What do you consider High, Medium and Low Bioload as?????

[The_Codfather]

Ever since I started this Hobby I have always came across " High, Medium and Low Bioload" .. Most of us should know the rule of thumb with fish (Inch per Gallon) but what about the rest of the critters we keep... Live Rock, Corals, anemones, inverts..ect do they count?.. .. All things give off waste or toxin in some forum or other If it's just fish they are going by then this thread will be a flop.. So to make things easy lets say we have a 100gl tank.. what would you consider High, Medium and Low Bioload for that 100gl?

Cheers

Sid

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

1" / gallon seems like an extremely high bioload. 30" of fish in a 30 gallon tank?

Personally I think a medium bioload would be 1" / 10 gallons, heavy 1" / 5 gallons. I don't really count corals or CUC in the bioload, but I would consider anemones.

 

[MadReefer]

I always thought 1" / gallon was a fresh water rule and saltwater was 1"/ 5 gallon.
But Sid brings up a good question. How important is this rule?
I would not include inverts here just fish.
In the example of 100g and 1"/5g that would yield 20" total of fish. You could put 10 2" fish in the tank or 2 10" fish.
So would the bio-load be less, more or equal? I would think 2 large fish would be a bigger load, more food and waste.

 

[The_Codfather]

1" / gallon seems like an extremely high bioload. 30" of fish in a 30 gallon tank?

Personally I think a medium bioload would be 1" / 10 gallons, heavy 1" / 5 gallons. I don't really count corals or CUC in the bioload, but I would consider anemones.

Sorry i did miss off the S in "gallon"

 

[redfishbluefish]

Inches per gallon is old school…and I should know, I’m old. This was used back in the 70’s and earlier. Should not use inches to determine bioload. You can even say this about freshwater….although maybe more true with small fresh water fish. I had three good size “gold” fish in a 75 gallon tank for 25 years, and I can tell you, with how dirty they are, I was pushing the bioload. I’ve also had 200 plus baby tiger barbs in 75 gallon tanks when I was raising them, and everything was just fine. I now have nine saltwater fish in a ninety gallon tank, and I’m pushing bioload. I think it’s something that’s not easily defined, but you know when you’re pushing the envelope. It’s just something you know. I also like to think that I don’t have too many fish, I have too small a tank.

 

[Hawkeye]

yeah but fish size is critical to this discussion. 9 yellow tangs in a 120 is probably overboard (high) but 9 pearly yellow jawfish is probably low.

 

[The_Codfather]

One of the reasons for this thread is.. I'm looking up my skimmer specs and it's giving me Bioloads and water volume.. http://www.customaquatic.com/estore/control/product/~product=PS-SWC-X250

 

[mnat]

It really depends on the the fish and/or corals you are keeping. For example, a complete NPS tank needs to be fed a ton (the TOTM over on RC has the guy feeding every hour 20 times a day) and therefor there is a ton of waste that needs to be taken into account for. Same thing applies to fish, a big carnivore who eats a ton and poops a ton is going to affect bioload more than say 10 firefish. It really comes down to size of fish and how much they need to be fed and therefor how much waste they produce. I don't think there is a hard set rule of what is overstocking vs understocking, it is just one of those things you will see and know. I could probably put 50 barncale blennies in my 57g and not be over stocked. However I could put 2 eels in the same tank and be overstocked.

 

[The_Codfather]

This is the tricky part my DT is going to be a 92gl mixed reef and my 150 is going to be large predatory tank with DSB my water volume is going to be much more when you factor Fuge( maybe 2) mechanical sump and frag tank and maybe one other smaller tank.. BTW .. My over due tale of a tank will be coming soon

 

[Fish Brain]

Fish size and type of fish is also key to the equation. However, I don't think there is an actual equation for low/med/high loads vs. tank size, at least not that I've found in the 3 years I've been into saltwater. It's more of a fly by the seat of your pants, based on experience, kind of thing.

Case #1
I have a juvi puffer in a 40 Breeder. That's one 3" fish in 40 gallons, and 13 gallons/inch of fish. But I can tell you this one fish is a pig and is a huge bioload on a 40 gallon tank. So I am adding a sump with 15 more gallons and a huge skimmer until I get a house and a bigger tank for him.

Case #2
My biocube that has two ocellaris that are 1" and 2" are considered a big bio load on a 8 gallon system.

When they finally make it to their new 65 gallon home with and Azure damsel, a firefish and an anthias, this will be a low bioload system based on the size/type/number of fish /gallon. Add a flame or coral beauty angel and it becomes a medium system.

But like I said without some formula that takes size and type of fish as well as tank size into account, it's all speculation and here say.

 

[The_Codfather]

I might have to get in touch with SWC ( saltwater Connection) and ask how did they come up with that equation

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...sg=AFQjCNEUU9WDJDdQq7OBgJUrEt8SFm8w1A&cad=rja

 

[reeferwanabe]

when the power went out in my house sunday at 7:30 am and stayed off til tues around 3 pm. My 75 gal with a ton of coral and mostly small fish 7 to be exact did not handle the ordeal dispite my many attempts to keed the water moving.
my 90 gal. with 4-6" fish and no coral however all survived. Saying this because I believe EVERYTHING alive in our tanks is part of the bioload.
Sid if I were you just get the biggest and best skimmer you can afford. If one says good up to 200 gals and you have 200 gals. that would be maxing it out. double or even triple that.

 

[TanksNStuff]

I'd have to agree with Dave in that you should always aim for bigger than what's rated. I also agree with you Sid... contact SWC and ask them what their interpretation of bioload is. May as well even describe your setup and see what they recommend while you're at it.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Agree with you guys bigger is better. LR is sort of reverse bio load...corals depends on situation...no electricity or if you have deaths then for sure they add to bioload. However normally, photosynthetic corals, do not add much to the bio load in fact they maybe use up some nutrients. Just add as much filtration as you can, biological, chemical, and mechanical and you are good to go.

 

[Nickjr000]

Id go for the swc 250a1 , Its an awesome skimmer. I think it really depends on a lot more than how many fish are in the tank. I think its almost irrelevant how many fish u have in the tank, cause there's too many factors. If u dont have the correct turnover and circulation throughout the tank its gonna b a way dirtier enviroment. I have so much rock, coral, etc, that if i didnt have 3 mp 40's and 2 koralia's moving the water around my rock, coral, and pushing crap n food out of the nook n crannies, I dont think id b able to keep all the fish i have. So i think it depends on water circulation, hiding spots, skimmer size, fish size and turnover.

 

[The_Codfather]

Right now i have to use what i have and that's the SWC 250
SWC Extreme 250 Protein Skimmer Tank Ratings
Light Bioload 640 gallon fish tank
Medium Bioload 425 gallon fish tank
Heavy Bioload 315 gallon fish tank

 

[Nickjr000]

Thats a good skimmer. Deltec gives those bioload ratings too

 

[The_Codfather]

Nick, I know it's a good one... I kept that one over a ATI bubble master 250.. I just thought the SWC was better made