Episode 46 pt1, The Wet Dry Trickle Filter, LA Fishguys

[randy12368]

Is it better to have water trickle over the bio balls or would it be just as good if the bio balls tumbled aroung in the sump as water from the tank goes nto the sump? My particular application is a sump under a 72x18x24 with 440 gpm pump flow.

[lafishguy]

hey R, i suppose both will work. the original design is that the water 'rains' down across the bio-balls where they pick up oxygen and the bacterias break down waste as it flows over them. if the bio-balls are tumbling then they will pick up oxygen from the moving water but the tumbling may disrupt the bacterias ( pond filters work this way ). tumbling bio-balls will not trap or hold on to derbri, but when trying to make something tumble requires effort and thought as to how to accomplish that.

[turtleman5551]

im in the proccess of setting up a 90 gallon tank with an aqueon proflex modular sump model 3 and i wanted to know a few thing how much sand should i put in and what protein skimmer would u recomend for this perticular sump anyother tips would be EXTREMELY as i am new to the hobby thanks !!!!!!!

[lafishguy]

hey T, I am not familiar with the Sump you refer to. as for Sand? I am assumming you are trying a Refugium Sand Bed? If the filter was not designed for this then consider 3+ inches. if it was designed for it, there should be some instructions that came with it or available. Truely, it really depnds on what you are trying to accomplish, re: refugium, deep sandbed for de-nitrifying, or a place to stick mangroves?

[avillareal1]

Hey LA, can you please check out this product on google and give me your opinion. /Petco Rapids Pro RP3 Wet Dry Aquarium Filter System. Thank you

[Slyraider100]

you're a pretty cool guy :)

[Teslasdik]

hey jim, i have a 120g tank and was wondering what i should get for a pump as far as gph goes? let me know thanks. you can email me at emgamefan@comcast.net

[lafishguy]

hey T, it depends on what you want the pump to do? does it drive a UG Filter, a Canister filter or a Wet-Dry filter if so figure 3 to 5 times an hour. is it circulating water within the tank, that could be up to 10 times an hour.

[Teslasdik]

jim, i'm going to go with a micron sock filter. i was thinking a 1,600 gph iwaki. is that reasonable?

[lafishguy]

hey T, get yourself a few additional micron socks as the tend to plug up quickly due to their fine filtering abilities.

[Franklovesdank]

alright i have a 55 gallon saltwater, fish only with a trickle filter and how much watts light would i need to keep the fish healthy.

[lafishguy]

hey F, fish dont realy need light. the light is for us to see the fish. a single 30 watt bulb would be enough.... unless you want a brighter tank

[guywer2001]

if i don't use a protein skimmer in my saltwater fish only aquarium, how well it will work?

[lafishguy]

hey G, you dont have to have one but a protein skimmer is a benifit. it will drive out organics before the biological filter has to deal with it and it will aerate the water.

[monsterman1122]

hi, i have the same filter but with one bio ball compartment and i cant get the water level steady. the pump either doesnt suck the water out fast enough or when i adjust it, it slowly the pump the water level slowly decreases. i cant get it still. HELP ME!!!!!

[lafishguy]

hey M, my guess is the drain bulkhead at the bottom of your overflow is too small. unless you are able to drill it out chances are you are looking at a new tank which already has the larger drain. the alternatives are to slow down the water pump you have, or (depending on your overflow arrangement) use something like a Durso Standpipe (Goggle it ).

[monsterman1122]

@lafishguy i will...my return pumps max is 475gph and my u tube is 400gph but i just cant adjust the pump to the right amount.

[monsterman1122]

hey, im having trouble setting up my w/d filter. I cant get the u tube to start and im doing it the right way When i start the suction, both sides of the tube fill up and nothing happens. the one time it did work, my pump then sucked the water out of the filter faster than it came in. I adjusted the pump but then the water came in faster than it came out. I dont know how to get it even.

Thanks

[lafishguy]

hey M, the U tube has to always be submersed at both ends. you can use air line to suck the air out of the U tube to get it started. if the siphon continues to break then either the overflow is designed wrong or the water pump is too strong for the U tube being used.

[snowboarderrx]

Hey jim. i notice that most of your tanks are acrylic..... why is acrylic so popular?

I understand that its lighter than glass and you can shape it for applications like this.... but why are there so many rectangular acrylic tanks?

[lafishguy]

hey S, because they are more attractive, clearer and weigh less than glass tanks. I service one glass tank and its 'open' top just allows for a saltcrust mess.

[thefuqers]

I was wondering why some tanks you service arent using live rock or corals but you make a good and accurate point.

[AndrwHock]

@lafishguy Hey, man. I love your videos. They've really helped me understand what's going on in my nano-reef, and helped me expand it to my own homemade wet/dry sump system. Keep 'em coming!

[monsterman1122]

hey, If i have a 600 gph overflow box going into my wet dry trickle filter how many gph should my return pump be?

[lafishguy]

hey M, ummm, lets see, ahhh... hmmmm, maybe the return should not be more than 600 GPH?

[monsterman1122]

@lafishguy sorry for the stupid comment...I just wanted to know because im a beginner to wet dry filters and I didnt know if it had to be a little less or the same amount.

[lafishguy]

M, yes it has to be less than 600 gph.

[helicrashpro]

You just can't beat a Wet-Dry. They are more efficient at doing what a bio-filter is supposed to do and another big fact that I believe Jim did not mention in this video is that they are easier to service than most other filters out there.

[Amatersaru1]

what a name to be known asXD fishboys

[Arteolike]

Dang, how thick is that acrylic, seems like a huge and tall tank! How much would a tank like this cost?

[lafishguy]

hey A, it 1" and 1.25" material. its been awhile since I quoted this tank but it use to be $8500

[Arteolike]

@lafishguy when im rich, will you set-up my tank... =D

[ArcangelStarcraft]

@lafishguy hey lafishguy do you service fresh water tanks like a cichlid tank

[lafishguy]

hey A, i try not to do FW, it doesnt hold my interest like SW does.

[mracampa23]

hey Jim, can you use a wet dry trickle system with bio balls in a pond set up? Because usually in ponds bio balls are submerged, and they are more effective with water running over them, as you have said. Im just wondering because ive never seen a wet dry system used in a pond. Thanks

[nboy55]

can i keep those butterflys with seahores?

[lafishguy]

hey N, if the fish can out compete the seahorses for the food then its not a good idea.

[nboy55]

@lafishguy i have alot of copepods i see them and my red manderan eating all day

[teri369]

Nice tank! What do you think the best filtration system is for a 125 gallon tank? Would you go with a canister or a wet and dry system?

[lafishguy]

Come now T, thats a no-brainer, a wet dry trickle filter of course! did you not watch the video and hear what I was saying, gezzzz.

[stevenJEDI3]

I just got a 5x2x 2 1/2 star fire tank made and Im only having big gold fish is a Wet Dry Trickle Filter set up with bio noodle's the way to go I will be running a 4 ft sump flow 3,600 thanks any info would be good

[lafishguy]

hey S, thats a pretty expensive tank and fancy filter system just for goldfish, but its a good filter system and they should be quite happy.

[tvshowuploader3]

what is the brand name of your trickle filter is their one for nano tanks too?

[russianrick8403]

@tvshowuploader3 It seems to me that most nano tanks incorporate smaller media like ceramic rings to accomplish the same task as performed by the bio-balls in a larger tank system. Depending on the size of your nano-tank, a bio ball based filter may be too large and bulky when you can accomplish the same thing using a bio wheel, ceramic rings, or, in the case of a very small tank, a web-like sponge.

[1966volks]

Hey Jim, Thanks for the great info , I'm new to all this . thanks again.

[dave333able]

no its brand new... its the other section where it tells you were the water level should be.

[lafishguy]

hey D, it should not be rising on its own. assumming its running check for leaks in your overflow mechanism.

[dave333able]

hey LA. i have a similar wet/dry filter and the water level keeps rising on it. Do you have any idea why?or is this normal?

[lafishguy]

hey D, if its rising in the bio-ball section and not the open section then, like in the video, it is becoming restricted and needs to be gently cleaned out.

[ji3200]

what does bio ball filtration do??? control the chemical of water such as nitrate???? thanks

[lafishguy]

hey J, bio-balls are high surface area for the attachment of bacterias ( ie: biological filtration ). the fact that the water 'trickles' or drips in thin sheets over the high surface bio-ball allows it to increase its exposure to, and increase of, oxygen, hence a super charged type of biological filtration.

[ji3200]

im not sure if my pump is strong enough for my bioball filtration. water drips very little to the bioball. but i do have good water chemical. is it important for me to use the right pump so water drip right amount to bioball filtration?? thanks

[lafishguy]

hay J, if things are doing well... then leave it alone. increase if needed.

[MrTvshowuploader4]

HI LA fishguys JIm can I use a 5 gallon bucket and a pvc overflow hang on version and bioballs with a return pump for my sump bucket should that be fine for my reef tank it has live corals in it but not dead ones? how many inches is your pvc overflow jim?

[viper1001001]

hey la fish guy. I have a wet/dry filter that I have yet to setup. Everything in the tank is up and running except for the wet/dry and the reason for that is I don't know how to get the siphon going. Can you help me out with that? Thanks.

[lafishguy]

hey V, if its a candy-cane type siphon tube slip a air line into it, place it in position, both ends submersed, and suck out the air from it. wa-la the siphon starts.

[MrChitocan]

Can I used clothes bletch or there a special one to do it

[lafishguy]

hey MrC, Clorox or un-scented bleach is just fine. make sure to soak in a FW rinse.

[MrChitocan]

How do u bleach those dead corals

[lafishguy]

hey MrC, soak them in a bleach solution for 6 hours then in a rinse of FW for another 6+ hours or until the smell of bleach is gone.

[grgreko123]

hi la fish guy its me again i was wondering if i could use a canister filter or multiply canister units intead of a wet dry trickle filter with protien skimmer.

[lafishguy]

hey G, yes you can use canister filters. its not your best choice but if you are determined to use them... then go for it.

[gstone659]

hi have u got msn soi can show u my fish cuz i think its preg how doi tell

[lafishguy]

hey G, sorry, no MSN. try Google-ing your fish for more info.

[pmhoard]

I have a reef tank and had alge problems at first. I was told that because I was using a wet/dry trickle filter it was over filtering as you had mentioned. What I did was I reduced the size of the bioball tower in half and made sure it was suspended above the water line. I have been running it like this for 5 years now with no problems of any kind. So the over filtration theory is plausable but, I would never go without the wet/dry trickle filter. Just modify the system.

[101jr247]

can i use a wet dry filter for a reef tank?

[lafishguy]

hey 101, yes you can.

[jaywillis]

Burning the late night oil again I see!

I dig the the scene wipe by the way, but shouldent it go from top to bottom? lol!

[lafishguy]

hey J, very insightful, you are correct :)

[mariagmart13]

you said u have serviced it for seven years what is the most years u have serviced a tank? and how did u get into the businesses?

[lafishguy]

hey M, i still have two customers i've been doing since 1993. one of them now has three children, the other is the office of the Cylinder Tank guy. I've been in the marine aquarium hobby since 1983 and I've been making my living in it since.

[anthonymovies5]

cool tank jim sweet tank how come their is no algae in their? what do u use in your sump to stop algae growing in your fish only tank jim?