I here so many diffrent things that I have come up with this conclusion and I wanted to hear what u guys think. I don't pike bio balls. Yes they do great an area for the nitrate breaking down bacteria to grow but I also have noticed from many personal experiments that they catch and trap bad nitrate CAUSING debris. Also when I was removing my bio balls a long time ago I noticed it really stank. I am glad I am bio ball free and I belive they should not be used In REEF aquariums. Expecialy with people with no nitrate tolerating sps corals. If u look at the bio balls u can see all the junk around them and rember all the junk and nitrate causing bacteria on da bio balls passes through ur water and it just rubs off on the water. I belive I should have as little of areas for nitrate to build up and bio. Alps are a huge condo for them. A filter is the best in my mind and a refugium and a section for skimmers and everything. Wut do u guys think or do u have something that u might want to correct or challenge. I really want to k ow how big of an argument this could bring up on deciding witch on is right and witch one is wrong. Thanx
Your views on Bio balls
- Thread starter Kwater
- Start date
bjohanson1234
.........
The bio balls do a great job for what they are designed. Which is being a place to colonize nitrifying bacteria. They convert Nitrites to Nitrates. These nitrates will build up unless you have an adequate export of nitrate either through plenty of liverock, macro algea, water changes or similar. If kept clean, the bio balls are wont really contribute to nitrates. But that is the problem, keeping them clean of detrious and waste. That is like giving the bacteria an all you can eat buffet. And is also the reason why many dont use them. It is the maintanance of it all.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
Ditch the balls and get a protein skimmer and put live rock in your tank. Don't even need a fuge.
ccCapt
Reef Hacker
I used bio balls in my wet/dry for over 15 yrs. I never had any issues at all.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
Capt, how often did you wash your balls? :D
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
Yes, I'm personally asking Capt how often he personally washed his balls. :mrgreen:
daugherty
part time reefer
i had them in my old tank for 10 years with no problems at all my nitrates stayed at or close to 0 never above 1ppm
mdenny
Reefing newb
u should wash your balls everyday!!
dcantucson
Reef pro
I think we all discussed our balls on a similar thread Kwater. .................. Some people just like to hear us discussing our balls all day long. :lol:
Ted
Living one day at a time
some balls are held for charity some for fancy dress but when their held for pleasure, are the ones I like the best.... We got the biggest balls of them all....... classic AC/DC. :^:
ccCapt
Reef Hacker
Never. They were never removed from the wet/dry.
Here's a pic from 2004 when I still had my 50 setup.
wontonflip
I failed Kobayashi Maru
You got a lotta balls, cc....i mean, never washing them? How ballsy!
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
So in theory, wouldn't bio-balls be doing the same thing as live rock? We don't wash our live rock. So why are we supposed to wash our balls?
bjohanson1234
.........
Because the bioballs are in an oxygen rich environment but the bacteria that consume nitrates live in an oxygen deprived environment deep inside the live rock.
project5k
Reef enthusiast
dosent a deep sand bed also create thoes anarobic zones? so, then in theory, if you were to have your balls inline first, and then a deep sand bed with some rock on top, wouldnt that pretty much get the job done?
dcantucson
Reef pro
The ball debate continues...
project5k
Reef enthusiast
yea, balls are a pretty controvercial topic, thats why mine are decorative only! hehehe :mrgreen:
Rcpilot
Reef enthusiast
It's fine, IF you have some way to get rid of the nitrates.
I personally wouldn't use them. I prefer a modified Berlin system with a DSB and macro algae for nutrient export.
I personally wouldn't use them. I prefer a modified Berlin system with a DSB and macro algae for nutrient export.
