What to do with a wet/dry filter?

[ab420]

I am helping a teacher with a 180 gallon reef he has set up at his school. He has a wet/dry filter with bio-balls in it. I know the bio-balls are a nitrate factory, and I told him about that, but I wasn't sure what to tell him to replace it with?

There's only a few inches of actual water at the bottom of it, so I guess some live rock and a little bit of macro would fit in there, but is there a better idea out there?

I don't have any experience with wet/dry filter, sumps, plumbing or anything else related to it, so I'm not really sure what to do.

 

[Leroy]

Live rock is a good idea or rubble live rock. Good for copepod habitants. If you put macro in you'll need an inexpensive lighting you could pick up at Home Depot for the macro to grow. Alter the lighting between the display tank and the sump. Plumbing is another topic in which a pic or a link of the particular wet/dry system would have to be observed.

 

[ab420]

I'm assuming all the rock would need to be fully submerged, correct? Is there a way to raise the water level on wet/dry filters?

 

[Leroy]

Correct, live rock submerged in water. Also a filter sock attached to the hose above the live rock but keep an eye on the build up so to have several socks to replace is needed. There's threads on here applying to maintenance of filter socks. Raising water level, again, a pic or a link of the particular wet/dry system would have to be observed.

 

[ab420]

Correct, live rock submerged in water. Also a filter sock attached to the hose above the live rock but keep an eye on the build up so to have several socks to replace is needed. There's threads on here applying to maintenance of filter socks. Raising water level, again, a pic or a link of the particular wet/dry system would have to be observed.

Thanks for your help, I'll try and get a pic at some point. For now, I'll have him get some live rock and rubble and get it in there.

 

[SteveDola]

you dont have to replace it with anything if you dont want. just remember that a sump is where deitrius can build up and LR may get in the way of sucking it out.

 

[ab420]

you dont have to replace it with anything if you dont want. just remember that a sump is where deitrius can build up and LR may get in the way of sucking it out.

That's a good point, but I should have mentioned that he wanted to add live rock to his system, but was worried about how difficult it would be. His rock structure in the display is in there pretty well, and all the pieces sort of rely on the other pieces being there, and right in the middle of the tank is a sarcophyton that is about 1.5 feet tall and 2 feet across at the top. So, adding more live rock to the display would be a serious challenge, so rock in the sump sounds like a good plan. I think if he uses a filter sock and keeps up with the maintenance of it, that should trap most of the detritus, right?

 

[JohnK]

Yup, filter socks do a good job of catching a lot of detritis. As Leroy said, have a few of them so it's easy to swap them out frequently for cleaning.

Also, Yes remove the bio balls, but do so a little at a time. Take a handful out each day until they are all gone or something to that extent.

Why does he want to add more LR? Not saying it's a bad idea, just wondering...

 

[ab420]

Also, Yes remove the bio balls, but do so a little at a time. Take a handful out each day until they are all gone or something to that extent.

Good idea, I didn't even think of that...

Why does he want to add more LR? Not saying it's a bad idea, just wondering...

He doesn't really think he has enough. He can't remember how much he got originally, but thought it was around 100 pounds. From looking at the tank, it does look like a bit more than that, but not by too much.

 

[JayM]

I have at least as much LR in my sump as in my tank......

raising the water level should be pretty easy, but again, a pic would be helpful....