Why not a wet/dry with bioballs with a reef tank?

[forddna]

For what reason do people with reef tanks not use bioballs? I know it's not necessary, but I keep hearing people say that if you're planning on doing a reef tank, you don't want bioballs.

[birmy]

Nitrate traps.

[rick s]

There is no problem using bio balls with a reef tank IF you take them out occasionally and rinse them off. If you simply install them and leave them there, detritus can build up amongst them and that is what can lead to elevated nitrate levels.

[aaron7405]

I prefer to use filters socks, you just have to wash them and it will keep your water clean and will last forever

[forddna]

I'm not understanding something. FO and FOWLR tanks are okay with the elevated nitrate and corals and such are not? Is that the difference? I'm not understanding why FO/FOWLR keepers are okay with bioballs and why reef (corals, inverts, etc) keepers are not.

[aaron7405]

Because corals are more sensitive to nitrates, for growt and coloration. Fish has no problems with a certain amont of nitrates in the water.

High Nitrates will lead to sooner or later algae bloom.

[forddna]

Perfect. Thanks!

[LisaD]

some fish ARE sensitive to nitrates - and IMO many that seem to tolerate them may suffer long term health effects or shortened life. as much as I can, I try to keep nitrates as low as possible in all my tanks, including my FOWLR tanks.

[Titus07]

so suppose I have a wet/dry will balls. Do I replace the balls with anything or just use the extra space to put more water?

[lesages]

You could put more rock in there in you want. More rock will give you more low-oxygen area to process nitrate. Bio-balls suck for that because they are in a high-oxygen area. Just make sure you keep it clean of detritus.

[law086]

Bio-balls in a trickle filter (high oxygen environment) are very, very good at processing water via the nitrogen cycle to the point of ending up with nitrate. Once ammonia, etc end up as nitrate, it stays in the tank until removed with a water change.

Using live rock (or a nitrate reactor), the low oxygen areas deep within the rock complete the nitrogen cycle and convert nitrate into nitrogen gas hence completing the nitrogen cycle and removing nitrate.

As mentioned above, many fish will tolerate elevated nitrate levels (this is especially the case with freshwater fish) hence the wet/dry setup is a great bio-filter. With a mini-reef system, elevated nitrate can tend to be problematic for the more sensitive specimens, hence the use of live rock over bio-balls.

Ron

[forddna]

"hence the use of live rock over bioballs."

Okay, so say I have a 120g tank and I plan on having 150lbs of live rock. Can I still get away with a bioball setup?

[THP]

I would get rid of the bioballs and run your piping (that which drains from the tank) down closer to the bottom of your sump. This way, you won't get the loud splashing water noises that will happen after removing the splash guard (bioballs).

Just my .02c

[forddna]

Okay, thanks. I'm just asking because I am working on getting this tank setup, and the sumps that are setup for bioballs are so much more easily available locally, both new and used.

I'm also trying to learn as much as I can, so I ask why and why not.

[no1fishman]

Just keep the bio balls cleaned regularly and have a method to export nitrates once they form and wet/dry bio ball filtration is fine. It's really hard to keep bio balls clean, use a filter sock or a sponge trap before the wet/dry will help. Just clean the traps 2x weekly or they become a nitrate factory as well.

[bdare]

Originally posted by forddna
Okay, thanks. I'm just asking because I am working on getting this tank setup, and the sumps that are setup for bioballs are so much more easily available locally, both new and used.

I'm also trying to learn as much as I can, so I ask why and why not.

Wet/dry filters are more availible that empty fish tanks??? Don't buy one... build it. It will cost you a FRACTION of the price. There is tons of information here about how to build your own sump. Here's mine just starting out...

[DarG]

If ypu want to buy a sump that is set up for bio-ball use, you can still use it. Just dont use the bio-balls. Use that area for a filter sock or for nothing at all. You will get all the biological filtration that you need from the live rock itself or the live rock and sand bed if you use a substrate. No sense in adding an additional potential source of nitrate to the aquarium when the biological filtration is already taken care of by the live rock.

[law086]

If you have 150 pounds of live rock, I would recommend not using bio-balls. Just like the rock process your nitrogen cycle as others have mentioned.

Making a sump is very easy or like the others said, just use a trickle filter without the bio-balls.

Best of luck,
Ron