live rock vs. bio balls

In case anyone cares to know I replaced my bio-balls with live rock rubble last week. I did this because my nitrate level spiked on me. I noticed a difference in the water the next morning. It is clearer and nitrate free. Even the water in the sump looks cleaner. The protein skimmer hass less funk in it.
Just wanted to through this out there in case there were others who where considering it.
Sumary
The hard rock is definately better than the blue balls..
: :smartass2

 

Glad to hear things are looking better.

Bio balls and filter medium are nitrate traps for sure, live rock/rubble is the way to go!

 

nice choice with the live rock, imo natural biological filtration is always the best route...cheers.

 

I had bio balls in my wet/dry.After removing
all of them. My nitrates went from 10ppm to under 5ppm
almost over night.If I hadn't tested before and after I
wouldn't have believed it.Good choice.

 

Live rock all the way! I believe that most people use bio balls for FO tanks. Ugh but i do have bio bail in my skimmer...im to scared to move it XD

 

Bio-balls are important to keep the tank maturing. Once it reaches "maturity" you can replace them with LR or you may have a spike since young tanks could be succeptible to a spike.

The reason you get high nitrates is because of overfeeding and not enough good filtration so all that crap is lodged in the balls. If you had good pre-filters, food would not get lodged in the bio-balls. My filter is very well designed. I have a pre-filter detritus trap on my OF (catches about 80% of the crap); the water is then shot down to the main filter and it hits the skimmer first, then finally my 100 micron Pur-Flo filter! My bio-bale has never been cleaner. Also, my bale is much better than the balls since crap can't easily get trapped in it. But you get the idea, trap that detritus with good pre-filters/filters and detritus will not get lodged in your bio-balls, atleast not as much. ;D Otherwise, good to hear LR worked for you well.

 

Ya...thats why im thinking of taking out my bio bale...my skimmer is hang on so all the crap gets stuck there...plus my tank is almost 3...so i guess that mature ...maybe i will try to do a sump...but then im gona have alot of piping...ugh

 

The piping isn't as bad as you might think. I have a plastic border on the back of mine now ( will have to do until I paint it) and I have my sump hid underneath the stand. All the drain and fill tubing runs directy behind the tank, You can't even see it. I love it.