Do i have enough LR to ditch my BioBalls?

im not sure how much LR i have in my tank because i inherited it from a friend. So from the pic does it look like i have enough to remove the bioballs?
I am not completely sure that i want to remove them yet. My nitrates are only rising to 20ppm right before my weekly water change, so i dont think i necessarily need to change anything. I am just curious!

 

It's hard to judge weight without context and type of rock? What size is the tank? What type of rock is it?

 

If you want to lower your nitrates, feed less, wet skim and watch what else you add to the tank.

 

the rock is porous LR and the tank is 14gal? Just curious?

 

What if you took out the bio-balls and replaced it with some LR rubble?

 

that has crossed my mind, maybe ill try that if i do decide to remove them?

 

Same as running bio balls.

Bacteria will colonize what ever to to point of what the load can support. Ammonia and nitrites will be reduced regardless, the only question is do you have enough LR to support enough nitrate eating bacteria? I would say you do, but just a guess. your nitrate test will give you the answer.

 

my nitrates rise from about 10ppm - 20ppm each week in between water changes?

 

I don't know if it's the SAME. Much more surface area with the LR. But I understand what you are saying.

 

Actually, ceramic rings have the most surface area.

The problem is not surface area. The problem is the highly oxygenated zone the media is in. Great for breaking waste down to nitrates, but does not support oxygen hating bacteria. The nitrates then have no where to go but the water column. Using LR in the tank moves the bacteria to the LR...which in turn consumes the oxygen and produce low oxygen conditions deeper in the LR that can house the other bacteria.

Placing any sort of media in a wet dry filter does not change that. The bacteria will readily colonize that area because that is where the most food and oxygen are.