a bit confused

kerrid

kerrid

AC Members
Mar 10, 2007
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Boston
after looking at and reading about sw, id like to try it out for myself. so just a few questions to start.. (coming from fw, so please excuse the inexperience :p: )
i plan on having a FOWLR tank. ive read that live rock is a good enough filter to not need a filter at all. however, this idea doesnt sit too well with me, possibly because i dont understand it :huh: could someone explain this to me in lamest terms so i can understand it? or send a good link?
is it ok to have a HOB even with LR, and what media should be inside?
thanks in advance!
 
In lamest terms..hmmm... live rock is good? To simply say it, it has GOOD bacteria on it and makes BAD things in the water turn into NEUTRAL things. I would go with 1-1.5 pounds of live rock per gallon and a protein skimmer for filtration. Nothing else.
 
haha thank you! also, i saw on liveaquaria.com several kinds of LR (fiji, lalo, tonga, melanesian, south pacific, and caribbean), is one better than others?
as far as sand goes, i was planning on arag-alive fiji pink sand and one pound per gallon. is this alright?
 
Well, basically, all the filter does is provide surface area for the bacteria colonise which will convert the ammonia into nitrites, nitrites into nitrates.

So, surface area is the factor concider. That surface area can either be the surface area of the media ( floss and or sponge ) in the cannister filter, OR, the surface of the live rock. Hence, only really needing one or the other, providing enough live rock is in the system.

Yes, it is ok to have a hob filter aswell as the live rock and use the filter media ( floss and or sponge ). However, this would need washing out in tank water every week to keep the level of nitrates, that will build up on the filter media, at a manageable level.

a lot of people will use the live rock as their main source of filtration, and use the hob filter to run phosphate and or nitrate removal packs and activated carbon to polish the water.

haha thank you! also, i saw on liveaquaria.com several kinds of LR (fiji, lalo, tonga, melanesian, south pacific, and caribbean), is one better than others?
as far as sand goes, i was planning on arag-alive fiji pink sand and one pound per gallon. is this alright?
Click to expand...

People have various opinions on what live rock is best. Personally, i have bits of most types of live rock and do not see any difference in the life of the rock.

With sand, i always recomend Aragonite sugar grade reef sand, and yes, about 1lb per gallon. Link below as an example. The bags of "live" sand, in my opinion, are a waste of money and the standard sand will become live by life passing into it from the live rock...

These are of course, just my opinions, hope this helps a little..

Niko
 
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