The importance of biological filtration

LunarDDS · 01/24/2009, 09:32 AM

Went by a buddies place yesterday to check out his tanks. His main display is a beautiful rimless setup but it has a curious problem. It has an algae bloom like I have never seen in a sw setup. It looks like a swimming pool left for dead. The water is green and murky. It is a bare bottom setup with no fuge. Just the elos skimmer it came with running below.

He told me he started with rock and ran ro water for a couple of weeks. I don't know if he had live rock and basically killed it with the ro run or started with dead rock. Either way whatever he has is now dead. He then added the saltwater for a few weeks and then livestock. His fish seem healthy (from what I could see through the fog). The skimmer didn't seem to be producing skimmate. Really wet and clear bubbles just filling up the cup with water. I had a hard time trouble shooting it for him because I've never had an algae bloom or anything with my tank.

Is this problem due to the apparent lack of bio filter that we would normally see in a tank? No sand bed, no live rock (i'm thinking it was pretty dead after the 2 week fresh water dip), no fuge....where is the bio filter going to get it's start. Would the rock become effective live rock on it's own after being in the tank for a while? I am thinking he should start dosing some bac in there to get things going and add some sort of sand bed somewhere for things to live. Prodibio or something like that to add some good bac to the system.

I know the owner is also on RC so he'll probably see this thread.

devgru · 01/24/2009, 10:07 PM

whoah,ive had probably every type of bloom during my inital setup,never heard of anything like you describe before in my life.

even with my first ever setup a 30g,no skimmer, no lights,tap water,salt mix of a whole 20mins,1 3"x3" LR,3 damsels and an emporer280 brand new

went from store to setup in under an hour and didnt even have a cycle.

ill ask a friend of mine who works at UCF marine biology on this and get back to you.

Jflip2002 · 01/24/2009, 10:12 PM

Live rock is key even more in a barebottom tank. His rock obviously isnt live after the fresh water. I have never heard of the water being green and foggy.... I guess try to run some carbon, lol.

Heinz · 01/24/2009, 10:17 PM

http://www.reefcentral.com/modules.p...showpage&pid=1

01/24/2009, 09:32 AM	#1
LunarDDS Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Houston Posts: 334	The importance of biological filtration Went by a buddies place yesterday to check out his tanks. His main display is a beautiful rimless setup but it has a curious problem. It has an algae bloom like I have never seen in a sw setup. It looks like a swimming pool left for dead. The water is green and murky. It is a bare bottom setup with no fuge. Just the elos skimmer it came with running below. He told me he started with rock and ran ro water for a couple of weeks. I don't know if he had live rock and basically killed it with the ro run or started with dead rock. Either way whatever he has is now dead. He then added the saltwater for a few weeks and then livestock. His fish seem healthy (from what I could see through the fog). The skimmer didn't seem to be producing skimmate. Really wet and clear bubbles just filling up the cup with water. I had a hard time trouble shooting it for him because I've never had an algae bloom or anything with my tank. Is this problem due to the apparent lack of bio filter that we would normally see in a tank? No sand bed, no live rock (i'm thinking it was pretty dead after the 2 week fresh water dip), no fuge....where is the bio filter going to get it's start. Would the rock become effective live rock on it's own after being in the tank for a while? I am thinking he should start dosing some bac in there to get things going and add some sort of sand bed somewhere for things to live. Prodibio or something like that to add some good bac to the system. I know the owner is also on RC so he'll probably see this thread.

01/24/2009, 10:07 PM	#2
devgru Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: casselberry,fl Posts: 523	whoah,ive had probably every type of bloom during my inital setup,never heard of anything like you describe before in my life. even with my first ever setup a 30g,no skimmer, no lights,tap water,salt mix of a whole 20mins,1 3"x3" LR,3 damsels and an emporer280 brand new went from store to setup in under an hour and didnt even have a cycle. ill ask a friend of mine who works at UCF marine biology on this and get back to you. __________________ It's time's like these when I think of the immortal worlds of socrate's who said "I drank what?" Current Tank Info: 125g w/125g sump/fuge,ACIII,RIO26hf,MAG9.5,PS,sulfer denitrate

01/24/2009, 10:12 PM	#3
Jflip2002 Eagles & Tigers Fan Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 3,543	Live rock is key even more in a barebottom tank. His rock obviously isnt live after the fresh water. I have never heard of the water being green and foggy.... I guess try to run some carbon, lol. __________________ I hate cheap powerheads. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder

01/24/2009, 10:17 PM	#4
Heinz Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 1,534	http://www.reefcentral.com/modules.p...showpage&pid=1