Bio-Balls

I've heard some mixed things about putting bioballs in my sump. The LFS tells me that they will help but I've read online that they are a veritable nitrate factory. The way I have my sump set up is the first chamber is where the water from the tank goes into. The next is the refugium, then the skimmer, then the return. I was going to put some bioballs in the first chamber where the tank drains into. Does this sound like a good idea?

 

I would put in live rock or live rock rubble. IMO its less liable to become a nitrate factory, which, by the way, is a 100% guarantee with bio balls unless cleaned the right way religiously which is not easy to do. Bio balls are great for freshwater but they just don't cut it in saltwater IMO.

 

Pre-filtered bioballs will do their job admirably. If you don't have some sort of mechanical filtration before them, they collect detritus which rots and eventually turns into Nitrates. (If you don't clean this pre-filter on a regular basis, you'll get nitrates too. Bacteria doesn't care where it is in your system, whether the detritus is in your sump, your tank, your overflow, your pre-filter, your LR rubble, your bioballs. It's going to do it's thing....convert Ammonia to Nitrite and Nitrite into Nitrate). LR rubble which isn't pre-filtered will do the exact same thing. Water coming directly from the overflow will be highly Oxygenated (which is a good thing) and you're not going to get much, if any, denitrification out of it.

 

It is as if inwall read my mind.........a perfect answer.

 

1+ on the LR Rubble. I used bio balls along time and couldn't ever get my nitrates where I wanted them and had problems with GHA. But when I made the switch to LR rubble everything seemed to vanish! Good luck

 

Use 3reef's search eng for BB, this has been talked about soooo many times. Have fun reading....lol



Luna

 

I use them an like them.I have a pad before the BB`s, and as long as I keep up on changing it out (every few days)all seems well and happy...This subject is highly debateable(sp) lol

 

Then you didn't keep them clean as inwall brought up.

 

So since I'm using a prefiltered overflow the bioballs would be a good idea?

 

If you clean (or switch out) the pre-filter on a regular basis they help a lot with the Nitrification process and help Oxygenate the water. They also assist in offgassing CO2 which helps keep your pH higher.