Wet & dry filters ?

Does anybody have any comment to make on wet and dry filters, both for
FO and reef systems ? Seems to be a lot of conflicting information
about them and I'm not sure whether to invest or not.

martin wrote:
Does anybody have any comment to make on wet and dry filters, both for
FO and reef systems ? Seems to be a lot of conflicting information
about them and I'm not sure whether to invest or not.
Depends.

For a FO tank they work very well, for a reef tank, they are not good,
because they work very well. The wet/dry filter is a great filter for
part of the nitrogen cycle, it handles the ammonia to nitrite to nitrate
very well, but it quits right there. In a FO tank, the nitrate is not
to bad most fish can handle pretty hight levels of nitrate. But in a
reef tank, nitrate is algae food, and is an irratent to many
invertabrates. So you want a low nitrate level, if you use a live sand
bed and live rock the system will not only convert the ammonia to
nitrite to nitrate, but it will also in the areas of low oxygen in the
rocks and lower sand bed levels convert the nitrate into nitrogen gass,
so you have much lower nitrate level in the aquarium, and less algea growth.

Kim

I would syat away form them. If you stay in the hobby you will regret
spending the money on one

"kim gross" wrote in
message lt.com...

For a FO tank they work very well, for a reef tank, they are not
good, because they work very well. The wet/dry filter is a great
filter for part of the nitrogen cycle, it handles the ammonia to
nitrite to nitrate very well, but it quits right there. In a FO
tank, the nitrate is not to bad most fish can handle pretty hight
levels of nitrate. But in a reef tank, nitrate is algae food, and
is an irratent to many invertabrates. So you want a low nitrate
level, if you use a live sand bed and live rock the system will not
only convert the ammonia to nitrite to nitrate, but it will also in
the areas of low oxygen in the rocks and lower sand bed levels
convert the nitrate into nitrogen gass, so you have much lower
nitrate level in the aquarium, and less algea growth.



Fabulous explanation. I've seen them work well in reef systems, but
they *can* indeed cause higher than desired nitrate levels.

Try this article: http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html

Marc


martin wrote:
Does anybody have any comment to make on wet and dry filters, both for
FO and reef systems ? Seems to be a lot of conflicting information
about them and I'm not sure whether to invest or not.

--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

Hi KIm,
basicly I agree but would point out that Nitrate is just as
much 'algae food' in a fish only tank as it is in a reef tank, also
marine fish are far less tolerant of Nitrates than fresh water fish.
Why install a Nitrate factory in the first place ?.
regards,
unclenorm.

A true "has been" in the reef tank life...

It was a miracle of modern science at one point but far better methods have
been proven.

CW

"martin" wrote in message
...
Does anybody have any comment to make on wet and dry filters, both for
FO and reef systems ? Seems to be a lot of conflicting information
about them and I'm not sure whether to invest or not.