yes or no on bioballs

[jimzin15754]

Im running a 90 DT with around 90lbs of mixed LR, mostly fiji and caribean, and a 29 gallon sump. In the sump I have about 1 cubic foot of bioballs. Id like to make better use of that space if possible. My idea is macro algae to trim the phosphates down. I dont think their all that bad because although I have hair algae its not out of control, I just want rid of it. Should I keep part of the bio section I have or just make that whole section a fuge? Oh, and my ammonia,nitrites,nitrates are all zero and stay that way with the system the way it is.

 

[raynist]

No, nitrate factories.

Go with chaeto

 

[Peale]

agreed!

 

[MikeCentore]

If you need chaeto I can give you some.

 

[jimzin15754]

No, nitrate factories.

Go with chaeto

the bioballs are a nitrate factory?

 

[raynist]

the bioballs are a nitrate factory?

Correct!

 

[bigmatt1992]

they are terable worst thing you could do to your tank besides dumping whole packages of food in.

 

[hybridazn]

yes bioballs in fact due suck balls.....

 

[jimzin15754]

now thats something new to me, the guy that helped me set up my system and design my sump has beautiful tanks, and recommended them. I was told they house the benificial bacteria that has kept my system free of ammonia nitrite and nitrate!
so 1 more question, ditching the bioballs would possibly rid me of algae, the main source of its food????

 

[AHDOnline]

Not everyone is a hater. I ran them fine on an old system, where i swapped them out once a month or so and rinsed.

Now I dont use them in my current system though.

 

[jimzin15754]

I love getting all this input from ppl more immersed in the hobby than I've had opportunity. I dont always get it tho. LR houses benificial bacteria that cycles ammonia down to nitrates (that dont dissiapate on their own), bioballs do the same, so why isnt LR a nitrate factory?

 

[TomNeely]

Come to the meetings and speek with more "fish geeks"...

 

[jimzin15754]

Come to the meetings and speek with more "fish geeks"...

I've been planning on coming down to the meeting on the 16th, who knows with this crappy weather tho, I was also planning on making it to the saterday used sale on the 9th but thats not lookin so good now.

 

[LeviChar1]

bioballs are designed for max surface area for bacterial growth. however, real LIVE ROCK provides a far more surface area in a natural material, and can go in your tank, sump, etc....go green, LOL!

 

[cloakerpoked]

bioballs are designed for max surface area for bacterial growth. however, real LIVE ROCK provides a far more surface area in a natural material, and can go in your tank, sump, etc....go green, LOL!

There's nothing magical about Live rock. It's just porous rock=greater surface area. The bacteria will grow on pumps, glass, anything. My mom uses them to cut down on noise in her overflow box, and in the first stage of the sump and doesn't have a nitrate problem.

Personally, I don't believe that nitrate is catestrophic to a tank's ecology. As a matter of fact, nitrate is necessary for growth for corals, since it essentially makes the photosynthetic process work. If you look at what's in miracle grow, it's a lot of nitrates. It's just when they get at a very high level they become a problem for your tank. I'd say if you can keep it below 20 ppm, than most corals except for extra sensitive ones will be fine.

 

[Mitsuko]

I've had them for over a year now with no problems. Although, I have read bad things and heard that someday they can crash a tank. Your question has forced me to question them once again myself...

 

[raynist]

Not sure if this link will work or not:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/search.php?searchid=749057

 

[cloakerpoked]

It's not total death to have them, but I'd never count on them as my primary method of filtration. And as stated above, it's a good idea to rinse them, or to use a filter sock before them and rinse that often, as they tend to accumulate a lot of detrius.

 

[mikesin]

I have a 75G DT with a wet/dry sump that has bio balls. Its been over 2 years now & I have no measurable amounts of ammonia,nitrIte,nitrAtes. I was warned about them being nitrAte factories but have not experienced such. I was going to cleaned them last year when I moved the tank but they were not dirty. But if you think about it, cleaning them COULD be bad as cleaning removes all the beneficial bacteria, it could start a new tank syndrome if that is your only means of filtration. I would be cautious of cleaning them, maybe 50% a month apart. With all that being said I have roughly 125lbs of LR and I do weekly 10% water changes which I'm sure helps control the nitrAtes.
My2cents

 

[jimzin15754]

mine are actually really clean, the water goes thru the protein skimmer, then 2 separate chambers with sponge filters on each before being circulated thru the bio section. its a very redundant sump the way I have it set up. But the part Ive picked up here is I can easily reduce them(the balls) by half (to start at least) and put a fuge for algae in that section.