How bad are Bio Balls?

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VERY BAD. They keep nitrates in your tank. Take them out and just put small pieces of LR in place of the bioballs.
 
i have bio balls in my tank already it's been set up for about 8 months would i be able to take them out all at one time and replace with small pieces of live rock, or take them out a few at a time and put the live rock in.
 
Taunting Tony - I think this answer depends on whether you are going to have a reef tank or a fish only tank. Nitrates are more of a concern with a reef tank. Of course too many nitrates in a fish only tank aren't good either, but they are less of a concern.
 
Well here is what i would do with your tank, I wouuld start removing the bio balls about a 1/4 every friday until there is only a 1/4 left once you reach that point then shut the pump down for a few so you can rearange things in there put a piece of sponge in there to block the debre from going back in the tank and put maybe some activated carbon to help clean things up. Put small pieces of LR where the bioballs were and then put the last 1/4 bio balls back until the following week. After that week take the bioballs completly out and do about a 30% water change, and then you are good to go. :)
 
Hi Guys - having just recently switched over to the principle of biological filtration being achived using good live rock and good water circulation I can offer the following experience

I was using an external with sintered glass and plastic balls - my nitrates were always around 25ppm whilst my amonia and nitrite were 0ppm

I removed all the biological filtration in one go but kept it alive in a bucket of tank water with air stone in just in case

My nitrates reduced to less than 12ppm within 48 hours and despite this process I did not get reading of either amonia or nitrites

Reason - there are 2 distinct types of bacteria involved in the biological filtration cycle the species that break waste down into amonia, Nitrate into nitrate require oxygen rich water - the species which break Nitrate down into nitrogen gas require water deprived of oxygen

Bio balls provide and ideal enviroment for the first category - but a unsuitable enviroment for second category

so in effect with bioballs you have an unbalanced biological filter - more nitrates are produced than can be processed into nitrogen - removing the bioballs and replacing with live rock will bring the balance back in your reefs favour

Steve
 
Ok, I got dupped by my local moron pet store into buying a wet/dry made by IAP with built in skimmer for my reef tank. He knew what I was doing with my tank, they said it was the best way to go. It has actually worked but nitrates are high. I read all the previous posts about removing the balls slow and adding live rock into the same place. Above the bio balls is a sheet of plastic with the holes in it so that as the water sheets over it drips through the balls underneeth and then through the grate that the balls are on. Once underneath all of it the water runs through a sponge and into the area with the pump and return to tank. Do I remove the plastic at the top so the rock is completely submerged at all times? Should I leave the sponge in the same place. Maybe someone is familier with the IAP 150 pro. Does anyone know the best way to convert the IAP or maybe I need a sump instead. It seems to me it should work though. BTW I removed the skimmer already because I didnt like the access I had to it. I use a CPR Bak Pak 2 skimmer, no bio material. And I also use another cheaper skimmer made by aquatics something or other. It seems to work the best. This is all for a 54 gal. corner tank with 35#'s of live rock, several corals and polyps lps and sps. I feed the tank with dt's and kent marine products, plus balancing blocks on a regular basis. If anyone wants to critisise me that would be great.

Thanks for any input in advance.
 
Hey P.Hippy. Glad your here. Not many people here are into critizing. How to get the most help here is simple. Just ask. If it is the sump that slopes down on the bottom from the water inlet side to the water out let side I think I know the one your talking about. Anyway the biobale/bioball chamber is quite similar to one I had to redo. I removed the topcover, the top grate, the biomedia, the bottom grate. I just put enough live rock in the tank to filter the tank. 150 lbs of valu and tonga branch. Its on a 150. I put in a skimmer, bought a extra couple of sponges (so customer can cycle them out and wash in the washing machine), put a turbo twist skimmer on it, and let it flow to the return pump area. Its not the best sump, because it was supposed to be a wet dry, but it works for a place to keep, skimmer, heater, uv steri, and return pump. If you really want to put live rock down there too. It needs to be submerged or it will work just like a bioball or biobale. Just my experince and opinion. I hope it helps you. Steve
 
Couple more questions

If I do put live rock in the bottom do I need to put a light on it. And will it really work to put my heater in the sump (soon to be anyhow). And lastly is 35-40 pounds of live rock enough to support my 54 gallon tank. And I also heard that it might help to place a powerhead in the back corner where it can blow on some of the rock. What is your imput on that. I am extremely novice and impatient. I jumed into this hobby kind of quick but i did do some reading and trusting pet store advice (I think my biggest mistake lol).
 
It does not need light. Yes the heater will work in the sump. (all of the water is the same water if that makes sense) Depending on type of rock? Is is very porus and open or dense and lumpy? More is better with live rock to a point. 1-1.5 lbs a gallon. Yep a powerhead in the back will help. Steve
 
Pukani rock, Rocks! Has anyone ever seen this rock it is majorly porous and light weight. I compared one peice of pukani with a fiji of similar size then the pukani was almost 3 pounds lighter. The fiji was close to 8lbs and the pukani was just under 5lbs. Awesome looking too.
 
Angelscrx said:
Pukani rock, Rocks! Has anyone ever seen this rock it is majorly porous and light weight.
Click to expand...

I have a tank, sump and fuge full of it. Incredible stuff.

PseudoHippy - how is the bioload? You may be fine short term with 35-40# of live rock....add more though. If you are removing bioballs from an established tank, do so slowly, that way you don't overwhelm the system.
 
Hi again

I would like to expand on my previous post in the light of the sound advice by others top remove Bio balls slowly

I did not I did it all in one go - I had a tank established for 2 years with live rock and a decent skimmer

I maintained thee bioballs in plastic mesh trays in a large bucket with good water circulation and a feed of a peeled prawn ( To keep the bacteria alive)

then I did daily tests for Amonia and Nitrite on my main tank and if a detectable reading had been found with either I would have put the medium back in my filter system

But I did not get trace of either so after 4 weeks dumped the contents of the bucket ( better half was a bit miffed with it in the bathroom for a month)

The good news is my nitrates dropped considerably within 48 hours and have been maintained since with 10% weekly changes at less than 5ppm Salifert test kit


Thus if my advice seemed rash i hope my further explanation makes my actions seem more controlled

Yes you should remove slowly as advised - Its safer route

Steve
 
I am just starting up a reef tank (72 Gal bow ) I have a pro clear aquatic 75 series pro wet/dry. I have live sand at the bottom and already have salt in the water. I checked my levels two days after I set the tank up and everything is fine. There are no fish rock or any living things in there. Im hearing a lot about pulling out the Bio balls and replacing it with LR would this be the best time to do that or should i waite. If I do it now how would i go about doing it. Any help would be greatly appreciated
 
I have been contemplating pulling my bio balls since I started coming to this site and reading about the problems they can cause in a reef tank. My tank is now about 15 months old and my nitrate/nitrite/amonia all read 0. I had read that taking the bio balls out about 1/4 every month or two and rinsing them in your water when doing a change will help prevent the nitrate problem. I haven't tried this yet because my tank isn't very old but I was thinking about 18 months I might try swishing them in the water when I change it to get rid of some of the buildup. If I start having a nitrate problem I will definitely remove the bioballs slowly and replace with live rock but for now things are going well so I will keep the bioballs and keep an eye on it.
 
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