lhcorals October 1, 2010 Share October 1, 2010 We got the system upgrade plumbed up and running last Thursday. Went pretty smoothly. Still have a 20 gal fuge to add on and the 75 gal RDSB. That will be done in 2 weeks. Here are a few pics. The new frag rack we did. It will hold 207 frags with 1 1/4" in between frags. Finally got the skimmer dialed in. She is dialed in. Kicks BUTT. I am skimming on the dryish side. Right at gallon of skim mate since Monday evening. Dark and stinky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind October 1, 2010 Share October 1, 2010 Looking good. So what is the purpose of the submerged bio-balls? Does water flow thru them at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhcorals October 1, 2010 Author Share October 1, 2010 Looking good. So what is the purpose of the submerged bio-balls? Does water flow thru them at all? Yeah the water flows through them. Water comes in on the live rock side and then through the bio balls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind October 1, 2010 Share October 1, 2010 I'm not seeing how the water flows thru there. I see an overflow pipe way above but the water looks like it would just flow over and not thru. Can you show me a better picture please? What is the purpose of the balls? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhcorals October 1, 2010 Author Share October 1, 2010 I'm not seeing how the water flows thru there. I see an overflow pipe way above but the water looks like it would just flow over and not thru. Can you show me a better picture please? What is the purpose of the balls? The water come in on the left side of the tank near the bottom. The flow is pretty good through the whole aquarium. The purpose for the bio balls is the same as the the live rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhcorals October 1, 2010 Author Share October 1, 2010 (edited) The water come in on the left side of the tank near the bottom. The flow is pretty good through the whole aquarium. The purpose for the bio balls is the same as the the live rock. The baffle in the middle of the tank is off the floor of the about 1", also has holes drilled in it for flow to go through it. Over top as well. Hope that explains it a little better. Edited October 1, 2010 by lhcorals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 October 1, 2010 Share October 1, 2010 Hey Lynn, I have the same question about the bio-balls, are you afraid that they will cause elevated nitrates? I just removed a bunch of substrate from one of my sumps as I try and eliminate the source of my high nitrates and I'm thinking you'll have the same issues down the road with the bio-balls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind October 1, 2010 Share October 1, 2010 I would think the flow would go over the top of the bio-balls and not thru them. The live rock is normally used to supposedly reduce nitrates because of the internal pores that provide a low oxygen area for bacteria. Those low oxygen areas will not be in the bio-balls. When the frags grow and encrust over the rods how do you sell them? Are the rods cut or do you break them off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhcorals October 1, 2010 Author Share October 1, 2010 Hey Lynn, I have the same question about the bio-balls, are you afraid that they will cause elevated nitrates? I just removed a bunch of substrate from one of my sumps as I try and eliminate the source of my high nitrates and I'm thinking you'll have the same issues down the road with the bio-balls. I know a guy who has an aquarium that is 15 years old and has no problem with nitrates. I am not worried. I dont think the bio balls are any worse than the live rock used in a tank this way. JMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k October 1, 2010 Share October 1, 2010 Your frag rack has 1.25" spacing between frags. Make sure your algae eating fish are small enough to get between the frags. I have seen firsthand what happens with densely packed frag arrangements like yours when nuisance algae starts to grow and the fish are too big to get between the frags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhcorals October 1, 2010 Author Share October 1, 2010 I would think the flow would go over the top of the bio-balls and not thru them. The live rock is normally used to supposedly reduce nitrates because of the internal pores that provide a low oxygen area for bacteria. Those low oxygen areas will not be in the bio-balls. When the frags grow and encrust over the rods how do you sell them? Are the rods cut or do you break them off? As for the frags, I can sell the a few ways. I can cut the frag off, as is, or cut some of the rod off and insert into a small piece of live rock with a hole that is already in it or i can drill. The Bio ball topic has many different opinions. I feel they have no more of a chance of building up nitrates than the live rock rubble. Joe down at Fish world has displays of 1200, 900, and a 150 gallon in the store and no problems with nitrates. He has a lot of bio balls in the systems. He also has a small tank that has been running for 13 years in the store and no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhcorals October 1, 2010 Author Share October 1, 2010 Your frag rack has 1.25" spacing between frags. Make sure your algae eating fish are small enough to get between the frags. I have seen firsthand what happens with densely packed frag arrangements like yours when nuisance algae starts to grow and the fish are too big to get between the frags. I will keep small fish. i will buy a small tang and Coris Wrasse for each tank. When the tang gets to big for the tank i will either trade it in at a LFS for another one or just sell it. The frags have more space on this system than they do on egg crate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind October 1, 2010 Share October 1, 2010 I wasn't trying to say what you are doing is wrong, I just wanted to know the reasoning in case it was something I needed to add to my new system that I'm planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhcorals October 1, 2010 Author Share October 1, 2010 I wasn't trying to say what you are doing is wrong, I just wanted to know the reasoning in case it was something I needed to add to my new system that I'm planning. I know i was just trying to explain. Maybe i came off wrong. I'm sorry if it sounded that way. I just did it that way because some people say live rock rubble and some say bio balls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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