Remove bio-balls & prefilter?

[tplummer]

Ok guys, I could use a little advice here. My system has been running for about a year and a half. Just finished reading the following thread
(http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=554786) and I'm considering removing the prefilter and bio-balls and
relying on raw water flowing into the skimmer.

system setup.


~100 gallon system (Ocenaic "reef - ready" Overflow has two inlets, one at surface, one about 8 inches below water line)
~100 pounds or so of live rock.
packed with corals (~25 or so frags, some very large)
Light fish load (5 small fish + 1 fire shrimp)
Trickle Filter
Aqua-C EV180 (Getting very little skimmate). This skimmer is rated up to 250 gallons or so.
I run carbon once a month for about 3-5 days
I dose DT occansionaly throughout the month.
I don't use a DSB (just few inches of sand here).


Questions (#2 is my biggest question)

1. The second overflow inlet is a concern in that the best water should be skimmed from the top. IS there any way to seal this off? Any concerns in doing this?
2. Is this really worth the effort in terms of getting better skimmate and a better performing system?
3. If I remove the bio-balls, what method should I use to keep the bacteria alive and well. Was thinking about just thowing them in a bucket after a water change
with the old water and pumping water over them at room temperature. If the water params don't improve (they're not horrible now), or if something goes south
I want to move them back in.

The skimmer has never produced tons of skimmate but I think it's just the pre-filter material and bio-balls. I generally make small incremental changes to my setup so this is
a big thing for me. Opinions??

Thanks in advance,
Travis

[Blown 346]

I would recommed to remove the bioballs slowly over a month or so until they are gone. The prefilter you could still use but it should be cleaned atleast once a week depending on how fast t gathers stuff.

[conspicman]

I 2nd the motion. Bio balls in the overflow=problems

[tplummer]

Actually I'm using a in-sump trickle filter. Nothing in the overflow except the plumbing. Moving it slowing out is definitly a good idea though.

Travis

[cutsupremetrib]

why are bioballs being concidered bad now..... I thought they were a good thing for a reef tank??

[tplummer]

I'm hearing 2 things

1. They tend to keep nitrate levels elevated in your tank because they tend to trap detritus
2. By trapping some of the organics before they reach the skimmer, the skimmer has no chance to physically remove them

[Blown 346]

Originally posted by cutsupremetrib
why are bioballs being concidered bad now..... I thought they were a good thing for a reef tank??

IN my opinion and many others Bio Balls haveno place in a reef system. In a fish only tank they would be fine since fish can handle the low side of nitrates, corals, inverts etc cannot. They will tolerate it and can die from it.
If you want some type of media under the drip tray I would use Liverock.

[cutsupremetrib]

interesting someone should tell dr's foster and smith this as they say they are safe and this is where i received mine from... I think I'll try the liverock idea