Live Rock Instead of Bio-Balls in w/d

Hey everyone. So havin some troubles with nitrates in my 90, were down to zero, and within a week, week and a half they were back up to twenty. I believe most of it came from some hermits dieing, as well as some partial over feeding by the dad.

I remember while doing my research before getting into the hobby, that some (many?) people dont' use Bio-Balls in their sump, and instead, use Live Rock.

Currently, the reef has a MegaFlow w/d filter with the bioballs. From what I've read, this could lead to nitrates(my problem). I've never cleaned it (can't find anything if I should), so few questions:

1.) Considerin the tank has been up since end of july, and never cleaned the bioballs/wet dry, are the bioballs contributing to my nitrates rising?

2.) Based on everyones experience, should I switch from bioballs to LR, or will cleaning them resolve the issue?

Thanks for the time and help.

 

Switching from bio balls to LR is up to you. But which ever one you go with, you should rinse them out every now and then. Both will trap detritus and cause problems if not maintained properly. As for your nitrates there might be other reasons there so high, over feeding, over stocking just to name few.