Refugium Vs Live Rock

[dmweise]

Here's what my sump looks like:

[pbnj]

More live rock won't help you. Organisms in live rock process ammonia to nitrate. That's as far as it goes. You need to process nitrate to nitrogen gas. That's what a fuge and/or a deep sand bed is for - fixing nitrogen.

Not entirely true.

There is another set of bacteria in live rock that is responsible for turning nitrates into nitrogen gas (and other compounds). The process is 'denitrification' and is performed by denitrifying bacteria that don't like to live in areas where there is oxygen.

In addition to the inside of porous rocks, denitrifying bacteria are found in lower levels of substrates (sandbeds) and places where there is low oxygen content.