How many bio balls do you actually need to cover the ammonia produced by one fish?

[oro50]

I'm wondering if I need as many bio balls as I currently have to cover the ammonia produced by my one fish?

I have bio balls in my hob filter and also in my canister filter?

I'm thinking I'm using too much, because if these bio balls help reduce ammonia and nitrite, I would think that based off the finite ammonia being produced by my one fish in the tank I have, then maybe after a point, extra bio balls don't really help with anything?



Or does it work this way, where bacteria (regardless of how much ammonia is produced) continue to develop on these bio-balls?

 

[OOtzie]

Bioballs?!?!?! Why !?!

 

[lrasser]

None !!!!!!!!!!

 

[Chefjpaul]

That is what your rock is doing. The bacteria live on the rocks.

I suggest you loose those bio balls.
Traps unwanted detritus and can eventually produce excess nitrates.

If you want a HOB filter, use it as a filter, maybe chemi pure or purigen with floss.

 

[Jlavine]

What are you talking about?

 

[oro50]

Right they are called biomax. They look like little white circular balls, with holes in the center.

 

[oro50]

Ah ok, right so my cured live rock is serving as a biological filter. So your saying these bio-max white circular pieces that have a hole in the center of them, would just be excess bio filter I do not need, as my live rock is already serving this purpose?

So I should not use bio-max in any of my filters ever again, since my cured live rock is serving as a biological filter for the fish?

 

[Chefjpaul]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/articles/articles-by-topic


Read all these articles a couple times. Will start to make sense.

 

[Sharkbait420]

Biomax is an excellent media. you are right about ammonia limiting the amount of media needed. You have a small tank with a light bioload you will be fine with just a cainster or HOB. Keep both and use the HOB as a fuge. Grow some macro, put a DSB and cultivate pods incease you want a pod eating fish.

There is also tons of denitrifying media which I think biomax is.