Wet/Dry Filter

[Sunshine]

I have a 46 gallon FWLR tank. I want to go bigger. Around 75 to 100 gallon.
I don't understand the whole wet/dry filter set up. Can you tell me what the water passes thru starting from when it leaves the aquarium. Does it go thru a mat first, then bio balls. I just want to know the sequence. It sort of sounds like a bog system. Only that's an up flow. The wet/dry is a side flow ?
I currently have a Fluval filter on it now. I know that's not a good system to have. The tank has been set up for a little over a year. I only have 3 fish, the rest are snails, crabs, sandiggers, brown starfish, a shrimp, and a sea urchin.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.....Thanks

 

[dustin_P74]

water goes through an overflow, through PVC pipe down to the wet dry where it goes onto the bio balls and then once it goes through the bio balls, in my tank, it goes through chaeto and then skimmed and back to the tank

 

[Sunshine]

What is chaeto ?

 

[dustin_P74]

a macro algae, but it has nothing to do with a wet dry system. i just use it on my tank

 

[Sunshine]

I googled it......lol Do you plant it in something ? Like sand. And how long does the light have to be on it ?

 

[dustin_P74]

no, just throw it in an area where it had room to float around and grow. and i just run the lights with the main tank lights

 

[yote]

With a wet/dry system,the water does pretty much like Dustin said.The water passes through some filter floss then trickles down over the bio-balls,then the return pump pushes it back up to the tank.
Dustins is actually called a refugium.Works basically the same only without the filter floss and bio-balls.
Another thing to keep in mind.A wet/dry isnt that much different than running a canister.Both have to be cleaned and maintained on a weekly basis to keep from messing with your water quality.

 

[parrotchute]

Sunshine,
I'm in the middle of setng up a sump/fuge now...if you've got any more questions, I'd be happy to share my experiences thus far..

 

[Sunshine]

Thanks for all the help. What size pump should I use for a 100 gallon tank ?

 

[parrotchute]

I'd say at least a 750 gph pump...

 

[Sunshine]

How do you get it to trickle over the bio balls with that much power ?

 

[dustin_P74]

the water trickles over the water once it falls from the tank, the pump is for taking the water out of the sump and returning it back to the tank

 

[reeffreak]

You will want to match what your overflow can handle when choosing a pump.If your tank can do 600gph max. then a pump rated the same or slightly less is the way to go.

I would skip the wet/dry system and just go with a sump/refugium system instead.There is no benefits of bioballs in a reef system let alone a fish only with live rock tank.The live rock will do everything the bioballs does and more meaning no build of nitrates and no regular cleaning.If you ask me,trickles are old school and outdated.I understand they had a place when live rock wasn't readily available but not today.Remember the old fish only tanks with dead coral skeletons as decoration,perfect for a wet/dry but who does that anymore.

 

[Sunshine]

Well, I got a 90 gal. reef ready aquarium today. I'm going with the refugium filter. I'm going to use a 20 gal. tank. What size pump should I get ? And what skimmer would work best for that ? Should I set up the filter for awhile before transferring the fish to the new tank ? I'm going to use the water from the 46 gallon when I get it set up.
Thanks....

 

[yote]

This is the return pump that I use.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4585+4590&pcatid=4590
I'm running the mag 12 on my 125.