Filtration Question

[Scavenger]

Originally Posted by Bartman

Howdy All,

I have a nano reef with 2 Aquaclear filters filled with foam and a powerhead 301. Information I have read on the net and info from at least one LFS suggest I should clean the foam in the filters every day, which I have been doing. Another LFS, which has a nano reef setup, said I should not clean or remove the foam for months. My understanding is that if I clean the filter foam then all biological filtration will occur in the LR and organic decay will not build in the filter. The suggestion is that if I leave the foam in then copepods and other organisms will look after the organics and the foam will help with Nitrate removal. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on this? I do not have a skimmer.

Best Regards,

I beleive I read an article on the same subject. The premise of the foam cleaned daily to elimiate nitrate was based on the same principle as a skimmer. By cleaning the foam daily, you remove wastes from the system before it decays and enters the nitrogen cycle, the same as a skimmer. I'm looking into this myself as a skimmerless nano idea. If it doesn't work, I can always get a skimmer. I still have quite a way to go building a large tank so I thought I'd get a nano running while working on the big tank. Maybe I'll learn a trick or two doing so.