How do I convert bio-balls to LR-LS and Water changes on a 1

[rockdiver]

How much water should I change on my 150 FO and what kind of
maintance should be done with the wet/dry any??
Tank is a 150gallon with
1-Dog face puffer
1-Panther Grouper
1-Rectanger Trigger
1- Lg. Naso Tang
@ a 1 inch bed (not live, fish would eat all the critters

)
1-Amiracle PL3000P wet/dry filter w/bio-balls and 2 skimmers
readings are:
Ammonia- 0.0
Nitrates- 20ppm
Nitrites- 1.0ppm
PH- 8.3ppm
Tank is about 4 monthes old.
Yes I know alot fish for 4 months but two were give aways.
Also how do I convert my bio-ball area in the wet/dry to LS and LR
its a Amiracle PL3000P???? I know how kinda but where the bio balls go (center
chamber) the bottom is open @2 inches to let water flow to the pump.
Wont sand and such be sucked into the pump? What do I do?
I like bio-balls (its easy I guess) but it seems they are not good over time and my
be the cause of my nitrate and nitrite readings also
would like to grow stuff for my Naso Tang
THANKS for the help in advance!
Mike

 

[FMarini]

Hi:
So this is nice sized FO tank, and should be farily easy to maintain(I have a 180gal).
So this is what i do monthly.
I have a CC substrate and I vacumm 1/3 of it, then blow off the detritus which accummluates on the live rock, and this removes about 40gals of water. I then do a water change(40-60gal).
I also clean the skimmer and the bottom of my sump . So once a month it takes about 1-2hrs.
You can do this in 2 small parts monthly, if its too much all at once.
SO If i can recommend some things which will help keep your water quality up. 1)- i would ensure you have a great skimmer and it works properly
2)-i would feed no more than 3 times week.
3)-i would be fairly anal about your water quality-particualrly your buffering, and nitrates
4)-make sure you provide good hiding spots and sections in your tank
As you know FO tank will run higher nitrate levels, and this is fairly acceptable to a point , but you can do lots of things which will keep it in check.
Last thing, the wet/dry is a decent filtration system for this tank, you can use a LS/LR filtration, and this may or maynot provide enuf filtration for your waste load.
AS far as changing over, its your call, you should do it slowly.....
my opinion
frank
To see my 180 gal tank of lions: http://www.marshreef.org/members/fmarini/index.htm

 

[Anonymous]

Nitrates in any FO has never needed to be at 0.

I have also seen Butch Meaders 1800 gallon system with some delicate corals in a few tanks and he maintains 20 - 30 ppm nitrates without a problem, but then it is a very large system and nitrates take a long time to climb.