<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15242660#post15242660 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by llebcire
Think I'm making some progress, and it seems to be related to the bioballs settling in/packing too tightly and limiting foam production.
Pictures are after one week of production...after some aquascaping I had a powerhead fall in the middle of the night and create quite a sandstorm - last Tuesday I cleaned all the powerhead, pumps and the skimmer.
The bioballs are connected with fishing line so I can easily remove them, there's a rubber gasket on the end of the line for weight and a handle, and I've found that if I keep the line taught (wrapped around drain in collection cup) I get great foam production. It's been one week and I still can't open the valve completely from the pump which tells me I'm on the right track. Before, I would need to limit the flow initially, and apparently the bioballs would get packed within a couple of days and I would need to keep adjust for output.
-Eric
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15401085#post15401085 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jjk_reef00
Here is a pic of the new bio-balls I'm using.
I got them when I bought a used 55 gallon Clear For Life aquarium that had the overflow with the built in bio ball chamber (similar to a bio-cube). I paid $75 for the tank, and after using these bio-balls it was worth the $75 just to get these bio-balls.
Here is a comparison of the old bio-ball with the new ones I'm trying. The new ones are big enough so they don't sit next to each other as much as the other ones. I think the larger ball prevents them from packing down as much.
It is hard to tell from the pic, but the new bio-ball is noticeably larger than the old ones.
The best part of these bio-balls is that they connect to each other. I can connect about 2 ft worth of these bio-balls before the connection weakens. I placed a very long connection of bio-balls (I call it my bio-stick) into the mixing tower and then just placed individual balls on top of the bio-stick. I was thinking that someone could possibly supper glue some bio-balls together to hold them in place, similar to how these connect.
The skimmer is a completely different beast with the new bio-balls. The old ones compacted after a few days and that greatly reduced the amount of foam in the simmer. The new balls show very little if not no sign of compacting. And even if they did compact a little, I still have no water in my riser (only foam :rollface: ).