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View Full Version : Bio balls - wet/dry, alternatives?


sherman
01/16/2010, 05:55 AM
1. I had always understood that bio balls worked best if not "sitting" in water, rather the water flowed over them.

Is this not correct?

2. I recently saw the Seachem products de-nitrate and matrix.

They look good and if I understand they work best in water and not in a wet / dry arrangement?

Any advice? Any comments?

3. Which of the two products might work better (or any other suggestions welcomed), in a tower from my tank to my sump?

Gary Majchrzak
01/16/2010, 06:19 AM
Sherman- your best bet is to use liverock (LR) in the system. This means no bio balls, no wet/dry. Liverock is the biological filter.

sherman
01/16/2010, 06:28 AM
Gary thanks for the quick reply.

I also have a 40 gal tank which I set up with the water overflowing into a compartment with chaeto algae and some more rubble then LR and then this compartment spills into another compartment which I set up with a filter pad on top, water running over bioballs and at the bottom is a power head which pumps the water back into the tank.

Here my question is what is best filter media and shoult by wet/dry or totally submerged in water?

Also, how often should filer media like bio balls be rinsed out, if at all??

Gary Majchrzak
01/16/2010, 06:54 AM
bioballs are used in wet/drys to quickly reduce ammonia (which is very toxic) to less harmful nitrites and nitrates. Bioballs are more efficient at what they do when not fully submerged. Biomedia should be kept clean and free of detritus buildup but even if you keep bioballs clean they will cause nitrate levels to increase.

Gremlin8624
01/16/2010, 08:51 AM
Hey, i have a 46 Gallon tank with only 3 fish (dogface puffer, fuzzy dwarf lion, and a fiji fox face) i do not yet have a sump but am looking to get one, and i found one for pretty cheap that would fit, but it just has bio balls, (no socks) but after reading this thread i am not sure what to do because ammonia is not so much a problem in my tank as much as nitrates, i understand i need a protein skimmer, however i need to get my sump first in order to house it, because i dont wanna waste money on a hang on skimmer if im gonna be putting it in my sump soon anyway... any help?

are the bio-balls gonnna make my nitrate's worse? should i get one of those sumps with big bio-wheel, should i try to get one with socks?... please help...

Gary Majchrzak
01/16/2010, 09:07 AM
based on my experience with pred tanks I would

1) run a good skimmer
2) skip the bioballs/biowheel/wet dry filter and filter sock
3) get some liverock in that aquarium and consider getting a larger tank ASAP
4) don't plan on keeping any living corals with those fish!

Gremlin8624
01/16/2010, 09:42 AM
i do have live rock... about 40 lbs, and am working on getting some more, which brings upon another question.... do you have any experience in purchasing live rock online and curing it your self... i have been considering ordering it off of liveaquaria.com ( the "Drs. Foster & Smith Select Fiji Premium Live Rock") and curing it myself... however i have never done this and dont really know many other people in the trade to get their opinions... or should i just buy it at the local fish store... and if so would it help ask them to test the water in which the live rock is being housed for nitrates and ammonia to be sure that it is fully cured?... i ask this because i had a bad experience purchasing live rock at another shop (a larger more commercialized one who sold the rock for cheaper) and when i got it home i smelled it and it had sort of a funny smell and against my better judgement i still added it ot my tank and i believe it might have contributed to the disaster in my tank that followed...

and also back to my first question... are you saying that i should get the sump and have nothing in it except a good skimmer?... im a little confused... can you please clarify your suggestion on my sump situation again? sorry...

Gary Majchrzak
01/16/2010, 09:58 AM
personally, I don't like running wet/dry filters. Even on FO's. I'd just run a good skimmer along with some liverock in the display. Any of the liverock you mentioned should work fine for a FO.

slief
01/16/2010, 10:24 AM
I too have a large wet/dry filter. My wet dry is mostly live rock with a small amount of bio balls. Is there any issue using live rock in the wet dry portion instead of the balls or does the rock need to be submerged? I am in the process of adding a fuge to my system with an additional sump.

I was going to modify my drip trays to accomodate socks but I wanted to retain some if not all of my rocks in that portion of my sump.

Gary Majchrzak
01/16/2010, 10:37 AM
rock "works" best when fully submerged.

Personally, I don't like placing rock where bioballs would normally be found in a wet/dry.

slief
01/16/2010, 12:47 PM
rock "works" best when fully submerged.

Personally, I don't like placing rock where bioballs would normally be found in a wet/dry.

Why not? What if the drip trays were replaced with socks?



My water level in the sump bottom is between 9" & 10" deep. I will be glueing an additional 31"x24"x18" tall acryllic sump to the side of my existing sump and opening a large access hole in the side of the existing sump for maintenance purposes. This new sump will handle a large in sump protein skimmer as well as some rock. I am currently running a large Barr Aquatic Beckett skimmer.

There will be an additional 31x24x18 sump that will be setup as a fuge. That will be added next to the other new sump and plumbed via 2" pvc . It needs to go in in 2 pieces as my door sizes under my tank limit my options. My intent was to remove the egg crate rock support to get most of the rocks into the water. Ditch the drip trays for filter socks. Some of the rock will go into the exisiting sump and could be submerged. The remainder will go into the new sumps/fuge.

http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo347/shleif/Tanks/scott0050.jpg

Gary Majchrzak
01/16/2010, 12:59 PM
as long as draining water isn't pounding on any rock you're good to go IMO