Hello All.
I am in the process of designing my tank. It's going to be an approx. 250 gallons, 1000L system, with a basement sump etc.
I was going to go with a std (I think Berlin type) set up of some filter socks or equivalent, followed by some intermitant skimming and a large refugium, with 10% / week water changes.
Fairly standard and low risk.
However, I've seen some tanks (notable @SunnyX) that run carbon dosing for nutrient export.
I fully get the advantage of bacteria in the water column as coral food (as SunnyX states) and can see how bacteria would do a good job of nutrient uptake allowing eventual export.
What I don't understand is the following:
If there is a decent amount of food going into the tank, that which is not eaten by the fish will degrade and be eaten by bacteria. Why do you need to carbon dose to boost bacteria growth? The bacteria will naturally have more than enough uneaten fish food going around to grow.
So why would carbon dosing increase growth and make bacteria available as food for corals?
Why would there be more bacterial growth allowing export via a skimmer?
Sorry if I am fundamentally missing something here. Just looking to get the simplest (KISS) and most robust method to control filtration and export in my tank. I can't argue against the results, however, some carbon dosed tanks look stunning.
As a second question, between the 2, filter/skim/refugium vs Carbon dosing, which is seen as the most robust, i.e. most reliable, least amount of dialing in, least delicate to changes and easiest to set up?
Thanks all.
I am in the process of designing my tank. It's going to be an approx. 250 gallons, 1000L system, with a basement sump etc.
I was going to go with a std (I think Berlin type) set up of some filter socks or equivalent, followed by some intermitant skimming and a large refugium, with 10% / week water changes.
Fairly standard and low risk.
However, I've seen some tanks (notable @SunnyX) that run carbon dosing for nutrient export.
I fully get the advantage of bacteria in the water column as coral food (as SunnyX states) and can see how bacteria would do a good job of nutrient uptake allowing eventual export.
What I don't understand is the following:
If there is a decent amount of food going into the tank, that which is not eaten by the fish will degrade and be eaten by bacteria. Why do you need to carbon dose to boost bacteria growth? The bacteria will naturally have more than enough uneaten fish food going around to grow.
So why would carbon dosing increase growth and make bacteria available as food for corals?
Why would there be more bacterial growth allowing export via a skimmer?
Sorry if I am fundamentally missing something here. Just looking to get the simplest (KISS) and most robust method to control filtration and export in my tank. I can't argue against the results, however, some carbon dosed tanks look stunning.
As a second question, between the 2, filter/skim/refugium vs Carbon dosing, which is seen as the most robust, i.e. most reliable, least amount of dialing in, least delicate to changes and easiest to set up?
Thanks all.