Bio balls ?

[danfish]

i have read that bio balls are nothing but nitrate factories and it seems that everyboby doesnt use them so im thinking of removing them from my system. is there anything i should replace it with? i have the aga model 4 wetdry, asm g3 skimmer, 18 watt uv, 120gal tank with 120 lbs of lr and is a fowlr tank. i was thinking of replacing the bio balls with rubble lr but that means that the lr wont be submerge in water, just water trickling on top of it and there will prob be dead spots all over it, was wondering if this was alright or is there anything else i should do? a refugium wont work b/c i dont have the room for it.

thx in advance

 

[drunktank]

you have to remove the bioballs very slowly over time. I normally see people putting LR rubble to replace them.

I've often wondered bout just putting carbon bags etc to replcae the bioballs in that chamber instead of rubble

 

[Deanos]

If this what you have:

• remove a few bio-balls every few days
• place live rock either below it fully submerged or in the next chamber (fully submerged)
• when all the bio-balls have been removed, you can remove their tray

 

[danfish]

If this what you have:

• remove a few bio-balls every few days
• place live rock either below it fully submerged or in the next chamber (fully submerged)
• when all the bio-balls have been removed, you can remove their tray

yes exactly

 

[guychoo]

i actually just did the same thing last month with the model 3, which is basicly the same thing. only i didnt do it slowly :banghead: . i did have a nitrate boost but got it under control now. the only issue im having now though is noise. nothing to break the waterflow from the top tray to the bottom of the sump so i put some live rock temporarily where the balls used to be. not sure if that was smart though. still thinking about what else to put.

 

[loismustdie]

Don't do the rocks. Just getting pounded by dirty overflow water 24/7 will cause them to build tons of nitrates and phosphates, then eventually release them back into the water. I had rocks in the 1st chamber of my DIY sump. After having very big nutrient issues over the summer, I removed the rock and put in filter socks. Filter socks are much more maintenance (need to be removed and cleaned, preferably in a washing machine, ever to to 3 days) , but I swear by them. Very aggressive nutrient removal. It may help reduce noise too, if it covered properly.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Like Chris say, don't put rubble in chamber 3!!!! It will turn out worse than the bioballs. The key is you have to remove the detrius trap, be it a filter sock or bioballs. You cannot wash the rubbles but you can easily wash the sock and even the bioballs. Before there is nitrate, there is ammonia. By cleaning the sock or the bioballs, you remove the detrius which can turn into ammonia. Without amonia, you will not get new nitrate.

 

[guychoo]

:smash: looks like im taking the rocks out tonight. :banghead:

 

[danfish]

guychoo do u have any ideas how to cut the noise down w/o the bio balls, i have the same filter (model 4) and situation.