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

Learn from the forty sixth episode of LA Fishguys as Jim Stime of Aquarium Design in Thousand Oaks CALIF., works on a large Shower Tank and tells you how a wet dry trickle filter works, and why its the best choice for aquarium filtration.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Wet Dry Trickle Filter
• Bio Balls
• LA Fish Guy

[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 :)

[lafishguy]

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

[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, 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.