Can K1 Be Used/ 4 Chamber Sump/ Caribe Sea Life Rock?

[Pazzoman]

Hey Everyone,

A Big Change has happened recently...and I think it will be worth it! Ive decided to change the idea of having a 150 Gallon Tall tank as a freshwater tank...into a FOWLR or some kind of predator reef that will only have soft corals or any coral that is hardy as well as demand low light intensities. I have purchased everything needed for a freshwater tank, which includes the media as well as the sump be customized for freshwater use. Btw Ive had experience with saltwater before, as I had FOWLR as well as reef with a 72 gallon bow front for 2 years. Here are some questions:

-Can K1 (actually K2 but pretty much the same except for size) be used as filtration media for FOWLR tanks and possibly reef tank?

Ask this because I already have the media, as well as configured the sump in away that it would house media without any problems.

-The way the sump was set up for fresh is the following...than would have to lead to a 4th chamber having to be added for skimmer.

40x13x16 (LxWxH in inches) The first Chamber would hold a 7inch filter sock...than the next section would basically be a huge 25 inch space for k1 media and than the third section being the return pump...however if I do salt I will have to add another chamber to the mix to place in a skimmer unless there are any way to add a skimmer without adding another chamber (No Hang on Tank Please!)


I will only be starting with dry rock from Bulk Reef Supply or anywhere else that is selling it for cheap... also Ive been thinking about adding some pounds of the CaribSea Life Rock to give some color as coraline algae at least for me was very very difficult to grow. Anyone use life rock, do you like it?

Anyone know where to get life rock as cheap as possible?


Thanks Everyone,

 

[cmantis]

You can do an external skimmer.

 

[rkaragozler]

A couple of questions for you:
1- have you ran Kaldness before?
2- did you do the math for the amount of Kaldness you need?
3- Do you know that Kaldness has to tumble by means of araetion to be effective.I did over 6 months of research on the Kaldness media and
I run Kaldness on my system now, and needed 1 cubic feet of it to be effective, and I am running it with a very large air pump, in a separate, tank.

As far as skimmer goes you can always put it in the first chamber, and adjust you water level to it by means of a baffle. But that would limit to the amount of water you would have for the Kaldness. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

[Cu455]

K2 is great for saltwater. If you have no ammonia or nitrites you have enough. I am not sure how there can be a formula for something that depends on so many variables.

 

[Pazzoman]

A couple of questions for you:
1- have you ran Kaldness before?

Nope but did tons of research as I was prepared to start it in freshwater

2- did you do the math for the amount of Kaldness you need?

There is a diy calculator about how much k1(in my case k2) needed and I purchased about 4-5 gallons of k2 which according to the calculator is plenty enough.
3- Do you know that Kaldness has to tumble by means of araetion to be effective.I did over 6 months of research on the Kaldness media and
I run Kaldness on my system now, and needed 1 cubic feet of it to be effective, and I am running it with a very large air pump, in a separate, tank.

Yes, I already have wave makers that I will be placing in the sump chamber with the media as well as two bubble disc aerators to go along with it to really keep them moving. The air pump a swell is a very strong one.

As far as skimmer goes you can always put it in the first chamber, and adjust you water level to it by means of a baffle. But that would limit to the amount of water you would have for the Kaldness. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

After talking to the builder of the sump, it seems that I can still have it adjusted, even tho he has glued it in already, so I will know for sure this week

Also I will greatly appreciate pics or vid just to get an idea...thanks!

Cmanthis: was thinking that, but only option would be if it would hang on the sump because I really want to keep it as neat as possible since its in the living room, but like mentioned I should be able to have an insump skimmer since the builder aid he cans till adjust the baffles for me or add a 4th chamber. Im just hoping the return pump which is rated at 2900 will still be strong enough to run through 4 chambers instead of three if a 4th chamber is needed.

Cu455: Do you have experience? Please share lol

 

[Cu455]

I use kaldness in a reactor on my peacock bass and stingray pond. Then I switched over to sharks and marine rays and continued using it. My ammonia and nitrites were at zero. I then added giant fuge and couldn't find a good spot for the reactor so I took it offline. I am actually redoing my systems and getting rid of my fuge and putting the K1 reactor back in the mix. I like it because it saves room, easier to maintain and cleaner.

You can always by a inline reactor for the K2 and plumb it into your return and use the extra spot for your skimmer, dsb or macro.

All K2 does is provide surface area for bacteria to form on. because it is suspended there is a lot more surface area for the bacteria to colonize. Your bio load, feeding habits and other filtration methods will determine how much ammonia you will need to convert. If you have a lightly stocked tank you won't produce a lot of ammonia thus you won't need a lot of surface area. If you take that lightly stocked tank and add 2 eels and a grouper more ammonia will be produced so you will need more surface area to convert the ammonia. Which will mean more K2. This is why I said there can't be a formula for the amount of media needed.

 

[rkaragozler]

Here is a picture of my Kaldness Media.
I use a Pondmaster AP-20 for air.
4- Alita ST-150 Air diffusers.

The filtration tank is feed from my return pump at 100 GPH an hour, and flows back down to my sump.
.

And for everyone that would like to look into it.
This is the calculator for it.
http://diyfishkeepers.com/forum/index.php?pageid=mediacalculator.

 

[Cu455]

Do you have a front view picture? Was that made for Kaldness or did you modify it yourself?

 

[rkaragozler]

This was made by Jeff, from Lifereef, It was originally designed as a separate fuge.
I did not have any luck in keeping macro algae, so I converted it to a Kaldness Tank.
It is 24x18x12.

 

[rkaragozler]

Do you have a front view picture? Was that made for Kaldness or did you modify it yourself?

This is the front view of it.

 

[Cu455]

Is that an old picture with the macro in it? It looks like your macro is doing pretty well.