Is a settling tank good for for a reef tank?

[karimwassef]

I posted in another thread, but I didn't want to intrude there, so I'm starting a new thread...

Originally Posted by karimwassef

ok. So I made a settling tank with a large rubbermaid container. I didn't really plan to, it was a bit of an accidental discovery really.

I set up an aux tank connected to my DT. The inlet just happened to push water in a loop around the edge of the tank and the rubbermaid shape forced the water into a circulating loop. The return just happened to be an overflow pipe in the middle.

Maybe subconsciously this thread was influencing me, but all these elements of a settling tank made their way into this aux tank.





Of course it's under CFL for 18hrs, so a little cyano built up...

I cleaned it up and here is what it looks like a couple of days later:





so - it works and works very well at that.

So I think a settling tank won't reduce nutrients. It removes detritus and particulates. But wouldn't that effectively remove a food source without improving water quality?

Is a settling tank GOOD or BAD?

[2_zoa]

I say good.
Unless you don't remove any of the stuff that accumulates in it. My next setup will have a type of settling tank in the system.

[JonezNReef]

I think this could be a good add to a larger system if it was fed directly from the DT. It could take the place of using filter socks or other forms of mechanical filtration without the loss of many pods and other micro life. Only way I could see it being bad is if it was left unattended for too long a period and it filled up with detritus.

[karimwassef]

There's an opposing theory that says detritus is good for a tank and creates a natural food source for pods and worms... And maybe even coral.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

ISo I think a settling tank won't reduce nutrients.

Why would you think that? Similar to a filter sock, no? You need to be removing detritus from the system before it has fully broken down - just like with a sock. Personally, I prefer the settling trap (I use one on my current system?). I used to worry about not siphoning out micro-fauna, but now i don't. So, GOOD from my perspective.

[JonezNReef]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

There's an opposing theory that says detritus is good for a tank and creates a natural food source for pods and worms... And maybe even coral.

I agree that it could be a good thing which is another reason I don't use filter socks. Thats one of the benefits I think a settling tank could have is it could take out some of the larger detritus and debris while letting some still pass

[lifeoffaith]

This could be doable for larger debris on a bare bottom tank with a bottom drain plumbed into a settling tank. Realistically though, you'd need the tank to have the right flow to direct detritus into the bottom drain. At least this is how a settling tank from bottom drain on a Koi pond works. The have to be flushed from time to time too.

[karimwassef]

It depends on your view of detritus.

If detritus is just waste that you should remove before it turns into excess nutrients, then settling it out and removing it would be good.

If detritus is a key component of the living reef and it kickstarts a second cycle of life that feeds the tank, then removing it is bad.

You may also want to look at the location and form that detritus takes... Detritus that gets packed between rocks or in the sand or the dirty corners without waterflow may turn into excess nutrients. But the same detritus in a slow flow settling tank bottom may be a viable environment for life...

If you've ever swam in a shallow sequestered lagoon (as I have), and felt the silt (instead of sand) there, you would notice the abundance of life that preferentially chooses that environment ...

[Subsea]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

It depends on your view of detritus.

If detritus is just waste that you should remove before it turns into excess nutrients, then settling it out and removing it would be good.

If detritus is a key component of the living reef and it kickstarts a second cycle of life that feeds the tank, then removing it is bad.

You may also want to look at the location and form that detritus takes... Detritus that gets packed between rocks or in the sand or the dirty corners without waterflow may turn into excess nutrients. But the same detritus in a slow flow settling tank bottom may be a viable environment for life...

If you've ever swam in a shallow sequestered lagoon (as I have), and felt the silt (instead of sand) there, you would notice the abundance of life that preferentially chooses that environment ...

This is the best descriptive analogy that I have heard. I view detritus as the food for all the worms. This becomes nutrient recycling by feeding filter feeders.

[karimwassef]

Looking at the accumulation in the settling tank, there is clear evidence of active worms and pods



At least that's what I think I'm looking at

[Subsea]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

Looking at the accumulation in the settling tank, there is clear evidence of active worms and pods



At least that's what I think I'm looking at

This is an awesome settleling basin and refugium. What is in your display tank?

[karimwassef]

Mixed SPS, LPS, and softies.









My next tank is in the planning and it's a greenhouse too! Only 1500gal though

[starkii]

Isn't this working on a similar principle to a cryptic zone (when left to its own devices rather than regularly cleaned) albeit with some light in your case. Detritus isn't seen as a problem, rather a benefit in CZs.

[karimwassef]

That may be the example of how it's use can be good. I think that detritus is good for some organisms but not all. So a settling filter may create good conditions for some of these. Under light though, cyano may claim the space.

[Subsea]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

Mixed SPS, LPS, and softies.









My next tank is in the planning and it's a greenhouse too! Only 1500gal though

Absolutely gorgeous.

When you say, it's a greenhouse too. What tank are you referring too? I noted that you live in Dallas. How do you keep things cool in this summer heat?

[karimwassef]

My future design in planned to be in a sunroom/greenhouse

The type of glass is important because there's a very small subset that reflects IR and allows UV in at a reasonable balance. There are also films and coatings that help. I have a whole thread on it somewhere here.

I plan to use a combination of AC/venting/fans and chillers. I had plans for an underground geothermal, but that's heavily dependent on many other factors.

But all the savings I'll get not pumping out MegaWatts of light (I prefer metal halide), I'll pay about the same in cooling bills

[JonezNReef]

Just a thought...
You could tweak the setting tank idea and make it a cryptic zone also. You could take what every it is you would be using as a settling tank and place live rock in the center of it (like a tower of rock) leaving the outside area for water to flow freely around the rock. Then just put a lid on it to block out light. This would give plenty of room for critters that like to eat the settled debris a place to live with plenty of access to this food source. And if you felt that it had too much debris after an extended period you could drain out some of the debris without disturbing your cryptic creatures too much.

[karimwassef]

for my new tank - yes.

my current tank uses that tank as a quarantine in waiting. Maybe I'll set it up without light until I need it, then turn the lights on then.

[JonezNReef]

Could be interesting to say the least. I would like to incorporate this idea into my next system as well.

[karimwassef]

It's in my sunroom reef sump plans already. I'll share in both threads.

[CleanReef]

really amazing system

[Subsea]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

My future design in planned to be in a sunroom/greenhouse

The type of glass is important because there's a very small subset that reflects IR and allows UV in at a reasonable balance. There are also films and coatings that help. I have a whole thread on it somewhere here.

I plan to use a combination of AC/venting/fans and chillers. I had plans for an underground geothermal, but that's heavily dependent on many other factors.

But all the savings I'll get not pumping out MegaWatts of light (I prefer metal halide), I'll pay about the same in cooling bills

As an engineer, I get specific with things. On my greenhouse growout, I used 150G Rubbermade tanks for mono culture of specific macros. These tanks were 3' tall but could not stand up to 105 degree days in August. I coupled these growout tanks with the Big Tank (20' by 12' by 4' deep). The Big Tank provided thermal stability and I was able to maintain 80 degree temperature during 100 degree days. To accomplish this, I evaporated in excess of 100G each day. That equates to 100G multiplied by 8.4 lbs/G multiplied by 1000 BTU/lb or
840,000 BTU cooling. That would take a 7 ton AC about 10 hours to accomplish.

Just something for you to think about.

[karimwassef]

I agree. I evaporate 20gpd on my current 700gallon system ~ 3% and I need it to keep my tank under 85F on 105F days.

We should move this to my new tank thread here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...2589632&page=4

but I was looking at using swamp cooling for the greenhouse.


This is just to cool the inlet air since I really want fresh air except for the winter months.

[Fredfish]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

...

If you've ever swam in a shallow sequestered lagoon (as I have), and felt the silt (instead of sand) there, you would notice the abundance of life that preferentially chooses that environment ...

Isn't that pretty much what a miracle mud filter is?

[karimwassef]

That's a touchy one. MM has strong advocates and detractors, but I don't think it's the same as soft detritus or a silt bottom.

One element of MM is that it effectively doses the tank constantly with elements released from the mud. That's one reason it needs to be replenished. Whether its composition has food for fauna, I don't know.
Its consistency is soft like silt, but the composition is different.

Maybe a MM floor in a settling tank would feed the fauna in the MM?