Remove Bio Balls

E

ERTLEY

New member
Can i get some advice on how i should remove bio balls from my system completley....Should i remove all at once?Do i need something else to replace them?If anyone has done it...Please tell me your story or your advice Thanks in advance! Tom
 
When I had a pre-fab sump, it came with bio-balls and a spot for filter pads. I got tired of the bio-balls and read that they can be nitrate factories. I took em' all out at once with no ill effects. After a few months, I made a 25gal tank into a sump/fuge, took out all sponge media and now I have no more nitrate or phosphate issues. If I still had pics from when I first got the tank (already established from a previous owner) you'd see the huge difference in all the HA I had, to a nice clean tank. Good luck.
 
Thanks for your advice!Anymore please feel free!...I'm alittle nervous to do that..i'm kinda wondering how it will affect the biological filter system,if it will shock it or not..Would it still be ok if i could'nt add a fuge /or if i added nothing at all?
 
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It can only help. Right now your bioballs are only a detriment so removing them is just a step in the right direction. Do it this weekend.

A fuge would be better but if not possible, maybe some more liverock might help.
 
ok i removed all bio balls..My Skimmer is a DYI by Snailman,It works great!(Removes some pretty nasty stuff)i have half live rock/ half base rock,not much room in tank for a ton more,if i put some L/R in the sump,will it need lighting?Thanks again for all the help!Also will the base rock eventually become live again....I hope that's not a stupid question!
 
You can put some LR where your bio-balls were and it probably should be lit. You don't need anything real fancy, just hang a 60-75watt bulb and reflector over it and you're golden. If you have a timer, you can set it to come on when your display lights go off.
 
As long as the live rock is fully submerged you'll be fine putting it in the sump. Sometimes it's hard to do that if it has a drip plate.
 
Remove the bio balls ASAP. They create nitrate.

I put in a gallon of bioballs in an attempt to silence my tank. Skimmer stopped producing. Nitrate started to creap up.

After about a month of tinkering, I yanked the bioballs and put in a filter sock.

Sump is quieter, no microbubbles and nitrate dropped.
 
Thanks again!I will be building a fuge in the near future,,,Any advice on what to add besides live rock? Tom
 
Make sure you have enough LR to do your biological filtration. Pounds per gallon isn't a great gauge, but you should probably have at least 75 lbs of live rock in your 75 gal tank. Also, you need to make sure you have a lot of good current in your tank.
 
Are you all sure it is a good idea to remove all the bio balls at once. I have always heard to do it slowly.
 
jpa0741
Look at your water 1st. Use a great source for water(RO/DI), thenk use natural filtration, like live rock, a sandbed, a good protein skimmer, and perhaps harvesting of macro-algaes. Leave the bio-balls out of the system. Nitrates undetectable here...
 
Thanks to everyone interested!I removed all bio balls at once,probley a 1/2 of a five gallon bucket,with no ill affects whatsoever.Nitrate dropped to 0 and ph went from 8.1 to 8.2.....my ph was always 8.1 8.0 since the tank was set up(about a year).Not sure why but it's a bonus!Any pics of fuges would be greatly appreciated!Thanks Tom
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9325185#post9325185 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jpa0741
Are you all sure it is a good idea to remove all the bio balls at once. I have always heard to do it slowly.
Click to expand...

It's actually a better idea to remove half, then wait a couple weeks and remove half again, and the a couple more weeks and get rid of whatever is left. They are a so efficient at breaking down ammonia and nitrites that removing all of them at once could cause a mini cycle even if you have a lot of live rock.

There was some risky advice given in this thread but hopefully everything works out alright. Ertley, you should monitor amonia levels over the next week or two.
 
Glad I started reading this thread. My 125g tank is only 2 months old, and I added bio balls in the sump for the same reason as RKCCA - to silence the foam and cut down the micro bubbles. All my levels are good, got plenty of live rock, I might as well yank the bio balls out now before the nitrates start to creep up.

Thanks.
 
Thanks Pete I will monitar,,,Most people i taked to did this but i do understand the concern of the cycle..Thanks for the advice...But it's already done...oooophs..I had other filter media in my system poly padds and some Shredded plastic stuff.So far ,So good..I will post if things start to change....Tom
 
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