hey everyone..

[fishsticks]

what does crushed liverock do in the back chambers of a nano???

people say they help reduce ammonia and nitrites better than liverock in the tank itself? is this true?

but what does it really do??

 

[NewbReefer]

by crushed live rock do you mean live rock thats broken into small pieces? If so they probably do that to add more live rock to the tank the beneficial bacteria that break down your fish waste.

 

[Bifferwine]

It works the same way that the live rock in the tank works. It provides an area for bacteria to establish themselves.

 

[fatman]

If the broken live rock has more contact with nutrient laden water and contact with water containing more dissolved oxygen then it will work better at nitrification than a like quantity of live rock in your display tank. That is why live rock in a sump performs better than the live rock in the display tank. In a sump the water is usually high in dissolved oxygen due to a protein skimmer and the contact with more nutrients is accomplished by the constant flow of nutrient rich water (skimmed from top of tank where it is richest) through the sump. Of course it also depends on what you mean by "crushed" live rock. If it is too finely crushed only those particles near the surface will benefit from the placement in an area such as you suggest. If they are of a large depth you would have a deep sand bed, and once established it would function better than live rock, but it would have to be crushed up to small particles for a deep sand bed to work optimally.

 

[sen5241b]

A week ago I began an experiment with putting live rock, chaeto and a skimmer in the back chamber of my nano to turn it into a little fuge. Many people with nanos do this.

I used white branch coral I cured myself. So far the nitrates have come down and my calcium is high for the first time since I started the tank. It was 300 to 350 ppm now it 450 ppm. But I think its too early to tell how well this is working out.

If you do put live rubble in the back be sure to put a sponge or filter floss between the rubble and the pump otherwise your pump could clog on bits of LR.

(BTW, you might use more descriptive subject than "hey everyone".)

 

[fatman]

A week ago I began an experiment with putting live rock, chaeto and a skimmer in the back chamber of my nano to turn it into a little fuge. Many people with nanos do this.

I used white branch coral I cured myself. So far the nitrates have come down and my calcium is high for the first time since I started the tank. It was 300 to 350 ppm now it 450 ppm. But I think its too early to tell how well this is working out.

If you do put live rubble in the back be sure to put a sponge or filter floss between the rubble and the pump otherwise your pump could clog on bits of LR.

(BTW, you might use more descriptive subject than "hey everyone".)

:bounce: I do not want to burst your bubble, but, using the live rock in your back chamber will not lower your nitrates appreciably as live rock is a very poor denitrifier, however a skimmer can remove dissolved organics from your water before they are turned into nitrates, micro algae can remove some nitrate but usually not enough when using small amounts to be noticeable with a standard test kit. Adding live rock to the chamber will not effect your calcium levels as live rock will not dissolve at a normal tank pH so it will not raise your calcium levels. If you have very good flow rates through the back chamber and that chamber is fed by water that is skimmed off the top of the tanks water, the live rock will be a better denitrifier when there over being in the tank. If the flow rates are not heavy in the chamber and/or it is not skimmed water, you would be better off with the rock in the display area where you have good circulation. Unless you are running the light in the back chamber at opposite times as the display tank I see no reason for your improved calcium levels. An improved pH balance could possibly increase your calcium levels if your light are running opposite each other your dissolved oxygen will not swing and therefore your pH will not swing and possibly that would help with your calcium levels. :^:

 

[LionFish]

here we go again!

 

[NewbReefer]

i believe the bacteria growing on your live rock break down the ammonia and nitrite into nitrate and then you need other forms of filtration to take out the nitrate, is that correct? if so the little nitrate that would be pulled out of the water with live rock is the little filter feeds like feather dusters. someone correct me if im wrong. I always forget how that whole cycle goes.

 

[Bifferwine]

Filter feeders like feather dusters won't remove nitrate. In fact, nitrates are bad for the vast majority of inverts. Clams will tolerate them and use them to a point, but high levels of nitrates will kill clams too.

The most effective and practical ways of removing nitrate are water changes and macroalgae. There's really no other way around it, unless you want to run a DSB in your tank (and most of us don't want to give up that much space in our tanks to 6+ inches of sand).

 

[sen5241b]

:bounce: I do not want to burst your bubble, but, using the live rock in your back chamber will not lower your nitrates appreciably as live rock is a very poor denitrifier, however a skimmer can remove dissolved organics from your water before they are turned into nitrates, micro algae can remove some nitrate but usually not enough when using small amounts to be noticeable with a standard test kit. Adding live rock to the chamber will not effect your calcium levels as live rock will not dissolve at a normal tank pH so it will not raise your calcium levels. If you have very good flow rates through the back chamber and that chamber is fed by water that is skimmed off the top of the tanks water, the live rock will be a better denitrifier when there over being in the tank. If the flow rates are not heavy in the chamber and/or it is not skimmed water, you would be better off with the rock in the display area where you have good circulation. Unless you are running the light in the back chamber at opposite times as the display tank I see no reason for your improved calcium levels. An improved pH balance could possibly increase your calcium levels if your light are running opposite each other your dissolved oxygen will not swing and therefore your pH will not swing and possibly that would help with your calcium levels. :^:

I have good flow in the back chamber and the water going in there is coming off the top. There is some overlap in the front and back lights but the fuge light is on substantially when the front light is off. Also, the LR in the fuge is snow white branch coral which I'm guessing is higher in calcium than ordinary LR. My question: how does running fuge and tank lights at opposite times have any effect?

(BTW, I consider this an experiment so no bubble was burst).

 

[Bifferwine]

Plants and algae photosynthesize when it's light out. When they photosynthesize, they take in CO2 and release oxygen. When the lights go out, CO2 is not taken in anymore, so it accumulates in the water. The CO2 forms carbonic acid, which drops the pH. When the lights go on again, the plants and algae take in CO2 again, and the pH rises.

Running the lights opposite of each other ensure that photosynthesis is occurring 24/7, so CO2 is being taken up constantly. This leads to stable pH and oxygen levels.

 

[fatman]

Yeah, what Biffer said. The calcium part is best not even attempted to be fully explained in just a few sentences. It is just simplest to know that calcium levels can be maintained easier at higher levels with a stable pH and a stable alkalinity, and this is helped greatly by the use of Macro algae grown with a light cycle opposite of the display tank cycle.