Sump or wet/dry filter question

[Striknyne]

Hey all. I just upgraded my tank from a 29g to a 55g. One of the pieces of equipment I was told I needed was a wet/dry filter or sump (which I am guessing they are one in the same or at least I am hoping that they are). Because of the info I received I purchased a Pro Clear Aquatics Premier 75 wet/dry filter which should be arriving to me sometime this week. What I want to know...is this something that is absolutely necessary? In addition, I have to been receiving mixed info about the bioballs. Some people say take them out while others advise me to leave them in. Not to mention reading advice stating that one can use a piece of LR in it as well. I just want to make sure that I have made a good decision in acquiring this equipment. Please advise.

 

[Anonymous]

Wet/dry and sump are similar, but not the same. A wet/dry has the bio-balls or the like. Current trend in reef keeping is not to use them. IIRC they do a good job at breaking down amonia but not much else. A sump on the other hand is just a place to hide equipment. A simple tank with a few baffles would work fine.

What type of tank are you going to be doing? Reef? Fish only?

 

[Striknyne]

I have a reef tank. I have pics on my digital camera but I have no idea on how to post them to the website. Can you or anyone tell me how I do that?

 

[Anonymous]

Use the post reply, not the quick reply screen. Have the pictures saved on your machine. There is an insert picture feature. Use the browse command.

Seeing you have a reef tank I would skip the bioballs and go with live rock, a good skimmer and lots of flow.

 

[Anonymous]

I second skipping the bio-balls, you will be better off without them.

 

[Striknyne]

Wazzel: Im sorry to keep bugging you but my pics are too big and I dont know how to make them smaller. Any sugestions? Right now the pic size is 760 kb.

 

[Striknyne]

How about this:

 

[Anonymous]

No bother. Looks like you figured it out.