Bio Balls

[Jamie]

Just putting my experience out there for other newbies...

I had 9 gallons of bioballs as a part of my sump for the firsts 4 months of my tank being set up. My nitrates weren't bad...but I couldn't get them below 5-10 ppm. I removed the bioballs 2 weeks ago and tested my water the other day....not even a trace of ntirates left. I guess there's validity in the notion that bioballs are nitrate factories.

[envy]

true thats why many people go with ruble rock or a sock for there sump.

[bigmoe21]

i have seen a tank that uses bioballs...this tank is a 30g with a giant cap atleast like 20" in diameter and it didnt start out that way..and his means of filtration is a wetdry..complete with bioballs..he says if you use them right then you dont have problems...

[alton]

I have a two hundred that has been set up since 1999 I run a filter pad on top of my bio balls and nitrates are below 5. As a matter of fact I had to add nitrates a couple of weeks ago because I had no nitrates and my corals started to crash. On my 158 set up since 2003 I do not run a filter pad because my corals do not do well if i do. The nitrates are below 5ppm in this tank. I do not know if something got stuck in your bio balls and was creating ammonia? Nitrates can only survive if they are fed in the nitrogen cycle. If you run bio balls then run a filter pad on top, because to the best I my knowledge that is how Dan designed the wet dry system.

[longhorna95]

I have to agree with Alton, i use bio balls and have not had a problem with nitrates, and when testing my water at the lfs they said i might want to remove my filter pad bc they where almost unreadable. something must have gotten traped in your balls.