will switching to live rock improve parameter

[LIM CHYE HUAT]

i have 2 compartment of coral chips in my sump , last compartment is skimmer and other stuff.

will changing the second compartment to live rock improve my water parameter, if so, should i change all at once ?

i notice a lot of detritus in the last compartment suspect the coral chip is the problem so thinking of switching to lr.

[Kelmen]

live rock is good attempt, but not done all at once, since you already have a running system. Like the bioball, do slowly, but is adding-in, not take out. Probably should be far more slower than bioball.

[steven]

Need to clarify.

I thought live rock and bio ball/coral chip serve the same function ?

Provide a place to bacteria to thrive on. So why is live rock better than bio ball/coral chip ?

[madmac]

its a different type of bacteria. Those tt live on the chips/bio-balls are aerobic... they convert ammonia to NO2.

[steven]

From my understanding, there are 2 main types of bacteria.

aerobic bacteria -> convert NH4 to NO2 to NO3

anaerobic bacteria -> convert NO3 to N2

bioball / coral chips consists of aerobic bacteria only as there are not deep holes/ pores to allow anaerobic bacteria to thrive.

On the other hand, normal size live rocks also provides a base for aerobic bacteria to grow. Only huge live rocks have deep holes (oxygen depleted areas) to nurture anaerobic bacteria.

pls correct me if i am wrong. willing to learn from the experts out there.

[hotlemond]

smaller LR can also have anerobic bacteria. basically, these bac lives inside pores of rocks that by the time the water reach them, all the oxygen are depleted.

I think the issue here is to make the change of bio-balls/chips to LR slowly, bit by bit and not all so to allow at least some of the anerobic bac to cope with fish waste/LR die offs, unless you are using fully cured LR that has been part of the filtration system.

[blueheaven]

My view here may be a little biased as I am a user of a sandbed

Basically, I see sandbeds as a more controlled form of LR. You compare the porous rocks with the surface area around tens of thousands of sand

Furthermore, a sandbed allows full control of bacterial zones and also provides a place for infauna to thrive.

If you do want to follow a berlin system, you need LOTS of LR to provide the necessary filtration effects. Of course this also depends on the LS you want to keep and the bio load. In anything we do, we try to have more. Like having a sandbed, we try to have one as big as possible and as for LR, we want as much as we can accomodate.

A lot of plaaning goes into the final decision as each system has its own pros and cons. I suggest you spend some time to read up more on the various systems and do some consideration as to which most suits you and go along with it

[Awgui]

i am wondering y not we have a very very tall tube containing grade 0 sand and allow water to pass THROUGH such tat by the time it reaches the bottom, oxygen has been used up by the aerobic bacteria on top and have anaerobic ones at the bottom? before getting back into the tank. Will it work?