what wrong with my balls?

[reefer415]

hello all,

 

this is my first posting after countless hours of reading and gathering information.

 

heres my question, what wrong with the bio balls in the JBJ nano cube? its seems as if everybody is removing them and turning the back into a fuge. does it affect the water quality keeping them in there? and if i was to remove them should i do that now as opposed to later?

 

i just started my nano with the jbj cube, 20 lbs of LS and 10-11 lbs of LR

 

 

thanks

 

 

heres some pics, how does it look so far?

 

 

 

 

 

Moderator note: Picture of balls missing in action. Do you require assistance? Welcome to NR. Please remember this is a family friendly message board.

[darwin604]

Well, with a tank full of live sand and live rock, those things arent too useful. Theres tons of areas in the main tank for nitirfying bacteria tp develop. A fuge is much more beneficial since you can use it for many more things. You can add sand / rock, add some macro algae for nutrient export, good safe 'pod breeding area, etc etc.

[reefer415]

heres a pic, my previous attempts had pics too large

[reefer415]

another pic

[reefer415]

any digital picture taking tips?

ie,

flash/no flash/auto?

image size?

number of pixels?

etc?

[Reefmaniac]

Bioballs are basically too efficient and overpower the aerobic bacteria in your rock/sand. They will then end up trapping detritus and other material, allowing it to break down in a aerobic environment. In other words, there are no anaerobic bacteria to remove the resulting nitrates. The anaerobic bacteria in the tank can't keep up and nitrates go through the roof in a HURRY!

[treszoks]

Poor subject line LOL.

[Korbin]

lol

[mtglore]

Yeah, the subject line did make me a little nervous, especially with the attachment icon. But why did I look, regardless? Oh man, I've got some thinking to do...

[fishtankbabe]

Sounds like a medical problem. :x

 

 

[mapv281]

if you have a problem with your bawwlss then remove them

[reefer415]

so most people use bio balls in a wet dry type filter correct? in that case it is beneficial right? but since the bio balls are submerged it isnt doing any good? so if it was in a true wet dry system it would be ok? or are they only ok in a freshwater because of the LS?

[tinyreef]

Moderator note: [...] Please remember this is a family friendly message board. [/b]

when did this become a family friendly board? ???

 

 

the bioballs also don't provide a very good habitat for critters other than the bene bacteria. LR or LS can be molded/changed/tunneled by the inverts that constitute such an important part of the ecosystem we're all seeking to create. the nature of the plastic doesn't allow such animals to colonize them (e.g. resistant to their natural methods of tunneling).

 

i believe there's also a school of thought that notes the lack of bio-diversity on such an inert surface (plastic) can promote an occasional die-off (i.e. sloughing of layers of bacteria built up over each other over time) in such wet/dry systems. not a total meltdown but may cause slight spikes or elevated levels for a period.

 

 

 

 

Moderator note: ...the day I found out you had daughters... are they of-age yet?

[MGXsport]

are they blue?

 

haha

[reefer415]

........umm.....no actually they're the black ones that come with the nano cube. but i know which ones your talking about, most wet dry filters have blue balls

[TiGs]

Hahah!! he said blue balls

[MGXsport]

HAHA!!!

 

That is great!

[fishtankbabe]

Well, the wet/dry filters are very frustrated...