Should I ditch the BioBalls?

Plain and simple. Should they stay or should they go? Im having terrible nitrate issues and they could be the cause. How should I replace them? What should I replace them with?

 

Nothing but dirt traps that become nitrate factories IMO and I would get em out.

 

You don't need to replace them with anything if you have live rock in your tank. If you wish to keep them you will need to clean them weekly or sooner. If you remove them take out no more then 1/4 each week.

 

I took 1/3 a week out and never tested any change in ammonia or nitrite..after a month Nitrates dropped to 0

 

yep, i agree. remove them a little at a time each week until they are gone.

 

you can add live rock or base rock rumble down there in place of the bioballs if you want. thats what i did.. took me 4 weeks to get them out of there.

 

Yea i would ditch em if you think the nitrate issue is coming from the bio balls. But i would do it over a months time like stated in posts b4 me and maybe just put some LR down there but i dont think you have to replacing it with anything if you have a good amounts of LR in DT.

 

I think ill go with ditching them. A few of you know about my extreme nitrate problem that I'm having. Should I go ahead and take out 1/4 now or wait till the nitrates drop drop?

 

take out 1/4 every 6-7 days.. and monitor your nitrates, nitrites, and amon.

 

go ahead and take some out.

also, live rock rubble can do the same thing as bio balls. if anything i would use large chuncks of live rock. at least large enough to pick up, rinse with powerhead....something to that affect. even the LR in your DT should be blown off once and a while. turkey baster, power head works
great