bio balls

[jenglish]

Cap'n I don't believe a bioball can remove nitrate from a system. A SSB perhaps, but not a BB, especially in a trickle. I think if you have a DSB you have enough nitrifiers right next to your denitrifiers. With bioballs you are processing the ammonia to nitrates far away (relative to bacteria). What then are the bioballs really adding to a system that has a DSB? I'm not saying there is not a place for bioballs. In a heavily stocked FO tank they do an excellent job.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15319922#post15319922 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jenglish
Cap'n I don't believe a bioball can remove nitrate from a system. A SSB perhaps, but not a BB, especially in a trickle. I think if you have a DSB you have enough nitrifiers right next to your denitrifiers. With bioballs you are processing the ammonia to nitrates far away (relative to bacteria). What then are the bioballs really adding to a system that has a DSB? I'm not saying there is not a place for bioballs. In a heavily stocked FO tank they do an excellent job.

Your right--they can't remove or process nitrates any further like a dsb or live rock. Because they are aerated they can't support the strain of anerobic bacteria that processes nitrates to harmles nitrogen gas.
This is why the bioballs eventually can get clogged up with the nitrates that it is converting from ammonia and nitrites--and possible release those nitrates back into the system

Personally I prefer:
feeding way less flake food
chaeto macro algae
deep sand bed
30 per cent water change(if needed)

in this order for dealing with nitrates.

 

[Maxxumless]

Forgot to mention, I take two handfuls of BB each cleaning session and clean them off then mix them back in. Anything that falls off is siphoned out. I used to test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates a day or two after water changes but nothing seemed to go up. I tried in the past to see if the LR could sustain the bio load but it couldn't. I also tried LR in the BB chamber but it got real dirty so I went with BBs.

 

[thincat]

If it is FO it is not as big of a deal. With a reef setup it's hard to keep nitrates down to much lower levels, They grow/trap nitrates like crazy.

 

[afernandez]

this is the thing I question..why promote bb so much if for the most part they cause problems .. IMO I would never recomend them after I've read all this. Even in fowlr I would not recomend it anymore. Why not promote LR?.. This hobby was suppose to b a stress releiver.. LOL key word was LOL

 

[BlueTangarang]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15324414#post15324414 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by afernandez
this is the thing I question..why promote bb so much if for the most part they cause problems .. IMO I would never recomend them after I've read all this. Even in fowlr I would not recomend it anymore. Why not promote LR?.. This hobby was suppose to b a stress releiver.. LOL key word was LOL

I am on the fence with this one as well. My background comes from the idea of more biology than technology. Deep sand bed, live rock, skimmer and refugium are killer combos for filtration. What, if any, are the major benefits of running bio balls over other methods??

 

[Alaskan Reefer]

I have bioballs in my system because I've always had them -- they're not a significant source of my filtration, but I like having them as a safety net against ammonia spikes. In general, they should not be used in a reef tank for the many reasons listed above. That said, if the rest of your filtration system can compensate for their very efficient ability to turn ammonia into nitrate, they aren't hurting anything.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15325217#post15325217 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BlueTangarang
I am on the fence with this one as well. My background comes from the idea of more biology than technology. Deep sand bed, live rock, skimmer and refugium are killer combos for filtration. What, if any, are the major benefits of running bio balls over other methods??

I think they became a cheap alternative to live rock for the commercial side of it. It's always a shock when I tell a client that the live rock could cost as much as their tank.

 

[Maxxumless]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15325947#post15325947 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
I think they became a cheap alternative to live rock for the commercial side of it. It's always a shock when I tell a client that the live rock could cost as much as their tank.

I think LR alternatives have been around a good bit longer. I've seen LR supliment some store tanks, but never seen a fish wall use LR. Our best kept local store used low salinity and copper in the their fish wall.