bio balls yes /or no whats your thought

[kels0948]

whats the thought of bio balls in a sump good or bad i have no clue

[poolkeeper1]

No Good at all, They are Nitrate Factories and have not been used for years. You are better off using Live Rock in it's place.
Bill

[Jennifier615]

+1 Bill when deAling saltwAter think natural filtration as much as you can then you can never go wrong

[Pickupman66]

Old tech. Nitrate factories. I pulled all mine in 2006

Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk

[commonstranger]

all good advice just use live rock

[NeveSSL]

Can someone tell me what the difference is between live rock and bio balls?

Personally, I've never understood this argument. In my experience, they both trap detritus. Bioballs may trap a bit more, but that's the only disadvantage I can see and that's arguable.

Brandon

[CloudIX]

From what i have read and what i understand. The bio-balls have more pores that equate to more surface area for beneficial denitrifing bactera to grow on. Your live rock does the same thing, but does not offer the same amount of surface area and therefore processess less water. So to me it seems like SOME of the bio-balls would be better at this.

With that being said, it also traps a lot of bad things in the balls and would dirty up your water unless it's replaced or cleaned when it stops working.

Someone feel free to correct me or further educate me where i'm wrong here.

[mixer911]

Bio Balls are great for Fish only tanks. But reef tanks are better off with Live Rock. Live rock actualy can harbor the bacteria that breaks down Nitrate also, tho only in small quantities, where as bios balls do not.

[mixer911]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1973140&highlight=nitrate+factory

[kels0948]

We'll think I can see what way I need to go ! What about the chamber in my sump that has water trickle over the bio balls could I take them out and replace with live rock rubble ? Reason I ask is because the rock would not be under water it would have water running over it ?

[mixer911]

We'll think I can see what way I need to go ! What about the chamber in my sump that has water trickle over the bio balls could I take them out and replace with live rock rubble ? Reason I ask is because the rock would not be under water it would have water running over it ?

Exactly what you would want to do.

[CloudIX]

this is a good discussion, learned something new.

[kels0948]

Just want to know if I could put live rock where my boio balls used to be in my sump cause it's not under water it's in a chamber that water flows over it's a wet dry sump ?

[GT_Jacket]

As you can see in general Bio-Balls are not considered good.

How big of a tank?
What are you planning on keeping?
How much live rock will be in the tank?
Planning on running any kind of ULNS?

Brett

[kels0948]

150 gal main tank 150 gal sump/ fugue I'm basement . Mostly sps coral some Lps and a few fish

[mixer911]

Just want to know if I could put live rock where my boio balls used to be in my sump cause it's not under water it's in a chamber that water flows over it's a wet dry sump ?

Yes if the rock is getting constant water flow over it. It would be better to have it under water, but that will work. Just keep it wet.

[commonstranger]

Mental Note : Beat up Brandon the next time I see him for not agreeing with me. (lol)

[orthokardia]

Kelly-Give me a call
-bart

[Jennifier615]

That's where mine are



Just want to know if I could put live rock where my boio balls used to be in my sump cause it's not under water it's in a chamber that water flows over it's a wet dry sump ?

[NeveSSL]

Mental Note : Beat up Brandon the next time I see him for not agreeing with me. (lol)

:lol: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Rhett. :)

All I'm saying is that I don't see much difference between them, and other than Rick pointing out that LR can harbor a little bit of anaerobic bacteria, no one else has said anything different either. :)

Don't get me wrong, I use LR, and if you use some sort of mechanical filtration (filter floss, filter socks, etc. like the link Rick put up talks about) it cuts WAY down on the issue anyway.

Just a thought or two. :)

Brandon

[auto151]

What about a 50/50 with bio balls on top of live rock rubble that way your water gets oxygenated and breaks down the wast, then it goes to the live rock or rubble to finish the cycle. Then also with the live rock on the bottom it will have more water on so it may not dry out.

[Angela Short]

I think that LR has tons of tiny hidy holes for critters to live in and come out and eat the stuff the rock catches ie: food, fish poo "mmm mmm" says my old yellow tang who loved to eat poo... Oh back on topic... and Bio balls can have surface space for bacteria but not much in ways of space for critters to set up home that actually help eat the stuff the overflows pull out of the water column. Also the LR can help with anarobic also as stated.
Now as far as just having water trickle over rock rubble I have no clue since pods, worms and mini stars would probably not live in just a shower of water and would need to be submerged...but I would still opt for a good pouruse (sp?) rock in that chamber over bio balls in a reef set up but if you clean the bio balls regularly you can wash the junk out but then you would kill the built up bio on them if you wash them in FW...

[pakarinen]

I'm returning to the hobby after a long hiatus and bought a BC14 yesterday. Aside from LR, is there another good alternative for the middle chamber when I replace the stock bioballs?

[CloudIX]

I for one had the same question when i returned to the hobby. After alot of reading, it seems that most people have moved away from bio balls. The thing that everyone is doing now is a media reactor with some type of nitrate/phosphate exporter (you also need a good skimmer). For example i use ecobak and many other on here do the same.

If you have your heart set on using Bioballs, remember that surface area is key, the more you have the more of the beneficial bacteria can grow that help the process. I have read the LR is better at this process then bioballs, but after time the live rock can become blocked and the efficiency goes way down. But again this is only what i have read so i could be incorrect.

[NeveSSL]

I'm returning to the hobby after a long hiatus and bought a BC14 yesterday. Aside from LR, is there another good alternative for the middle chamber when I replace the stock bioballs?

Yes. The nano tanks are all different beasts than their larger siblings. :)

I would highly recommend two things: A media rack and a skimmer (Tunze 9002 may fit the bill well... not 100% sure on your BC14).

Media racks are just little acrylic boxes that fit into the first chamber in the back of your BC14 that has shelves made out of egg crate. You can put whatever you'd like into it. Personally, I used pillow stuffing in the top one as a mechanical filter, Purigen in the second filter, and Chemi-Pure Elite in the third chamber. Change the pillow stuffing out every 2 to 3 days (its super cheap... a $5 bag should last a year or longer), change/recharge the Purigen every 6 months or so and replace the Chemi Pure Elite every 6 months. I did this in my 28g Nano Cube and it worked out great. I'm actually going to build a large version for my current tank soon. :)

If you'd like to purchase a media rack, there is at least one company I know of who is making them... Stevie T. Check http://www.mediabaskets.com/.

Brandon

[MVlk]

+1 for Brandon's recommendation. Did a similar setup when I had my Solana before I added a refugium/sump.