Ceramic Rings (filtration)

[Filthy Mcnasty]

so i was browsing another reef forum and a dude with a start up nano kit mentioned he has ceramic rings as part of his filtration set up.

in one of the replies, one of the more experienced members advised him to get rid of the ceramic rings as they bite you in the long run. - there was no further explanation.

so i cant help but wonder what these guys were on about, anybody also share their opinion? please advise

i currently have my overflow feeding into a compartment which holds a few of them plastic balls and then a massive black sponge beneath it - from there the water feeds into the next compartment which houses the protein skimmer which flows skimmed water into the next compartment which drains from the bottom, passing through four sacks of ceramic rings, and flows into the next compartment which houses the heater and main pump for flow back into the tank via a distribution tube with multiple holes in it at different angles.

so is my current filtration set up "correct"?
will i encounter difficulty later on if i keep it as is?
what about adding active carbon and where does this go?

forgive any stupid questions - jus take a look at my post count

 

[TaahirS]

Bio balls and ceramic rings need to be cleaned regularly and trap alot of detritus.
I would also advise that you move your skimmer to your first chamber.
Activated carbon can be put in a high flow area, it's usually one of the last things in your filtration system.

 

[zippy]

if you know how to run them the work well.

Tips:

Keep them clear of of detritus build up.

Decide if you would have them better assist in the biological filtration to either: Provide Residence to Bacteria that convert as it were you Nitrites into Nitrates. Or in low flow low oxygen have them provide residence to bacteria that turn your nitrates into nitrogen, basically the final stage of the process.

 

[Nemos Janitor]

I love ceramic rings, bio-balls and sintered glass media like eheim ehfisubstrat. Best employed in trickle filters and towers. A brilliant "nitrate factory".

 

[Fuzzy]

Bio balls and ceramic rings need to be cleaned regularly and trap alot of detritus.

is that from your experience or from what you heard people say?

 

[TaahirS]

is that from your experience or from what you heard people say?

From what I've heard...

 

[Fuzzy]

From what I've heard...

cool ..next time add that in your statements and not sounds like its a solid rule that this and that and that...

im really not attacking you in any way so dont think that ..i know you are young and thats actually very very cool as i wish i was doing marines since school days and not just tropical..and in the years to come you are just going to get better and better! but with that said this isnt the first time you spoke about something that i have or that im doing and what im doing proves your statements wrong.. end of the day all it takes is you hear this...then you repeat..then others hear ..then they repeat..and soon theres this whole myth about things regardless of what the experienced guys are doing or have been doing for years..

unfortunately this isnt the cheapest hobby around so giving correct advice could either save money or cost money..

 

[Fuzzy]

so, my answer to using ceramics... yes you can..provided that its placed in an area where the cleanest,dirt and particle free water is ..

 

[Nemos Janitor]

From what I've heard...

It is important to quote from what you heard and relate to the system of nitrate reduction employed.

What you heard is primarily driven from the DSB era where the DSB is incapable of handling the nitrate production of an efficient export of ammonia and nitrite.


Today we have denitrators, carbon dosing and nitrate reducing media.

As i have stated before. There is no difference between live rock or dried live-rock or ceramic rings, bio-balls etc to colonize bacteria.

 

[Filthy Mcnasty]

Thanks for all the replies.

So having them sit after the skimmer is a good place for them.

And I hear you in the amount of stuff they can trap. Will elaborate a bit more on my build thread

 

[RiaanP]

I use a lot of bioballs in my QT. OK, not 100% the same as ceramic rings but they also trap detritus the same way. Some of the balls are floating type, others do sink to the bottom. Every couple of months I need to switch off the return, remove all the balls into a big tub and siphon that area clean. It easily gets a .5 thick layer at the bottom. OK, difficult to really measure as there are so many bioballs and moving them to get to the bottom kicks up so much detritus.

Point is. Unless you remember to maintain the area with the ceramic rings or bioballs, it will build up detritus. Same applies to liverock rubble.

And that massive black sponge, also need to rinse that fairly often. It will trap uneaten food and fish poo. You need to rinse it before that breaks down and becomes part of the nutrients problem.

There are not a lot of guys left using ceramic rings. So a lot of replies would be by something you read somewhere. But if beekeepers tell me do not stick your unprotected hand into a beehive, I would believe them,. Not just because they say so and never done it themselves, but somebody many years ago in our ancestry as cavemen did it and from then on it was carried over by word of mouth. You can stick your hand in there if you want to, if it works for you.

 

[Filthy Mcnasty]

some good pointers Riaan.

I did get around to cleaning up the chambers and filters but i did not siphon the bottom of the chambers and the water was cloudy after i replaced everything and turned on the pump - only then did i realise the build up of stuff.

will be re-arranging the order of filtration this weekend and will vacuum up the bottoms of the chambers for sure.

i'm still amazed at the resilience of the critters in the tank - despite making so many noob mistakes, these guys are still out and about like nothing ever changed.

 

[ziguri]

I have these in my sump and the LFS who helped me set-up my tank initially had me put them in the same part of the sump that my overflow flows into. Skimmer is also in the same area.... These rings have collected quite a it of dirt up to this point as well as an amphipod population. Should i remove them,clean them and put them back? They have been in there ever since i set up my tank and i have never cleaned them.. LFS told me i would never have to clean them, but im having second thoughts now.

 

[Nemos Janitor]

Strange i do not seem to have those issues. Perhaps it has something to do with popper mechanical filtration and sump design.