Fluidized sand bed filter system

[florida reef]

Hey guys,

I was at a LFS today here in beautiful, sunny, Fl and noticed a HUGE reactor they had. It was filled with sand and was serving as an external DSB. I was wondering if anyone has ever used something like this or is it obsolete due to better technology(bio pellets). If you have used it, how did it work out? Would you recommend it for a large 200+ gallon aquarium?
Thanks again!

 

[skinz78]

I have never used one but I have seen them used on many large aquariums.

 

[ruppertb]

fosters and smith uses 2 of them about 10 feet tall. i see them on tours there every few months

 

[Sasquatch]

I have one on a cichlid tank, it works very well as a bio filter, it stays very clean as detritus if taken in just floats back out, for a reef? it would make a fabulous nitrate maker I would think? theory on LR is the rock does the bio conversion but also denitrifes to some degree, a fluidized bed filter would be really good for a fish only system, can't see it ever working as a DSB as every grain of sand is aerated and a DSB requires anaerobic areas to work right

 

[Paul_N]

I have one on a cichlid tank, it works very well as a bio filter, it stays very clean as detritus if taken in just floats back out, for a reef? it would make a fabulous nitrate maker I would think? theory on LR is the rock does the bio conversion but also denitrifes to some degree, a fluidized bed filter would be really good for a fish only system, can't see it ever working as a DSB as every grain of sand is aerated and a DSB requires anaerobic areas to work right

+1
Those are two different filters, Fluidized sand bed reactor and a remote DSB. When I had my first FOWLR tank, I had a fluidized sand reactor and it worked very well. Using just a remote DSB, I would imagine it would have to be huge.

 

[florida reef]

Yea, the one I saw sounds a lot like the one described at foster's and smith. It was at least 8' tall and had sand filling 4-5' tall x 8" diameter. I just thought it was kind of cool.