Protein skimmer

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Dear lord...that is all sort of messed up. A bio ball setup requires water to "drip" through the balls to be effective. The use of a filter pad can help...if it is ontop of the bioballs. I have no clue why there would be crushed coral in there like that...

Can you post a full shot of the sump? I'll get back to you in the AM.
 
Take the crushed coral out. There might be some sort of egg crate sheet underneath the bio balls to hold it off the bottom or not. We would need to see a pic of the entire sump. If you are making the tank a reef, I would ditch the balls. Use them if you are doing a fish only. As for cleaning them, hot hot water.
 
I am planning in a reef, what should I use instead?
An heres the sump, I took the pumps out because I don't know which one goes on which side
She has a filter pad material separating the balls from the crushed coral and an egg crate under the crushed coral
 
Ok, now that I see it it makes more sense. Though, since you are looking into a reef I would recommend pulling that whole setup out and making yourself a refrugium with your skimmer.
 
Live rock. Fill the area with live rock and if you can get an area in there and add macro algae. Both work like a charm.
 
Live rock is beneficial and can be used like stated above. If you have 1-1.5 lbs of LR in your DT though, you won't see any additional benefit. The use of macro algae is always acceptable and should be what you are replacing those bio balls with. Cheato is the most commonly used and pretty cheap. It can also be used with a bare bottom, which is helpful in most applications since it is common to have all the LR in the DT. Only time this isn't the case is for those who are looking for a more "open" look.
 
DT stands for what? An okay so replace the bio balls with chaeto and then add live rock under it or what?
 
Oh yeah its a 75 gallon tank and I will have 30-40 pounds of live rock in there eventually with 40-50 pounds of base rock the lady I bought the tank from gave me
 
So the chaeto goes in the middle, would live rock change anything if I put it in with the chaeto?
 
As long as you get 1-1.5 lbs per gallon it doesn't matter too much where it goes. In my 36 I kept it all in my DT. I'll probably still keep all my LR in my DT in the 55 as well, just because my sump/fuge is pretty small and doesn't have the room for it.
 
Okay well I will only have about .5 pounds per gallon because I have about 45 pounds of base rock that hopefully the live rock will spread too quickly
 
Roughly a month. Put all the rock into the tank with your sand and salinity in the range. Add an uncooked shrimp, sit back and wish you didn't have to wait a month.
 
Where would I get just one uncooked shrimp? Haha could I just add a block of the frozen mysis I have?
 
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