Trickle VS Sand Bed

[siliconfiber]

What is the general feeling about using trickle or sand beds for tank bio-filtration?

 

[Navarre]

Trickle filters are actually very good! They create an ideal environment for bacteria to gorw that doesnt compete with the rest of the tank.
What i mean is that a trickle filter will create denitrifying bacteria that uses the oygen in the atmosphere rather than in the water. This means that there is usually more oxygen in the water for fish and inverts to use for themselves. However, the downside of this is that it is a bit of a nitrate factory. Meaning its cannot convert nitates to nitrogen so nitrate tend to build up fast in a tank. However, with a bit of know how this can be overcome. If you run algea beds then these will eat up the nitrate and convert its harmlessly. Live rock will also do the same thing.

Live sand beds are a very very effective system.. It is one of the few systems that actually allows a person to get away with a bit of overfeeding. THe more food that falls to the sand, the more life it creates etc.
The problem with live sand beds (i mean deep sand beds as they are the real workhorses in filtration) is that you really need a a deep tank to offset the 5-7" of sand needed for such a filter. even then its high risk unless you know what you are doing as the life that is created i n this sand is very finely balanced and should it die off then you have a very toxic tank (cyanide can be produced!)
I personally run an eco mud system on my main tank but for ths you need a sump. Mineral mud is placed in the sump, algea is placed in the mud as a filter base and the algea will eat all nitrates that pass through it. The main tank has live rock and thus the system runs totally natural, no need for even a skimmer.

All these systems have their good and bad points, it really depends on what system fits your needs.

Good luck

 

[Dragonscales]

If the idea of having 5-7 inches doesn't grab your goat then do what I am, use a plenum setup, it only needs 4 inches of live sand, be careful though because you must use 4 inches, no more, no less.

 

[ste2k3]

The only problem I'v found with plenums is that they can solidify especially with the use of Kalk. I'm not a big fan of live sand either though. Why not try mirical mud?

ste