My Sump

[ladypheesh]

yeah, I think it's just because they require a little more maintenance that some people use LR instead.

[cumminz]

So, if I use LR i dont need bio-balls?

[ladypheesh]

right, with enough LR. It is great biological filtration.

We don't have any bio-balls or other filter media in our 75 gal setup with 20 gal sump. Just a lot of live rock and a good skimmer. There are many different set ups you can just pick whatever works for you!

[NewbReefer]

Bioballs, like live rock, simply adds more surface area for the good anarobic bacteria that we need in our tanks. If you've got enough LR (1-2 lbs. per gallon of your DT) then adding more bioballs is doing nothin more than taking up space and adding more maintanance to your system.

[cumminz]

Ok, any one wanna buy some bio balls.? A whole Ass load of them?

[Piggy]

They make good cat toys. lol

[cumminz]

I hate cats. Plus i have more than a herd of cats could ever enjoy

[Bifferwine]

Bioballs do half the job that live rock does. Both live rock and bioballs house the aerobic bacteria that convert ammonia and nitrite to nitrate. But bioballs do not house the anaerobic bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrogen gas. So if you have bioballs, nitrates tend to rise and accumulate. A lot of people with bioballs tend to have nitrate problems because of this.

[cumminz]

Well, i may as well chuck the boiballs cuz i dont want nitrate problems. Maybe ill go down to the crazy cat ladys house

[fatman]

Like Biffer indicated bio balls only do so much. In a trickle filter bio balls actually work too well. They work great at turning ammonia to nitrate. They do that much better than live rock or deep sand beds. However all that nitrate stays in the tank. Skimmers do not skim much out in the presence of a trickle filter, so they remove little dissolved organics as the trickle filter turns them to nitrates so efficiently and quickly. Bio balls in a trickle filter are good for really dirty fish only tanks such as predator tanks where the elevated levels of nitrate are tolerated by the fish. Not a lot of denitrification is done by live rock, surely no where near enough to not do water changes in most reef tanks, but at least the skimmers can remove dissolved organics before they are converted to nitrates as happens with a trickle filter. There are also problems with a scum layer of dissolved organics adhering to bio balls that does not happen with live rock or live sand. Bio balls underwater in a sump are less efficient at converting ammonia to nitrates and they accumulate the scum layer which sloughs off spiking nitrate levels nearly instantaneously.