bio balls

[kokxy]

I have heard from various sources that I should remove the bioballs in my filter since I have over 125 lbs of LR and 80 lbs on LS. I have a 75 gal tank that is a seaclear system II that has a overflow box that flows in back of tank. Water runs through the skimmer and heater then into 2 chambers of bioballs at which time the water gets pumped back into the tank via a powerhead 700. Anyone had any experience with this? Should I remove them and place floss in these compartments instead? The guy I bought the tank from last week used bioballs on this reef tank for 5 years. Just curious ..Any help on this matter is appreciated. Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Since you have live rock in the tank I would get rid of the bio balls. Negative on the filter floss as well. Live rock and sand are the only bio-filter you need, the bio balls and filter floss will only trap detritus and raise your nitrate levels.

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed. I would bail the bioballs and filter floss. Save them for a fish only tank (without LR) or a freshwater tank.

 

[PeeJ]

i wouldnt say take them out unless your lazy when it comes to cleaning them. out your wet dry and hose it off. i just take my wet/dry apart when i break down my skimmer (weekly). doesnt take that long at all. i kind of like my mechanical filters (i.e. wet dry). they do a great job of trapping any large items before they hit the pumps and stuff...

 

[Anonymous]

i kind of like my mechanical filters (i.e. wet dry). they do a great job of trapping any large items before they hit the pumps and stuff...

The best piece of equipment for that is a micron filter bag (sock). Bio balls can be a pain to remove and clean.

 

[JohnD]

You have a lot of bacteria on both the LR and the bio balls. In order not to have an ammonia spike, take out a portion of the bio balls at a time.

When I converted one of my tanks from fish only (that was set up for several years) to FOWLR, I took about 20% of the bio balls out about every 10 days. This allowed the bacteria on the LR to gradually mutiply in order to handle the increased biological load resulting from the decreased capacity of the reduced bio balls. Go slow. You will be happy that you did.