Bio Balls. Whats the deal?

[bpoore89]

All I read over and over and over again is how horrible bio balls are and that they are nitrate heaven. But bio balls are just surface area for bacteria to grow on am I correct? Doesnt LR do the same thing? My reason for asking is that it would be easier for me to put bio balls in my sump rather than lr. So whats up with the bad rep. Is there something Im missing lol

[mbbuna]

bioballs are good at converting ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates but because bioballs dont have any deep crevises/ oxygen deprived spaces they can support a different type of bacteria that converts nitrates to nitrogen gas so there final product is nitrates.

some liverock is large enough to support these bacteria as well as deep sand beds.

FWIW if you have live rock in your tank you really dont need it in your sump. it will end up catching detritus and make the sump harder to clean

[m2434]

There are two primary issues.

1) Bio-balls can accumulate detritus and other junk. Due to the location, most organisms, such as fish snails, pods etc.. can't feed on it and remove it. As a result, it can break down and release excess nutrients such as nitrate as well as anything else contained in it, into the water column.

2)It is not an anerobic environment and therefore denitrifying bacteria can't grow on it and only nitrification occurs. It is fairly well established that denitrification is most efficient in close proximity to nitrification. Because the nitrification is now happening further from denitrification (LR/LS) not as much denitrificaiton occurs and nitrate levels may rise. To make it worse, the bio-media is exposed to oxygen, increasing the efficiency of the nitrifying bacteria on it. The result is that the bio-medias bacteria out competes the LR/LS for the majority of the ammonia/nitrite and less nitrification occurs on the LR/LS. The result is that the denitrifying bacteria is even less efficient.

[greenbean36191]

Bioballs are a great surface for the bacteria that convert ammonia and nitrite into nitrate. However, the bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrogen do most of their work in areas with very little or no oxygen. Bioballs don't provide a suitable habitat for them, but because LR has internal surface area too it does give them a place to live with low oxygen.

Basically the bacteria on the surface of LR can break ammonia down to nitrite and then nitrate and then the bacteria inside the rock can take it all the way to nitrogen. With bioballs the bacteria only live on the surface and can only break it down to nitrate and then it goes back into the water to be processed somewhere else.

Edit: Man I'm slow.

[mysterybox]

"Why are bio balls bad?"

Bio balls are exceptionally good at converting ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate, but their effectiveness stops there. If they are your main source of filtration, nitrates will probably accumulate in your tank, causing algae growth and other problems, like reduced stony coral growth, and eventually (if they get high enough) stress in marine fish. If you have bio balls in your system now, your best option is to slowly remove them over a period of a few weeks in order to give the rest of your system a chance to develop natural mechanisms of nutrient export. Do NOT remove them all at once!


Take out the bioBalls, Nitrate factorys they are.

[m2434]

Originally posted by greenbean36191

Edit: Man I'm slow.

Popular topic apparently - 4 reply s in 5 minutes

[mysterybox]

anyway, just get rid of the balls!

[bpoore89]

I dont have any lol. The whole question was to add them or not. Everything you guys are saying, makes it clear to me. I was confused on why they are bad (because they dont convert past nitrate) thanks guys!

[Travis L. Stevens]

Ya, it's not that they are "bad", but it just doesn't finish the job