What would be the effect of removing the Bio balls from my wet/dry filter

[Scudd]

My current tank is a 92g corner with about 2 to 4 inches of live sand and maybe 75-100lbs of live rock. What would be the down side of removing the Bio-balls from the wet/dry and just using the protein skimmer and pre-filter to filter the water......or what if I replaced the Bio-balls with live rock?

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-5/206982/uploadfilterpic.JPG

[spoon671]

Bio-Balls = Live Rock = Surface area for organism growth?

You are fine with the Bio-Balls... I don't see an issue with them, especially since you have that skimmer which by the way looks like it's doing a great jobbie job. Good luck!

[iaJim]

I thought that bio balls were nitrate factories. Would live rock be the same?

[affan]

Bio balls are nitrate factories IF you don't clean them.

[Scudd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7112949#post7112949 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by affan
Bio balls are nitrate factories IF you don't clean them.

Then wouldn't that hold true for the live rock?

[spoon671]

The more live rock you have, the better your "biological filtration" is. Removing your bio-balls is kinda like cutting down the rainforest isn't it?

[hulley]

Because bio-balls are exposed to air, a different type of bacteria grows. If the bio-balls were completly submerged, they would act more like live rock. If you remove bio-balls, do it a little at a time. I removed all my bio-balls at once and my 90g crashed! Now I also had a young tank, but I did have around 100lbs of live rock.

[afishyonados]

The bio-balls convert ammonia to nitrate. The protien skimmer is designed to remove ammonia, before it is broken down. The skimmers efficiency is retarded by the effectiveness of the bio-balls. In a perfect world, the water would run through the skimmer first, then through the bio-balls, if even at all.

[whiteshark]

I have a 90 gal with 110lbs of rock. I removed all my bio balls at once without any problems. I then converted the sump to a fuge by adding a couple of baffles. I have definetly noticed a reduction in the amount of nitrate in the water. I think with the amount of rock you have removing the balls shouldn't be a problem, but I think you should remove like 1/4 every week or something like that and moniter the water params closely.

The bio balls definetly are nitrate factories. However, many people have succses with this type of filtration. If your nitrates are consistantly low and your water changes take care of them, then there is not really a reason to remove the balls. Mine were producing soo much nitrate that I couldn't keep up with all the water changes I had to do. I also am not of fan of cleaning the media.

So, its up to you. Either way, Good Luck!

[Scudd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7114830#post7114830 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whiteshark
I have a 90 gal with 110lbs of rock. I removed all my bio balls at once without any problems. I then converted the sump to a fuge by adding a couple of baffles. I have definetly noticed a reduction in the amount of nitrate in the water. I think with the amount of rock you have removing the balls shouldn't be a problem, but I think you should remove like 1/4 every week or something like that and moniter the water params closely.

The bio balls definetly are nitrate factories. However, many people have succses with this type of filtration. If your nitrates are consistantly low and your water changes take care of them, then there is not really a reason to remove the balls. Mine were producing soo much nitrate that I couldn't keep up with all the water changes I had to do. I also am not of fan of cleaning the media.

So, its up to you. Either way, Good Luck!


This tanks is newly setup, but I used the sand and live rock from my four year old tank to start it.
With the old tank I relied on just the protein skimmer and some submerged live rock and sand to do the filtering. It kept the nitrates at 0
My problem is that I added the wet dry about 3 months ago to the old tank, to cut down on some of the samll particles that were floating around in the tank. Ever since a added it though I noticed a out break of red/brown algea.
I thought it was because the filter was cycling , but now i'm not sure. Since this new tank has been up about 2 weeks I'm noticing a increase in Nitrate thats around 5-10 mg. I'm not sure if this is beacuse of the filter or just natural cycling process....and as of yesterday I'm starting to see some red algae starting to grow on the sand bed.

[74nautique]

I kept having bacteria die-off every couple of months (?) and a out break of red slime this happened for a couple of years, so I removed about 1/2 of the bio-balls added a baffle then added a deep sand bed, L/R, and caulerpa. Then a few weeks later I removed half of the bio-balls again and for the past 4-5 months my tank has been looking better.

[onereefnotenuf]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7112949#post7112949 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by affan
Bio balls are nitrate factories IF you don't clean them.

if you clean them you also remove the beneficial bacteria on them every time you clean. I took mine out and haven't had any measurable nitrate in 18 months.

[whiteshark]

Did you use the old wet/dry on the new tank? The old media should have cycled by now. Did you have the balls out of water for some time? IE, was there any die off? Also, did you use all rock and sand from the old tank? If so, was that out of water for an extended period of time? If you used all the rock, sand and filters from the old tank and you put them right into the new tank there should be minimal die off and probably no cycle. There could be a small cycle from some things that may have died due to stress from the switch. Maybe this is what is causing the elevated nitrates.

Anyway, I don't see any real disadvantage to removing the bio-balls. There is plenty of surface area on the rock for nitrosomas and nitrobacter to colonize.

[dandydan]

On the Chemistry forum there is a belief that Live rock should have more of a beneficial effect on nitrate if it takes care of the ammonia/Nitrates as well.
Anyone wants 183 Bio balls is welcome.

[John Hartford]

I was told by a reef hobbyist to remove about 80% of my bioballs. I took her advice and my water quality has improved since then

[Scudd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7118093#post7118093 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whiteshark
Did you use the old wet/dry on the new tank? The old media should have cycled by now. Did you have the balls out of water for some time? IE, was there any die off? Also, did you use all rock and sand from the old tank? If so, was that out of water for an extended period of time? If you used all the rock, sand and filters from the old tank and you put them right into the new tank there should be minimal die off and probably no cycle. There could be a small cycle from some things that may have died due to stress from the switch. Maybe this is what is causing the elevated nitrates.

Anyway, I don't see any real disadvantage to removing the bio-balls. There is plenty of surface area on the rock for nitrosomas and nitrobacter to colonize.

I used the old wet/dry on the new tank, and no the Bio-ball were only with out circulation for a day, but still wet.
I tested the Nitrates last night and this after noon they look like there coming down. There around 5 to 10 mg/L, but I'm still getting an out break of algae in some areas... check the pic

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-5/206982/AlgaePics4.06.06001.2.JPG

[Scudd]

TTT