So, our tank (it's a family project) has been up and running for about 3 months now. Been through all the normal cycling, and is doing well (happy fish, no deaths). All parameters I'm testing are fine (0 Am - 0 Nitrites - 0 Nitrates - 1.022 SG).
My question is about my filtration system. My current setup is a 75G Acrylic tank with an average 3" deep sandbed (live sand - really alive, I've seen the corepods and the nitrogen bubbles) and about 80 lbs of live rock. The overflow dumps into a 15G sump where it flows over filter fabric, onto bioballs through the baffles into a AquaC EV-150 skimmer and eventually into a RIO-3100 return pump.
The reason for the confusion is that we started with just the sump and bioballs and only recently added the skimmer. The skimmer has been running for about 3 weeks now, but hasn't been kicking out much skimmate. When it does it's very light. My guess is that most of the "gunk" is getting trapped in the mechnical filters.
Everything I've read says to dump the filter fabric and bio-balls, but with all the readings looking good, I'm cautious about making changes.
The bioload is pretty light. Current inhabitants include:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>mated pair of clownfish<LI>2 (black and white) Damsels<LI>Yellow Tang<LI>Dragon Goby<LI>5 red-leg crabs, 10 blue-leg crabs, 5 snails<LI>xenia, flower pot coral, maroon anenome</UL>
Open to suggestions, I just want to make sure I'm not headed for a crash.
Thanks in advance!
My question is about my filtration system. My current setup is a 75G Acrylic tank with an average 3" deep sandbed (live sand - really alive, I've seen the corepods and the nitrogen bubbles) and about 80 lbs of live rock. The overflow dumps into a 15G sump where it flows over filter fabric, onto bioballs through the baffles into a AquaC EV-150 skimmer and eventually into a RIO-3100 return pump.
The reason for the confusion is that we started with just the sump and bioballs and only recently added the skimmer. The skimmer has been running for about 3 weeks now, but hasn't been kicking out much skimmate. When it does it's very light. My guess is that most of the "gunk" is getting trapped in the mechnical filters.
Everything I've read says to dump the filter fabric and bio-balls, but with all the readings looking good, I'm cautious about making changes.
The bioload is pretty light. Current inhabitants include:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>mated pair of clownfish<LI>2 (black and white) Damsels<LI>Yellow Tang<LI>Dragon Goby<LI>5 red-leg crabs, 10 blue-leg crabs, 5 snails<LI>xenia, flower pot coral, maroon anenome</UL>
Open to suggestions, I just want to make sure I'm not headed for a crash.
Thanks in advance!
