filter

[reef165]

i worked for a wholesaler in town for a while and he had gotten a filter thing in and i helped/ instaled it for him and was wondering if anyone could tel me the name of it and more abought what it did and how it worked. It was abought 5 feet tall square, at the top was a spray bar type thing the water came in from then in the tower was a honeycome type thing that filled the whole tower, in the middle of the tower on one side was a hole for a fan to blow air into the tower then at the bottom were holes for the water to escape and it just sat in the sump. i beleave he said something abought it being an ammonia reactor or something to do with reducing ammonia, whare im going with this is if in coldwater the bio reaction is slower and ammonia is the first step in the nitrogen cycle, if you remove the ammonia first or atleast a portion of it wouldnt that help the nitrites in the longrun?

[DennisW]

Sounds like what you are describing is called a "wet-dry" filter. The fan blowing in is probably thought to increase the amount of oxygen present to make the filter "more" effective. At best, it probably just adds some additional cooling.

 

The wet-dry is VERY effective at reduceing ammonia all the way down to nitrate. Pretty effective for a fish only tank but not in a reef tank. Corals are sensitive to increased nitrate levels and will not fare well. Fish dont mind them. If you run a wet-dry on a reef tank, the wet-dry is SO effective at converting ammonia to nitrate, that the nitrate builds up in the tank faster than the bacteria in the liverock can process it. This is how the build up of nitrate happens.

 

In a reef tank, we use liverock. The liverock acts like a wet-dry somewhat, on it's surface. The bacteria on the surface of the liverock convert ammonia down to nitrate. Then, deep in the liverock, in the anarobic zones, live the bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrogen gas and is thus removed from the tank. Pretty effective system if ya ask me.

 

Dennis