Newbie AGA 125 Gallon Setup Question

[Lanzfeld737]

Hi All,

I am setting up my AGA reef ready 125 gallon tank at a slow pace. I just finished making my Durso overflows when I came up with an idea that I would like to run past you guys.

I plan on doing a Berlin system. That is lots of live rock (maybe TBS) and good flow. I will have my Euroreef skimmer in a sump below the tank. Now the live rock will take care of my biological filter needs but I was told that you really can't have too much biological filtering so I was considering draining my tank over some bioballs as it enters my sump. A kinda wet/dry thing.

Well...as I was test fitting my Durso I came up with the idea of maybe NOT putting Dursos in my twin overflows in back of the tank and just filling these overflows with bioballs. The water would spill over the lip of the overflows and trickle over the bioballs before draining out the bottom down to my sump and so on. Sort of a wet/dry system in back of my tank. This way I can simplify my sump to have just my skimmer and heaters and return pumps. (I plan a refugium but that is later).

What do you guys think? Is this a good idea or a bad one? Do you forcast any problems with this idea?

Thanks

 

[bertoni]

[welcome]

The issue with bio-balls is that they sometimes lead to higher nitrate levels. I would avoid them, and add a refugium for more filtration.

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

bioballs are bad for a reef tank as they will become nitrate factories later on so IMO stay away of them. use a sponge filter for more biofiltration

 

[Lanzfeld737]

Wow!

Here I thought that bioballs were a good thing!

I never heard this. So they are good at making nitrites into nitrates but then that is all right?

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

it is fine for a fowlr but not for corals and inverts as they can't handle high nitrates

 

[Lanzfeld737]

Could someone please explain to me why they become nitrate factories? It seems that when they produce nitrates from nitrites then the nitrates would be collected into the live rock and turned into harmless nitrogen gas. What tends to be the problem here?

Thanks for the info!

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

the nitrates will stay on the bioballs they will not move to the LR

 

[Lanzfeld737]

Wow.....

This could lead to a sudden "crash" of a tank as those nitrates on the bioballs hit a critical level.

Nice tip....thank you. I will just skip the whole bioball idea then.

 

[bertoni]

The nitrate doesn't stay on the bioballs. It's released into the water column. The theory is that there's no way to move the nitrate from the water column to the anoxic zones in the live rock. Here's one thread from the chemistry forum that discusses the topic:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=498053&highlight=nitrate

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

thanks for clarifing that bertoni i did know that the nitrate wouldn't get to the LR to be taken care and just thought they stayed on the balls but i gess either way bioballs are still bad

i guess thats why bertoni got the MOD job for being so helpful

 

[bertoni]

No, I just drew the short straw.

 

[old salty]

The durso is used to reduce the sucking noise created when the water flows out of the drain. I guess you could do without it, but the noise may get quite irritating after about 30 seconds.

 

[jimbo045]

Maybe just the live rock is enough for Berlin. Bio-balls may build up the nitrates. JD