bioballs, yay or nay
- Thread starter tdchicago
- Start date
BradsOcean
Active member
take them out
coast2coast7390
Moved On
Jesse-KT
finally someones says yay...ive never had problems with them either
finally someones says yay...ive never had problems with them either
loosecannon
New member
wellcome to the year 2007. a salt tank is the only time it is good not to have balls. i have a similler light. i got my light from aquw-traders. 4 65 watt 3 cords 3 swihes 4 moon lights 4' loung. for 99$. the tank is 75gal. i will be puting sufftys and lps. latter im puting in t5s. my sump is a rubber made from lowes. it is 50gal and fit nice. price 16 bucks. im not chep i am scottish.
The whole theory of the bio-balls = Nitrates is not true. I have kept several tanks with wet dry filters with bio-balls and never had one problem with them. I'm talking to anyone in particular here, but most people who do claim it's true are just telling you because they read it off this site or heard it from someone else.
If you replace the bio balls with rubble, how much of this anaerobic space is really in each rock, a pea sized area?
If the bio balls are not under water and in a trickle type filter I can see them being a problem, but if they are under water they serve the same purpose as live rock rubble. Larger pieces of rock may have a good anaerobic area to acutally do something to nitrate levels, but I think its funny when people remove bio balls just to replace them with live rock rubble, there basicly the same.
Im not starting something here, Its been going on for awhile (bio-balls or not) Just my opinion on the subject.
p.s. Ive never used them in a trickle filter setup, just in bubble towers to trap bubbles. So maybe im missing something on the subject.
Just leave the downflow chamber empty. In all respect, bioballs submerged are, yes, far, far better than wet/dry, but imho they don't have the outer-layer inhabitability that lr has, and they still wouldn't be my own choice.
I've used bioballs, microsand, floss, layered media, sponge, you name it, and none of those, again imho, are worth the hassle of cleaning them and having the nitrates bounce around. None of the above is good for a reef: some do use mechanical filtration in FOWLR tanks, but because of the interference these elements provoke in the nitrate cycle, I still wouldn't. Just up your flow and have plenty of live rock, would be my vote.
I've used bioballs, microsand, floss, layered media, sponge, you name it, and none of those, again imho, are worth the hassle of cleaning them and having the nitrates bounce around. None of the above is good for a reef: some do use mechanical filtration in FOWLR tanks, but because of the interference these elements provoke in the nitrate cycle, I still wouldn't. Just up your flow and have plenty of live rock, would be my vote.
comfort_racing
New member
sounds like to me...im MY humble opinion that there is no ONE way to set up a system. there are multiple ways and everyone has their own opinions on how to get the best and final results.
i think it all boils down to $$$ and what type of tank you plan to setup and how much time you want to invest in Dosing, and such.
sounds like a Ford versus Chevy argument to me.
P.s.
i say Nay & Yay depending on what your going to do...i have bio-balls in my 75 with 80 pounds of live rock...no problems. i have prefilters on the overflow and on the outlet to my diffuser plate on top of my bio-ball chamber. they get rinsed or changed once a month.
i think it all boils down to $$$ and what type of tank you plan to setup and how much time you want to invest in Dosing, and such.
sounds like a Ford versus Chevy argument to me.
P.s.
i say Nay & Yay depending on what your going to do...i have bio-balls in my 75 with 80 pounds of live rock...no problems. i have prefilters on the overflow and on the outlet to my diffuser plate on top of my bio-ball chamber. they get rinsed or changed once a month.
Frick-n-Frags
New member
yes, many ways to skin the cat
BEST way is to put the wet portion of the filter in the DT which is the site of the ammonia production. The large LR, IF it possesses most of the nitrosomonas, will feed anaerobic bacteria deep in the LR pores (here is where the volume of anaerobic areas is) and reduce the amount of nitates being put into the water column
No law against putting your nitrate factory in a remote location to ensure that 100% of the produced nitrates go into the water column. this is america by jiminies! you go!
BEST way is to put the wet portion of the filter in the DT which is the site of the ammonia production. The large LR, IF it possesses most of the nitrosomonas, will feed anaerobic bacteria deep in the LR pores (here is where the volume of anaerobic areas is) and reduce the amount of nitates being put into the water column
No law against putting your nitrate factory in a remote location to ensure that 100% of the produced nitrates go into the water column. this is america by jiminies! you go!
DarthFred6996
New member
I have a BioCube 14. In my middle chamber I have both rubble and bio-balls. The rubble is fully submerged and the bio-balls recieve the trickle. It works good for me (so far). My theory is that there are MANY theories. Keeping a SW tank is like a science experiment.
My theory is that the rubble helps in bio filtration and the balls help in gas exchange mostly with less bio filtration. But that is just MY theory. I'll let you know how it turns out in a year.
If you do the proper maintenance on the tank and keep up with water changes nitrates should really not be a problem. If you are lazy, then you'll have more nitrates.
My theory is that the rubble helps in bio filtration and the balls help in gas exchange mostly with less bio filtration. But that is just MY theory. I'll let you know how it turns out in a year.
If you do the proper maintenance on the tank and keep up with water changes nitrates should really not be a problem. If you are lazy, then you'll have more nitrates.
