biological filtration

[tiredfish]

just wondering what the advantages are of bio filtration. i have a small set-up of 30 gallons and i was told that i dont need to bother.but i would like to try maybe just to get some knowledge of this method. thanx for any assistance.

 

[reefobsessed]

By bio filtration are you talking about a DSB & LR for filtration instead of a canister or hang on?? Just making sure we get what you are asking...

 

[tiredfish]

ok. right now i have an emporer 280 system running.i have about 3 to 4 inches of substrate. i have about 20 pounds of live rock and also have small hitchhikers:
soft coral
feather dusters
some really cool coraline algae.i dont have any coral that i can identify . i justt recently bought a 50/50 actinic coralife bulb.should i really have to worry about having some sort of bio system.for my tank?i also have a diamond goby and a fuzzy dwarf lionfish. everthing seems to be content in the tank. sorry for the rambling. but i use a hang on filter obviously. should i switch?i'll send a pic of my setup.

 

[TheMadNucleus]

The advantage of Bio filtering is that if there are any spikes in your Bio load, a bio filter can adjust (i.e. ramp up in 'good' bacterial colonization) to off-set the new bio-load. I'm not sure why you ask whether you need one as you already have a supplemental bio-filter in your system (the Emp. 280) unless you were considering removing this based on what you were told.

So why would you have spikes in the bio-load: Something in your tank dies and you do not find it right away, changes in water parameters, large-scale additions (ie simultaneous addition of multiple inhabitants) etc. etc.

So bottom line IMO - you should have a supplemental, quick reacting, bio-filter and the 280 is fine for a 30 gallon fowlr.

Tom

 

[HoopsGuru]

just wondering what the advantages are of bio filtration.

There is no advantage to using bio filtration, it is a necessity in the tank. If there were no bacterial populations in your tank, toxic ammonia would build up and make the tank uninhabitable whenever you added livestock. This is why we use some sort of bio-filter on every fish tank (fresh and salt) and ponds.

In your tank, your biofilter is currently the Emperor (assuming you use the biowheel), the substrate, and your liverock. Bacteria populate on any available surface area, processing nitrogen waste, and have been established soon after you started up your tank. These bacteria, and the "nitrogen cycle" they establish, are the basic life support system of your tank.

IMO, whoever stated that you don't need to provide bio-filtration is misunderstanding the very basics of aquaria, at would be at the very least "concerned" over any other information provided. Unless, they were stating that "you don't need to worry about it" because you already had established enough. It's tough to interpret what they were thinking.