The old way....

Here is the "wet dry" and sump of the current tank. The water falls from the tank, over the bio balls, some gets sucked up into the protien skimmer, then it is pumped back up into the tank.

This is the process: Fish produce ammonia, which is very toxic. There is a bacteria that uses the ammonia as food and turns it into nitrite. Unfortunately, the nitrite is also toxic, but there is a second type of bacteria that turns that into nitrate. These bacteria live on surfaces, specifically the bio-ball's surface. The cat also thinks that bio-balls make great toys.

This is the simple principle of the nitrogen cycle. Unfortunately, the Nitrate slowly builds up in this type of system, which is not toxic exactly, but not very good for them. I have to change water to get rid of it. The bacteria that eats the nitrite can only live in an oxygen-free environment. The magic of the 'Live Rock' is that its centers provide this environmnet and the nitrate truns to harmless nirtogen gas. The new tank will use the live rock as filtration.

The protien skimmer removes organic particles that happen to dissolve. This is a very important device, as it prevents this stuff from making the water nasty. The red 'algee' growing in the tank is proof that these are not working well enough. Soon, a new happier cleaner tank.

'night!