Confused about sump

[Nat61299]

What will happen if I take out the Bio-Balls and baffle sponge from my sump? I saw a post that addressed this but cant find it.. is that a better way to go? what functions will I lose/gain?
Not sure on the gallons, i think 10, and its a Oceanic w/ my return and skimmer in the mail compartment.
Thanks to whoever takes the time to expain this to me.
Natalie

[Nat61299]

oops..I meant MAIN compartment..

[DaveJohnson]

The bioballs are acting as your biological filtration. The bioballs are extremely efficient at nitrification (ammo->nitrite->nitrate) but do not perform denitrification (nitrate->nitrogen gas & oxygen) because they have no low level oxygen zones. It is in the no/low oxygen level zones that bacteria live in and consume the nitrate for the oxygen and release harmless nitrogen gas. So, you may have high nitrates if you use bioballs as your sole biological filter that you will have to export (water changes, coil, ATS, etc)

Many people use LR and/or DSB to remove nitrogen because the LR and DSB have these no/low (anaerobic and anoxic) oxygen regions where these types of bacteria live to perform denitrification, in addition to the oxygen loving bacteria which handle nitrification (porous LR and DSB have huge surface area) Thus the LR and DSB can process the nitrogen without other export means (given enough LR and/or DSB)

If you do decide to remove the bioballs, you need to ensure that you have enough of whatever else (LR, DSB, etc) to take over the biological filtration role. And remove them gradually to allow the bacteria colonies time to grow on the other media to replace those that you are removing (those living on the bioballs)

I see you have a 58 gal w/10 gal sump. How much LR do you have in there? What is your substrate? How deep?

Cheers,
Dave Johnson

[Nat61299]

i have about 70 lbs of LR...w/ pretty much a bare bottom, just a little crushed coral

[DaveJohnson]

What are your nitrates? What sort of tank, FOWLR or reef?

I'm not familiar with a baffle sponge. Is it acting as a mechanical filter? If so, do you rinse/clean it often?

Cheers,
Dave Johnson