Question for Navarre

[bjftanker]

Earlier in one of your threads. You were showing pictures of how to set up a 30 gallon reef tank with the two powerheads. I liked what i saw in the pictures. But let me get this stright the power heads are sucking water from the top of the tank then flowing to the bottom of the tank right? Or would that be the other way around where the water is going from top to bottom. I am going to build that setup this week. I am still learning new things every day. In my eclipse 30 gallon it has that built in biowheel and somesort of filtration system. Would i even need it anymore with this new setup? If that is the case i am going to redo the whole lighting and build a new canopy and do away the lid and all.. Thanks for all the help/

 

[Navarre]

Do you mean the Reefrack with the spray bar design that fits under the liverock?

If so then they water is taken from the top of the tank and pushed down under the rack and through the spray bar. This will then florce the water up through the liverock and giveit higher circulation. It also prevents any build up of waste materials from collecting under the rocks and keeps it in the water colom for longer which alows it to be skimmed, caught in sponges or eaten by the cleanup crew/fish.

Hope this helps.

 

[bjftanker]

Yeah i was talking about that setup. That sounds like a good plan to go by. Will that be a good enough filtration system wiht the two powerheads and a protein skimmer If i take off the biowheel that comes withthe tank?

 

[Navarre]

As long as you use 30lbs of live rock to place over the rack then there should be no problems.
Liverock is by far the best filter for the tank anyway, even if you had any other form of filtration in the tank the liverock in trhe tank would stil perform a job of filtration. Many people do not feel liverock alone can sustain a living reef with enough clean water but many many more people are proving them wrong. Sadly, the ones tht have this poor view of live rock tend to be the very shops that sell it (but their profits are not as great with other mechanical filters) )

 

[3fsh]

Yeah, I know this is a "Question for Navarre", but since you didn't PM him I'll post this anyway. Definitely get rid of the bio-wheel filtration... it's a royal pain in the butt if you're using it for a saltwater tank. (Speaking from personal experience.) The llights stink and I the activated carbon has to be replaced every week otherwise the bio-wheel doesn't turn correctly. The only reason I would recommend it would be if you are planning on starting another tank without live rock, then you could use the bio-wheel for that tank 'cause it would have all the beneficial bacteria on it. Otherwise, it just takes up a lot of room!

 

[bjftanker]

Yeah that helps answer alot of questions i had. The filtartion system in the eclipse 30 gallon seems like a joke anyway. I am pretty sure if i add a protein skimmer with the two powerheads it will be good enough for the tank. If i take off the lid and add good lighting.