wet/dry

B&Bemployee1802 · Post by **B&Bemployee1802** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:17 pm

how do yall feel about wet/dry filters

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:46 pm

I mostly think they are redundant and unnecessary--even detrimental in many cases. They are very efficient at nitrification, which seems like a good thing. Well, the basic nitrogenous end product is nitrate (NO3-). Because the process is streamlined by the wet/dry, a lot of NO3- is created--enough to build up to unwanted levels. That is why we use live rock, which encourages both nitrification and denitrification. We limit the oxidizing (nitrification) processes to areas in which the products can also be utilized in reducing processes (denitrification), therefore minimizing the potential for excess buildup. The other large (probably larger in many cases, except for bacterial driven systems and denitrators) sink for nitrate reduction is in photosynthesis. Theoretically, if you have enough photosynthetic organisms to assimilate nitrate, they could keep up with any wet/dry filter. But providing that much space for algae growth in a refugium can be a hassle.

B&Bemployee1802 · Post by **B&Bemployee1802** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 11:22 pm

what if you had wet/dry and ref. wouldn't that be ideal

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:29 am

Not necessarily, no. The object is to keep nitrates at a minimum level on the whole to begin with. In cases of a reef aquarium, wet/dry filters are simply taking up room that a protein skimmer could be filling in. It would further serve your tank, too. Whether or not the refugium would even be able to keep up with the wet/dry would depend on a lot of different factors. But going by the size of the average refugium and the lighting used, I'd say that capacity is very limited. So steer clear from wet/dry filters--they will likely cause you more problems than they can fix.

B&Bemployee1802 · Post by **B&Bemployee1802** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:32 am

ok. so what other types of filtration in addition to protein skimmer and ref. could i use

Fishfood · Post by **Fishfood** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:39 am

B&Bemployee1802 wrote:ok. so what other types of filtration in addition to protein skimmer and ref. could i use

Other than that all you need is live rock in the tank. I'm not sure why you would want to use others. There may be a need for carbon and GFO's (phosphate removers) as well but you don't need to run carbon all the time and GFO may not be needed.

All I have in my tank is live rock, skimmer and a phosphate reactor. I have a filter sock i change ever 2 or 3 days as well.

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:56 pm

^^ Exactly. Sorry if I was vague about what should be needed. I run 2 different reactors--one with ferric oxide hydroxide phosphate adsorber (GFO) and one with carbon. Both are run 24/7, in addition to my skimmer and refugium (which simply consists of Chaetomorpha alga--no sand or anything else).