carlos413

I recently purchased a 55 gallon tank from craigslist to make it a saltwater reef tank. Its came with an all glass aquarium wet dry filter model one. I was wondering if these are any good? Pros and cons? Will this work for me? I was told by a friend that the bio balls are nitrates producers. This is my first saltwater tank and I want to do this right the first time. Any elaboration would be appreciated. I don’t even know how it works.

aquarist48

Good morning Carlos. I've never kept salt water fish but I do have a wet/dry filter system (or also called a trickle down) on my 155g. I LOVE IT! I also have about 5g of bio balls in it and they have not been cleaned in 10 years and I have no nitrate problems and all of my plants are plastic. There is so much room for bio media in the wet/dry that just can't be beat. I recommend them highly. Too, with the wet/dry system and having the over flow there is no need for a surface skimmer. I use a 950 mag drive for the power (950gph).
Congrats on the new purchase. Will be looking for pictures soon Have fun!

cerianthus

No argument that w/d is good filter but for Reef, I think it is absolete. Look into good quality LR and/or second hand tank which can be modified to be used as sump/refuge. SInce came with tank, you can use it for FO or F/W or resale to other hobbyist at reasonable price, IMO.
If W/D came with external Prefilter (overflow), keep that to use on sump/refuge unless tank is Reef Ready.

Look into lighting, types of corals intend to keep, powerheads, and most importantly Protein Skimmer.

I feel that you should do bit more research on reef tank before spending a penny more.
Wish you a luck!