The wet/dry trickle filter was meant to provide a surface area for aerobic bacteria to break down waste... the trouble with them was that in that environment the waste was broken down into nitrate. In a planted freshwater system that might have been fine but its exactly what you want to avoid in a reef tank. This is why we run skimmers on saltwater tanks, to remove the waste before it has a chance to breakdown into nitrate. Anaerobic bacteria is what we employ live rock and deep sand beds for. Its the bacteria that doesn't like oxygen but consumes nitrate.
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