New coral question

ozorowsky · 11/01/2011, 07:57 AM

Hi all, I have lps/sps corals that seem to be thriving.

I just want to affirm I'm doing things properly;

With the quantity of products on the market, I don't know whats good, worthwhile, etc within budget.

That said,

I have a 230 gallon tank that is about 4 months old now.

I have a wet dry system about 30 gallons that has half of the bio balls, and an odyssea protein skimmer.

This is plumbed into a refugium with a filter sock/chaeto.

In the filter sock, I have the chem zorb charcoal and phoszorb.

I also just bought an odyssea uv light I am going to add to my system on a 6 hour timer that will pump extra water up into the tank through the UV light.

Any thoughts/critique on my filtration setup please?

stevek480 · 11/01/2011, 10:03 AM

I am assuming you have some amount of live rock in the system? The live rock should act as your primary filtration, in which case you don't need bio-balls. They usually become, as they say, "nitrate factories".

sporto0 · 11/01/2011, 11:40 AM

More filtration is better than less filtration, I would leave the bio-balls in the wet/dry, like a back up system to provide more area for beneficial bacteria to colonize. I would recommend rinsing them off in salt water (during a water change) every 4 to 6 months & you will not have any problems with them. They won't produce anymore nitrates than live rock does, it all comes from the bio-load put upon it, bio-balls are more effecient at coverting nitrites to nitrates, they just don't allow for nitrates to covert to nitrate gas, which happens in very small increments deep inside some live rock. Just remember to keep a regular maintenance schedule, including regular water changes, which remove far more nutrients than any skimmer, reactor, refugium or filter does.

ozorowsky · 11/01/2011, 12:50 PM

Steve, yes; I have live rock and sand; sorry I forgot to omit that.

Sporto; I check my nitrates weekly and randomly check phosphates, calcium, dkh and ph; for some reason calcium/dkh are always a lil high, but doesn't seem to be hurting anything.

I do about 10-15 gallon water changes every 2 weeks or so.

There anything else I should be monitoring?

sporto0 · 11/01/2011, 01:03 PM

Sounds like you have a good routine, I would also check Magnesium levels, it is very important for optimal coral growth & coloration. Slightly higher calcium & alk levels will not affect anything adversely.

11/01/2011, 07:57 AM	#1
ozorowsky Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 311	New coral question Hi all, I have lps/sps corals that seem to be thriving. I just want to affirm I'm doing things properly; With the quantity of products on the market, I don't know whats good, worthwhile, etc within budget. That said, I have a 230 gallon tank that is about 4 months old now. I have a wet dry system about 30 gallons that has half of the bio balls, and an odyssea protein skimmer. This is plumbed into a refugium with a filter sock/chaeto. In the filter sock, I have the chem zorb charcoal and phoszorb. I also just bought an odyssea uv light I am going to add to my system on a 6 hour timer that will pump extra water up into the tank through the UV light. Any thoughts/critique on my filtration setup please?

11/01/2011, 10:03 AM	#2
stevek480 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Flemington, NJ Posts: 605	I am assuming you have some amount of live rock in the system? The live rock should act as your primary filtration, in which case you don't need bio-balls. They usually become, as they say, "nitrate factories". __________________ 125g Mixed Reef w/ 40g Sump. 2x Reef Breeders Photon 32. MSX200 skimmer.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
I have a question. How much in percentage is your coral livestock captive bred???	CleveYank	SPS Keepers	54	06/05/2011 09:35 AM
Newbie Looking For Advice On What Corals To Buy	chimpey11	New to the Hobby	3	05/25/2011 04:25 PM
Question about quarantine and dip for corals.	namsupak	3 Rivers Marine Aquarium Society	5	07/04/2010 07:16 PM
id for coral please :)	mushroombreath	New to the Hobby	5	04/12/2010 11:22 PM
Elegance coral Questions for Elegance coral :)	gsellers1245	LPS Keepers	97	12/03/2007 08:36 AM

11/01/2011, 11:40 AM	#3
sporto0 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. Posts: 2,924	More filtration is better than less filtration, I would leave the bio-balls in the wet/dry, like a back up system to provide more area for beneficial bacteria to colonize. I would recommend rinsing them off in salt water (during a water change) every 4 to 6 months & you will not have any problems with them. They won't produce anymore nitrates than live rock does, it all comes from the bio-load put upon it, bio-balls are more effecient at coverting nitrites to nitrates, they just don't allow for nitrates to covert to nitrate gas, which happens in very small increments deep inside some live rock. Just remember to keep a regular maintenance schedule, including regular water changes, which remove far more nutrients than any skimmer, reactor, refugium or filter does.

11/01/2011, 12:50 PM	#4
ozorowsky Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 311	Steve, yes; I have live rock and sand; sorry I forgot to omit that. Sporto; I check my nitrates weekly and randomly check phosphates, calcium, dkh and ph; for some reason calcium/dkh are always a lil high, but doesn't seem to be hurting anything. I do about 10-15 gallon water changes every 2 weeks or so. There anything else I should be monitoring?

11/01/2011, 01:03 PM	#5
sporto0 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. Posts: 2,924	Sounds like you have a good routine, I would also check Magnesium levels, it is very important for optimal coral growth & coloration. Slightly higher calcium & alk levels will not affect anything adversely.