bio ball ?

[Ben485]

I have bio-balls in my internal overflows via suggestion of my lfs. I've been reading that they are bad as far as producing nitrates. my tank has only been cycled for about 2 months, so I want to fix this before it's a problem. can I clean them every so often, or do they need to go? if they need to go I need to put something in there so my living room doesn't sound like a waterfall. LR rubble maybe? or something less expensive. info. that you might need to know: 180 lbs LR, 120 lbs LS, w/dry w/ LR(not balls), gx1 skimmer, corner overflows, refuge.
thanks
ben

[uscharalph]

Bio balls will need to be cleaned regularly. LR rubble is a much better solution.

[BangkokMatt]

I would remove them altogether. Take a handful out every couple of days.
You can get rid of the 'waterfall' by putting in a Durso Standpipe. They are easy and cheap to make, easy to install and are very effective. Here is the website with all instructions.
http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

[aaron L]

Get rid of them. Replace with LR.

[Burbs]

if you have LR you dont need them

[icliao]

Some old FO system use minimal or no liverocks altogether. Those system requires bioball as the sole biological filtration. It seems that you have enough LR unless you have tons of fish. I personally do not have any bio balls in any of my systems ever.

[Ben485]

thanks guys, anybody else want to chime in?

[jamiep]

I( use bio balls and they can be fine. They just need washed every once in a while, but yes I will be changing to live rock rubble in due course!

[WDWDen]

I have been slowly removing my balls. I have a FO system. Its a 180 gallon system with another 50 gallons in the sump. I now have about 230 lbs of LR and 30lbs of LS. I have 3 medium size fish and a med. eel. They are pretty messy eaters. Do you think its safe to remove all of my balls, or should I leave some in there to help out the LR?

[reefergeorge]

In a FO bio balls are great. They are very good at changing ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates. They just need to be kept clean.

[coast2coast7390]

bioballs are good and are clean....if you prefilter the water before the bioballs have a chance to do anything...

had them in my reef tank...never had a problem because i used them right

[coast2coast7390]

people think that LR rubble in a wet dry work better...they dont because they are not submerged dont look dirty because they are already brown...trust me they get dirty