Bio-balls VS Refugium??

At one point in time the nitrates were about 40-60 ppm, and i freaked out and purchased my media the Nitrate-loc, to bring it down, and it did bring it down and now its holding a stead 15-20 but i still would like to bring that down a little bit more

 

I suggest you read the article so you understand what I am talking about. Wet/dry filters are supremely efficient at what they are intended for. Problem is they do not work well for a reef.

There are other reasons for high nitrates, but right now with bio-balls you are going to have a hard time isolating that and you will still have nitrates in the end.

 

right ive read this twice and i understand now but my sump can either be a refugium, or i can have a bio ball system, look here this is what i have exactly
Aqueon » Aqueon ProFlexâ„¢ Modular Sump Filtration | Products this sump is designed for either or and my nitrites and ammonia are 0 i understand the bioballs are probably doing there job but now should i lower my nitrates then? if i clean lets say half would that bring my nitrates down, i do weekly water changes of 10 gallons every sunday, and it hasnt brought it down at all so my main question here is what would you suggest i do to rid of my nitrates??

 

15-20 isn't very high, although it would be good to lower them. Funny how I was talking to 2in10 yesterday about bioballs; IMO it doesn't do the tank justice. Take it from me; nitrates were high because my 29 gallon biocube came with bioballs... So I'd think take them out over the course of a few weeks and replace with some sand, LR rubble, and chaeto. Just make sure to have lights for the chaeto and you're set really. Now if the bioballs aren't the problem, you're going to need to look for the source. Now that I'm reading your signature you have 2 tangs in there... not the best idea IMO.

 

The tangs are about 1.5 in to 2.0 inches there very small at the moment, if i could id like to take the mata tang out and sell it back to my LFS but i cant get him, theres to much stuff in there, and even when i changed my sand thats what i was going to do and he must have wedged himself in the rock when i took it all out, and i didnt see him for a few hrs after it was all back up and running.

 

im just gonna say this, there is a reason why we(other reefers) dont use bio balls and use fuges..because they work better, bio balls are old school technology..

if it were my tank i would turn it into a fuge, over the course of a couple weeks..

 

i do think thats what im going to do, i just cleaned about half and took out a quarter of the clean ones, so im on my way to get rid of them, what kind of lighting should i use for it? ive got an LED strip with about 40 LED's at 1 watt a light that i built myself? im not sure if that would be ok or not

 

OK... that's pretty cool. Fuge for sure, a DSB and macro. Cleaning isn't the problem. It can contribute, but it is the fact that the nitrate production isn't near the live rock to strip oxygen and feed anerobic bacteria deeper in the rock that is keeping the nitrates high. Your bio balls disrupts the cycle that live rock alone can do much better at.

 

Thanks alot for the help! ill keep this updated as i go about it, now i just need to know what i should put in there, and how much, do you think 20lbs of sand will be enough to make a DSB? and should i do live? or just dry sand to prevent a cycle? and i think im going to do chaeto and calurpa and maybe just skip the live rock? ive got plenty in my tank that it should do the job what are you thoughts on this?

 

cool, yeah i dont think you will regret it, i bet you get back on here after its been up and running and say how much you love it and wished you did it way earlier..at least i did..

but yeah grow the cal macro your tangs like and make sure it stays pruned, i dont know much about it other than it can turn asexual and spawn and pretty much wipe out your tank, do some research on it, but if i had tangs and that was there food of choice i wouldnt second guess growing it, but just be careful with it..And then throw some cheato in there and your set for mega trates and phates being sucked out..for the light, i have just an 8$ clip on desk lamp 40w from walmart, and i have 6700k spiraling type bulb, i think all total was under 20$