- Don't do it. Don't even think about doing it.
And please, please, please, as a beginner,
don't even consider setting up a biopellet reactor
or doing any sort of carbon dosing.
Just follow the tips in this video
to set up a successful biological filter.
(upbeat music)
Hey, everybody, Matthew here, your BRS beginner guru,
coming at you with episode 21 in the beginner how-to guide
for saltwater aquariums
and reef tanks, biological filtration.
We've already done a filtration overview
and took a look at mechanical filtration.
So if you missed episodes 19 or 20,
we'll put a link in the description below.
As a beginner, you're gonna wanna do things.
And when it comes to mechanical filtration
and even chemical filtration,
there are things that you can and even have to do.
But the most important thing you can do
for a biological filter is just to be patient.
Let's just jump right in and answer the question.
What is biological filtration?
The primary function of biological filtration
is to neutralize ammonia and nitrite toxicity.
Biological filtration is the process by which aerobic
and anaerobic bacterias break down decaying matter
into ammonia, then to nitrite, then to nitrate,
and back to nitrogen gas.
If you can think all the way back
to your high school or college biology class,
where you learned about the nitrogen cycle,
that's exactly what biological filtration accomplishes.
For an in-depth description on the nitrogen cycle,
check out this video right here.
This is episode 18 in the beginner how-to guide
for saltwater aquariums and reef tanks,
where we spent an entire episode on the nitrogen cycle.
(thunder rumbles)
It's right here. You can see it, right?
It's playing here.
There are things that are going to break down
and decay in your tank,
whether that's fish food, or fish waste,
a snail died, a small fish died, and you just can't find it.
And if you have a robust and hearty biological filter,
you won't have to worry about there being some
sort of toxic ammonia spike,
because the filter will be able to handle it.
Why is biological filtration important?
Well, it's important for several reasons.
The first and probably most important
is that it neutralizes ammonia and nitrate toxicity,
making them non-toxic and safe for your livestock.
Number two is that your biological filter provides stability
for your tank.
When you have a robust biological filter,
it can easily withstand small amounts of decomposition,
whereas snails are gonna die, and maybe a small fish dies,
and you just can't find it.
Well, if you have a robust biological filter,
you don't have to worry
about toxic ammonia levels rising quickly,
because your biological filtration will be able
to tackle that, and neutralize it,
and keep the rest of your livestock safe.
And number three is less maintenance for you,
and really that comes out in two ways.
The first is, if you struggle with high ammonia levels,
you'll probably find that you have
to do large water changes somewhat frequently.
And if you have a stable and robust biological filter,
you won't have to worry about that anymore.
And the second thing is,
as your biological filter really develops,
it will get more and more anaerobic bacteria.
And that's the bacteria that actually converts nitrate
into nitrogen gas,
meaning you won't have to worry
about lowering your nitrates,
because your biological filter will be able
to handle a large portion of that.
So do you need biological filtration?
Technically the answer is no, but for beginners,
we're gonna say absolutely, of course you do,
but there's one huge exception,
and that's in a quarantine tank.
If you properly set up a quarantank,
which we urge every single beginner to do,
please set up a quarantine tank.
We'll talk about that later in this series.
So what about in your main display tank?
Well, a biofilter will just set up
by itself given enough time.
As long as there is surface area for bacteria to colonize,
you're eventually gonna have a biofilter.
How robust your biofilter is will depend
on how much surface area there is.
And you can increase the level of biological filtration
by increasing the amount of surface area,
whether that's through more reef rock, a larger sand bed,
or even ceramic media that you put in a sump
or a rear filtration chamber.
A robust biological filter is absolutely essential
for the long-term stability and success
of your saltwater aquarium.
How do I set up a biological filter?
The first step is to provide a home.
Usually we provide a home with reef sand and reef rock.
As long as you have a shallow sand bed,
let's say one to two inches,
and use reef rock to aquascape your tank,
you're probably gonna have enough surface area
for a biological filter to colonize on.
The next step is just to cycle your tank.
When we talk about cycling your tank,
what we're doing is setting up your biological filter.
For more information about how to cycle your tank
in case you missed it, check out episode 17,
which is right up here.
It will give you all sorts of different ways
to cycle your tank.
We'll put a link in the description below.
And if you wanna increase the efficacy
of your biological filter,
just add more space for that bacteria to colonize.
That means maybe add in a little bit more reef rock,
a little bit more reef sand.
And if you have the space to add some sort of ceramic media,
place a little bit in the sump
or in the rear filtration chamber.
I would say, just try not to stress
about setting up your biological filter.
As long as you cycle your tank,
your biological filtration is going to happen.
Just don't overstock your tank with fish all at once,
and you're gonna be just fine.
Okay, let's talk about the different types
of biological filtration.
And actually, this is kind of a weird thing to say,
because biological filtration isn't the media,
but rather it's the beneficial bacteria.
What we're really talking about
is the different kind of homes that we can provide,
so that those bacteria colonize.
But before we actually jump into the various types
of biological media out there,
I need you to understand surface area.
So let's start by looking at this.
This is a ceramic bio ball, okay?
Look at how porous it is.
And this is also ceramic media right here.
Now I thought I had a plastic bio ball, but I don't,
but I'll put a plastic bio ball picture up right here.
They're roughly the same size.
But if you think about it,
a plastic bio ball just has surface area on the outside,
whereas this ceramic bio media has surface area
on the outside, and on every single inner pore structure.
Now I've heard it said, I don't know if it's true at all,
but one ceramic bio ball like this
has the same surface area as 10,000 plastic bio balls.
Now I don't know if that's true or not,
but if it's even remotely true,
this is a much better form
of biological filter media than this.
Okay, back to the action.
The first type of biological filtration media is reef rock,
and we've already done an entire episode.
So just scroll back in the playlist for that.
Reef rock comes in different shapes,
different colors, different densities,
but any kind that is sold to BRS is gonna work just fine,
and reef rock is what you're gonna use
to make your aquascape.
Number two is reef sand.
All of my tanks except for one over here uses reef sand.
And we definitely recommend for every beginner
to use reef sand,
because it provides a ton of surface area
for beneficial bacteria to colonize.
We also made a whole video on this.
So check it out in the playlist.
It comes in different grain sizes
and slightly different color variations.
If you end up building a one to two inch shallow sand bed,
it's gonna really help keep your tank stable
with tons of beneficial bacteria.
Number three are plastic bio balls.
I at least have to mention plastic bio balls,
because they used to be huge in the hobby.
And I think a large portion
of fresh water tanks still use them.
I could be totally wrong about that.
Plastic bio balls are one option,
but I would never recommend buying them.
I mean, honestly, why would you buy a plastic bio ball
when you could purchase this ceramic bio media,
which is way more porous,
and will support so much more beneficial bacteria life?
Number four is actually ceramic media.
There are all sorts of different
kinds of ceramic media out there,
and they come in different shapes and sizes.
And really, what you choose is just gonna depend
on where your space is.
I like to use these ceramic bio balls
for rear filtration chambers,
because I can just kinda stack them up in there.
You can put them in a mesh bay,
but if you have something like a sump,
I often like to use a ceramic brick or a ceramic plate,
'cause you can stack them on top of each other,
or even turn them vertical
and stick them in between the baffles
in the compartments of your sump.
Number five. And please don't use this,
I already mentioned this as a beginner, is biopellets.
Typically biopellets go in a reactor,
and I don't wanna go into too much detail here,
but biopellets are basically a form of carbon,
and carbon is a food source,
a really kind of like steroid level food source
for beneficial bacteria,
and the beneficial bacteria will colonize
on that food source.
And you may think that's a good thing,
but if you use it incorrectly,
it can completely crash your tank.
And there's really no reason for a beginner
to need a biopellet reactor.
Number six is in the same vein.
It is some sort of carbon dosing.
You might hear it called sugar dosing or vodka dosing.
Basically instead of using a carbon source
that's in a reactor,
you are dosing the entire tank with carbon,
and you're basically providing a lot more fuel
for beneficial bacteria to colonize.
And if you do this on a daily basis,
you can definitely ramp up the levels
of your beneficial bacteria.
But if you do it incorrectly. or you forget to do it,
it can crash your tank as well.
So please, as a beginner,
don't even consider doing any sort of carbon dosing.
I've never, ever done carbon dosing.
And my tanks have been just fine.
And the seventh form of biological filtration media,
and this is the only one
that's actually a direct biological filter,
is there are different products out there
that are actually beneficial bacteria in a bottle.
There's several different products out there.
There's Dr. Tim's One and Only, there's BIO-Spira,
and there's also Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter7.
These are all just different strains of beneficial bacteria
that can help set up your biological filter more quickly.
And it can also help you have a longer term,
more stable success by dosing small amounts
of beneficial bacteria from time to time.
But I'm gonna talk about that in a second.
Can you biologically filter your tank too much?
The answer is yes and no.
If you stay away, like we're suggesting,
from carbon dosing or biopellet reactors,
then the answer is probably no.
Your tank will kind of naturally set up
the correct level of biological filtration.
But if you go down the route of trying
to beef up your biological filter with some form of carbon,
then you can definitely take it too far,
and destroy the balance in your tank.
We're almost to the end here,
but we need to talk about maintenance
for biological filtration,
and maintaining a biological filter is one
of the easiest things to do,
because as long as there is a constant food source
for that beneficial bacteria, it will maintain itself.
So as long as there is livestock in there,
and you are feeding the tank,
there will be constant decomposition
that will turn into ammonia,
and then to nitrite, and then to nitrate.
So basically as long as there are inhabitants in your tank,
there's really not much you need to do.
There are some hobbyists out there who like
to beef up their biological filter
by adding a small amount of some sort of beneficial bacteria
with every water change.
I honestly don't know if that helps or not,
but for every one of my water changes,
I do add a cap full of MicroBacter 7
from Brightwell Aquatics.
And I certainly haven't seen any harm in doing that,
but whether or not it's really, truly helpful,
I just don't know.
One thing regarding maintenance
of your biological filter over time
is the longer your biological filtration is set up,
you will probably notice
that anaerobic bacteria colonize more and more,
because with any new biofilter,
your tank will just have lots of nitrates,
and they will just never go down,
because you need that anaerobic bacteria
to convert that nitrate into nitrogen gas.
But I have found that after several months, oftentimes,
as long as I have provided enough anaerobic space
for that bacteria to colonize, slowly but surely,
my nitrate levels will come down without my help.
And that's really just because I've given
the beneficial bacteria time to colonize,
and to tackle that issue.
If you only remember one thing from this video,
it is as long as you properly set up your tank,
you provide a shallow sand bed and an aquascape,
and then you cycle your tank,
you're probably gonna be just fine
when it comes to biological filtration.
Well, since last week,
episode 20, was mechanical filtration,
and this week was biological filtration,
I bet you can guess where episode 22 is headed,
and that is for chemical filtration.
And as always, everybody, thanks for watching.
Happy reefing, be well, and we'll see you next episode.
(upbeat music)