Bio Filter Home

Without a very functional biological filter and the appropriate maturing, you will need to do a lot of monitoring or not have the success you desire.

There are many ways and designs for filtering you’re tank water and waste gases and all work, to some degree. Your bio area, whether it is just live rock, or preferably by external means, is supposed to complete the nitrite cycle, quickly. The cycle is rotting matter, (which is waste or dead creatures or eccess food) which all become ammonia thru bacteria in the water as these micro creatures excrete ammonia. They then covert ammonia into nitrite, then any surface that oxygen gets to develops anaerobic bacteria communities, of which are very unstable. The instability is because a bacterium does not coexist with salt effectively. These in the early days of you’re filter causes PH fluctuations. With a little help or just time, a bacterium is replaced by slightly higher forms of life and can coexist with the salt, but is very dependent on oxygen. These communities are the converters from nitrite to nitrate and the bigger external area for their communities the better. In case of mistakes of over feeding, deaths or whatever, they develop very quickly to compensate for problems, if matured correctly and plenty of oxygen and room is available. The next phase of the cycle is the last and that is nitrate to nitrogen. For this to happen we need to use bacteria. There is a name for the environment that the aerobic bacteria live in and this is the plenum system. This is just a name; any area contained in the right way does nitrate conversion. What you need to create is an area prefiltered to very clean, no particles. It also has to be void of light and low to 0 oxygen levels and very slow flow rate. These bacteria will survive in salt if the oxygen levels are low to 0 and no light. The places where this does well is in dark extreme slow flow areas, inside live rock, inside coral rubble or with a correctly designed, no flow under gravel or is called a plenum sand bed filter. The term (trickle filter) being the best filtration possible, means slow flow. The water in your tank must have well all over flow for all its inhabitants. The trickle filter must trickle, depending on the size of you’re filter. Remember the word trickle, if the bio flow is to great a volume, the biological creatures will miss some waste gases. Any Filtering areas should be calcium based for reasons that are too diverse to go into. Also when you start to accumulate a lot of life in you’re tank it might be time to include a protein skimmer. Remember a substantial dry section in you’re filter is essential for simplistic success.

(Filtration areas)

The first should be the pre filter. This is where you trap waste particles ready for removal every 3 to 4 days, by cleaning it or changing it. Batting or wadding (that has no chemicals added should be used) is best for this and at least two sections of it.

The second is the first dry section. The most important parts of your filtration in relation to stability. This area releases ammonia into the air, absorbs oxygen, releases co2 and helps stabilizes ph.

The next is a wet section. This area has to be long to work effectively in picking up gases and converting them, like ammonias and nitrites.

A plenum is next. A plenum is basically a very clean stagnant section in that it houses aerobic bacteria to convert nitrate to nitrogen. Try to imagine an under gravel filter with no flow through it, just movement very slowly pushing the water into it.

A refugeum should be around now. This area is algae, which will, if large enough and the right species of algae, remove phosphate, nitrate, co2, pretty much all impurities in your water.

Protein skimmer. This can be put anywhere really, just as long as it is left off to allow absorption of nutrients by corals etc for a few days after adding them, or the skimmer will remove them.

Last dry section. This completes the water conditioning before entering your tank. Nitrogen is released here.

In tank current. There should be a reasonable even current over your live rock as it does a lot of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and the food dispersion is important as well.

You cannot have too much clean filtration, only to little. If you don’t prefilter,success will be lost over time.