drnadz Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 why does everyone seem to remove the bio balls and ceramic pieces that come with our all in ones? just seems like extra biological filtration to me. one of the employees at my lfs has a very nice aquapod 12 running and it's bone stock with all the bio balls, ceramic, and carbon in it. he said he had heard of removing the balls too, but he believes leaving them in is better. what's the reason behind removing everything? Link to comment
BigAl07 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Bio Balls, Cermaic Rings and anything like that are GREAT for colonizing beneficial bacteria especially for Fresh Water and FO SW tanks. The problem is that the "detritus" accumulates within them and becomes a Nitrate Factory in short time. Yes you can take them out and CLEAN them of detritus but then you're also removing/killing all of the beneficial bacteria. Live Rock is a MUCH better source for that bacteria because it also harbors the oxygen free bacteria that converts nitrates to Nitrogen gas which then leaves the system. Without the O2 free zone DEEP within the ROCK you just keep building up more and more Nitrates in fact it can lead to DAILY water changes in some extreme cases. My NanoCube 12g DX even listed in the owners Manual that "Remove Bio-balls and Ceramic Media is this is to be a Reef Tank". So get them out Link to comment
usssturgeon187 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 i have bio-balls in the back of my tank . if i remove them what should i put in there place ? my tank has a wet dry filter i run flooded . Link to comment
burtbollinger Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 i have bio-balls in the back of my tank . if i remove them what should i put in there place ? my tank has a wet dry filter i run flooded . removing bioballs and ceramic rings has been the standard way of doing things since I've started lurking here daily since 2005.... as such, remove them.... Link to comment
StevieT Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 i have bio-balls in the back of my tank . if i remove them what should i put in there place ? my tank has a wet dry filter i run flooded . run chemical and mechanical filtraion only in your rear chambers Link to comment
usssturgeon187 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 run chemical and mechanical filtraion only in your rear chambers so a skimmer & carbon is what you would recomend ? how about lr also ? good or bad idea ? when i first started in reefing carbon was to be used in the cycle only . bio-ball were the way to go ! man i feel old Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 This same idea also applies to live rock rubble, no? Link to comment
rhunter513 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 isn't chemical and mechanical filtration the same thing as bio balls? I don't run anything at all in the back of my 24g nanocube. Link to comment
StevieT Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 No to the live rock rubble. It is the same as running bio balls, traps nitrates and detritus. For chemical you can run : chemi-pure and or purgen Mechanical: sponge or filter floss yes a skimmer is a good addition to any reef system. But you should use one along with chemical and always always run a sponge to where the water enters it first. This way junk and detritus get trapped first without going through your pumps. isn't chemical and mechanical filtration the same thing as bio balls? I don't run anything at all in the back of my 24g nanocube. no, not even close. Chemical media removes nitrates, bio balls trap them and allow them to grow. i would recommend running something, better safe then dead. Carbon does so much for water quality I would never think about running a tank without it. Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 isn't chemical and mechanical filtration the same thing as bio balls? I don't run anything at all in the back of my 24g nanocube. If you never clean or change them then yeah, they'd eventually turn into a nitrate factory like bio balls. Link to comment
usssturgeon187 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 thanks for the quick & informative replys ! i guess i hijacked this thread lol . so here is my situation please tell me what you think i should do . the water flows into a chamber that the skimmer is hooked up to it also has lr . then it spills into a spunge & trickes down to the bio balls . after that it goes into a third chamber where the return pump is . from what im gathering i should put a spunge where the water goes into the back before the skimmer . remove all the bio-balls & lr . them add a bag of chempure . the tanks has been cycled for about two weeks & has a false percula , skunk cleaner & ric . Link to comment
StevieT Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 sounds perfect sponge first then skimmer then chemipure then back into your display, that is what i gathered. Link to comment
usssturgeon187 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 thanks steve sounds like you know your s**t ( i mean stuff ) . now do you think that removing all that stuff ( lr & bio-balls ) will send my tank into chaos ? Link to comment
StevieT Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I just talk about it a lot, I really don't own a tank or even know what any of this stuff looks like in real life Well, yes and no. To be safe, remove the bioballs a handful at a time. Say once a week remove some. Because your tank isn't that old they are not part of your system yet. I would say rip them out, and it probably wouldn't hurt, but I don't need a lawsuit on my hands for wrecking your Sh!t. lol Do it over a two or three week period and you will be golden. You can also run purigen along with that chemi-pure, I run the both and am very satisfied with the results. Chemi-pure also cures cancer and will get you a hot date so it's always something to have in your possession. Link to comment
Capelaundry Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 +1 ^^ Chem-pure well also give you male enhancement....No not really, but it is awesome. Link to comment
usssturgeon187 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 so i can put chempure in my underware & purigen im my hair ? look out ladys here i come ! how much chem filtration do you think i need for a 10gal ? how often should i replace them ? Link to comment
StevieT Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 so i can put chempure in my underware & purigen im my hair ? look out ladys here i come ! how much chem filtration do you think i need for a 10gal ? just one bag, should last around 4 months. Same with the purigen, which will turn blackish when it is spent. There is chemi-pure elite as well, which is more expensive but it will make your fish super strong and they will start farming food for themselves while doing water changes for you. Thats right, my fish do the water changes for me! Link to comment
rhunter513 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 StevieT - one should never have nitrates and thus a need for a chemical media to remove them - if you use it for that its just a band-aid and not a solution. Sponges/filter floss unless cleaned everyday will be just the same as bio-balls - create nitrates. Carbon is a great water polisher, imagine what happens to corals when you do a water change and also change your carbon - bleaching corals. Look it up, carbon is only good for a very short time and should be used in a low flow area, it shorty becomes a nitrate trap too. just my 2 cent s Link to comment
StevieT Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Looking at the nitrogen cycle, ammonia is converted into nitrite which is then converted to nitrates. So in that sense every tank has nitrates. It just depends on how you remove them. Waterchanges are key but chemical media does do a good job of this as well. Chemi-pure and purigen are not just carbon. I recently changed my water and my bag of chemi-pure, there was no bleaching. I keep my bag in a lower flow are where the water is free of detritus so the bags do not have a chance of collecting lots of junk. There would be no more junk in my bags than stuck in my live rock in my display or in my sand. Acutally there is a lot less My nitrates are at 0 every time I test Link to comment
usssturgeon187 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 so rhunter what would be your recomendations foor this situation ? Link to comment
Woobie Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I still havent got around to removing the bio-balls or sponge in my bc29 has been up for over a year. I have 22lbs of Fiji live rock in the main tank, Frog spawn, open brain, some small leather frags, some GSP, and green fuzzy mushrooms hosting a mated pair of clown fish. The only mod I have done was cut off the tab for more water flow from chamber 1 into chamber 2 and added chemi-pure elite on top of the stock bioballs. Link to comment
streetjudge79 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 That is exactly how I just set up my BC29 Woobie. Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Okay my turn to hijack. I'm currently modding an AC 70 into a fuge so I picked up some Chemi-Pure Elite thinking I'll have all the room for it. But now I look at it, I'm thinking I might not be able to fit the whole unit in there. I thought about putting just a small portion in there but the direction says not to divide. So is there any reason behind this? Is my tank going to burst into flames and explode if I open up the bag and use a just quarter of it? Link to comment
StevieT Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I can't see why you couldn't put it in a smaller bag. Besides the fire hazard Link to comment
usssturgeon187 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I can't see why you couldn't put it in a smaller bag. Besides the fire hazard is that why it burns when i put them in my pants ! Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.