I have a 55 gal. with a 10 gal bio-ball filter setup under the aquarium. I have been reading the pros and cons of Bio-Balls as media.
1. Would I be right in assuming that replacing the plastic bio-balls in a Wet/Dry Trickle Filter with live rock or lava rock is a much better bet?
2. On top of the bio-balls is a filtering media that is blue/white in color. Is it even needed if you are using live rock?
3. Under the bio-balls is a gallon or so of water the flows through a large "sponge", if you will, then to the pump section of the filter where it goes back to the tank. What is the purpose of this sponge? Seems to me it's just a trap for Nitrates/Nitrites. I've even seen small "sand lice" (I'm guessing) that are in the filter living in the sponge material. What are they? Are they detremental? They look like "silverfish" that you could find in a damp area of your home.
I found this writeup that I thought was interesting noting the "Berlin" method and Dr. Jauber's method.
Dr. Jaubert's Method
Dr. Jaubert's method is even more 'natural' than the Berlin method since it doesn't use a protein skimmer but instead relies on a deep plenum in the substrate with low oxygen levels to carry out the de-nitrification process. As described in the Fall 1993 and Summer 1994 issue of Aquarium Systems publication of SeaScope, to implement the Jaubert method place a grid 1 inch above the bottom of the aquarium with a 1 mm mesh screen on top. Above this place 2 inches of coarse calcareous gravel, followed by another screen and two more inches of sand on top of that. Pile live rock in walls rather than pyramids to leave as much of the bottom sand exposed as possible to perform the water filtration.
What happens is that water in the lower levels has been depleted of oxygen so the de-nitrification along with bacterial reduction of other dissolved organics takes place there. Unlike the Berlin method, this process will not deplete trace elements. So additions of trace elements is reduced or removed. It was stated that Dr. Jaubert did 5% water changes per month on his systems.
It should be noted that all of these systems it is beneficial to use "live sand" to introduce the bacteria, worms, and other filtering organisms found in natural ocean systems.
Thanx in Advance...
1. Would I be right in assuming that replacing the plastic bio-balls in a Wet/Dry Trickle Filter with live rock or lava rock is a much better bet?
2. On top of the bio-balls is a filtering media that is blue/white in color. Is it even needed if you are using live rock?
3. Under the bio-balls is a gallon or so of water the flows through a large "sponge", if you will, then to the pump section of the filter where it goes back to the tank. What is the purpose of this sponge? Seems to me it's just a trap for Nitrates/Nitrites. I've even seen small "sand lice" (I'm guessing) that are in the filter living in the sponge material. What are they? Are they detremental? They look like "silverfish" that you could find in a damp area of your home.
I found this writeup that I thought was interesting noting the "Berlin" method and Dr. Jauber's method.
Dr. Jaubert's Method
Dr. Jaubert's method is even more 'natural' than the Berlin method since it doesn't use a protein skimmer but instead relies on a deep plenum in the substrate with low oxygen levels to carry out the de-nitrification process. As described in the Fall 1993 and Summer 1994 issue of Aquarium Systems publication of SeaScope, to implement the Jaubert method place a grid 1 inch above the bottom of the aquarium with a 1 mm mesh screen on top. Above this place 2 inches of coarse calcareous gravel, followed by another screen and two more inches of sand on top of that. Pile live rock in walls rather than pyramids to leave as much of the bottom sand exposed as possible to perform the water filtration.
What happens is that water in the lower levels has been depleted of oxygen so the de-nitrification along with bacterial reduction of other dissolved organics takes place there. Unlike the Berlin method, this process will not deplete trace elements. So additions of trace elements is reduced or removed. It was stated that Dr. Jaubert did 5% water changes per month on his systems.
It should be noted that all of these systems it is beneficial to use "live sand" to introduce the bacteria, worms, and other filtering organisms found in natural ocean systems.
Thanx in Advance...
