Tank aqua scaping help

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by Myka

Great post Albert! There is at least one advantage to having "more rock than you need" though...there is more capacity for denitration.

I don't want to come off as argumentative, but hell, in for a dime, in for a dollar...

Again, no. We still have a problem of Aerobic bacteria density = NH4 + various other organics x surface area***. Aerobic bacteria are the things pulling oxygen out of the water as it diffuses through the rock. Oxygen doesn't just "magic" into oblivion. A 50 gallon tank filled with 200 lbs of rock, all other things being equal, is going to have no less nitrate in it than a the same tank with 65 lbs of rock. Feed carbon, and we'll talk, but short of that, it's just not going to work. Same problem, different pile.


*** for the sake of discussion, let's assume our rock is porous and we have sand -- remember, you don't get to choose where your bacteria go, they do.

God, I feel like the next thing to pop outta my mouth is gonna be somewhere along the lines of "git off my lawn!".. haha