rock dissolves some what and help your ph stay safe, simple explanation.
Also water is an excellent solvent so will desolve almost anything in it with time.

 

[Hitman]

Great to know that they stand behind their products. That’s crazy how much surface area the brightwell brick has. Might be a little much for my application. Thank you for sharing your experience

They have plates as well which are much smaller so you know.