Mechanical Filteration yeah or nah?

[Sport507]

I have been reading threads on here that talk about using filters and not using filters, (meaning mechanical fiters).

For those who say don't use mechanical filteration. Are you saying pull the plugs on the wet/dry sumps, HOB's or any other type of mechanical filters (using filter media) that you are running? Then just let the live rock, corals, and sand bed do the filtering, using only powerheads for water movement and a skimmer?

Just want to be clear on what the nah's are saying.

[laud]

I believe the cleaner your water the happier your livestock. mechanical, chemical and biological filtration all included.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally Posted by Sport507

the live rock and sand bed do the filtering

LR and DSB are biological filters... mechanical filtration is something else.

I vote yes for mechanical filtration.

[duncantse]

This is my setup:

Mechanical Filtration-filter floss
Biological Filtration- LR, Sandbed, Ceramic rings
Chemical Filration- purigen

[jcw]

I use one filter sock on one of my three drains in the sump, for a couple days every couple weeks just to clean up the water a little.

It makes a visible difference aesthetically, but whether that helps the living creatures in my tank, i do not know.

How's that?

[cloak]

I think there's a time and a place for mechanical filtration. When you use a powerhead to stir things up in your sump or blow the detritus of your rocks before a water change, it's always a good idea to run a filter sock for a few hours or so to polish the water. Otherwise, I prefer things to circulate freely throughout the system. Food for example, I would much rather the leftovers settle someplace where a pod or a worm can consume it rather than rotting in a filter sock until it's cleaned. In some cases this might be every other day, in others, a week or more.
A mechanical filter can definitely have a negative impact on your water quality if you neglect them, so be careful.

[funkejj]

Originally Posted by cloak

I think there's a time and a place for mechanical filtration. When you use a powerhead to stir things up in your sump or blow the detritus of your rocks before a water change, it's always a good idea to run a filter sock for a few hours or so to polish the water.

This is what I do, I add a sock about 2 hours prior to water change. I go blow off all of the rocks and get the water nice and messy from the crap that has built up. I do my water change and then pull the sock the next day. So I use a Sock about 18 hours a week or so. I think Wet/Dry with bio balls or canister filters with various media is doing nothing but asking for problems with nitrate build up as people do not clean them as often as required.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, I do not use any mechanical filtration. Whether it is a positive or negative overall may depend greatly on what creatures you keep (some may eat suspended solids, others not), other husbandry techniques (including whether you otherwise have nutrient issues), etc.

[Sport507]

For the nah's.

So what I'm seeing here I think, correct me if I'm wrong, is you run the equipment but without any filtering media? You don't pull the plug on this equipment you just let it move water? If so what's the point? No media, no bio balls , no cermic cylinders nothing. Just using electric power? Live rock in a sump is good but it can be in the tank and work too. I'm missing something in this debate I'm sure, clue me in.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What "equipment" are you referring to?

I do not run any equipment that is intended for only for mechanical filters. I run GAC and a phosphate binder in a cannister filter, however.

[Sport507]

Originally Posted by Randy Holmes-Farley

What "equipment" are you referring to?

I do not run any equipment that is intended for only for mechanical filters. I run GAC and a phosphate binder in a cannister filter, however.

Does a cannister filter have some media you need to clean or change?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Mine has only GAC (granular activated carbon) and a phosphate binder (presently some ancient X-phosphate). Yes, they are media which need to be replaced every 2-6 weeks in my system.

[d0ughb0y]

Isn't protein skimmer a mechanical filter?

[bamf25]

Originally Posted by d0ughb0y

Isn't protein skimmer a mechanical filter?

This was my thought also.

I would also put carbon reactors and gfo as more chemical filtration.

[Sport507]

Yes I agree, I'm trying to get to the nah's that say no mechanical fiters that use media filter. The virtual nitrate factory they say but when you clean the the gunk that you got out them, it rivals the gunk from skimmer.

[lisafoster]

I run carbon in an aquaclear and polyfiber fill I change every few days carbon every 2-4 weeks. I think the nitrate factory people refer to is using bio balls(bad idea) and not regularly cleaning filter media like the polyfiber or filter floss etc... also not changing out cabron on a regular basis.

[Gary Majchrzak]

putting it in layperson's terms:
wet/drys use biomedia (bioballs etc.) to facilitate a surface for aerobic ("air loving") bacteria to quickly and efficiently convert (very toxic) ammonia and (toxic) nitrites to nitrates. The aerobic bacteria do little to nothing (comparitively speaking) to get rid of these nitrates.
That's why this type of filtration is often coined a 'nitrate factory'.

It has nothing to do with the gunk that accumulates in/on biomedia in a wet/dry, although a buildup of gunk in a wet/dry should be avoided.

There are 3 major types of aquarium filtration:

*biological
*mechanical
*chemical

protein skimming is a form of mechanical filtration

IME/IMO (after many years of experimentation) the best results can be obtained for maintaining a wide variety of reef animals if protein skimming and filter floss/sock (etc.) is used. It's easy to skuzz up any reef aquarium

Of course, this isn't the only method of going about maintaining reef animals in captivity

[laud]

I think water changes count as mechanical too, if my calculations stand true.

[Gary Majchrzak]

water changes are so good for a reef aquarium they should be in a class of their own IMHO

[JoeRonda]

Water changes are not mechanical filtration, they are water changes. You are not cleaning the water you are changing, you are throwing it away.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Isn't protein skimmer a mechanical filter?

While one could argue it is mechanical, and in some instances it may be, it is not size based in terms of what is removed, and I'd say it is at least partly if not primarily a chemical mechanism since it is selective for certain types of chemicals, regardless of size.

[Sport507]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mechanical

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mechanical


In our application, the term mechanical filtration is usually applied to things removed based on size, not whether a machine does it. If one used a literal definition from outside the hobby for the term mechanical, then GAC or GFO in a cannister is a mechanical filter, but the same media with water flowing through it outside of a cannister is not. That's not a very useful way to break things down.

[jeff@zina.com]

What are the tank occupants? For a FOWLR or FO tank, mechanical filtration may be necessary. For coral only, or very light fish load, it may not be. Personally, I let the tank determine what needs to be handling the water. Mechanical in some (filter floss and pads normally), none in others (though technically a skimmer provides minimal mechanical filtration). Fluidized sand bed on a fish breeding setup for example, just live rock in the sump of a coral aquaculture system.

Jeff

[Sport507]

Live rock and sand do both but are they mechanicl?

Definition of FILTER
1
a : a porous article or mass (as of paper or sand) through which a gas or liquid is passed to separate out matter in suspension

b : an apparatus containing a filter medium