Bio Balls or Ceramic Bio Media. Is one better over other?

NShirke

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I've been reefing for almost a year plus now. I have had bio balls from someone else, which I used in filtration. I do use Carbon, Skimmer, and Chaeto to suck out dissolved/undissolved nutrients. Although po4 is super high, around 2-3, but corals are happy. Are their more benefits using ceramic bio media over bio balls? Can I continue using bio balls if my reef is happy? My personal motto, if aint broken, dont fix it. Wanted to understand what others think?

Below are other parameters -

Alk - 9-10
Cal - 440
Mg - 1390
ph - 8
temp - 77
 

AcroNem

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significantly more surface area in ceramic media, whether it be the ceramic balls, blocks or cylinders. Nothing wrong with plastic, they just require more of a wet/dry application to actually work properly and are now out dated by better medias.
 

ca1ore

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The argument goes something like this ….

Plastic structure of plastic bio-balls means that there is no internal surface area for denitrification thus they act as a nitrate 'factory'. Ceramic/rock like structure of more modern bio-media means there is internal surface area for denitrification and they mirror the performance of natural rock.

Whether there is actual scientific data to support this contention is less clear.

If I am looking for media to provide some kind of biological filtraiton, I always use cermaic type media. If I am looking for something to break up water flow (dissolving CO2 in a CaRx, for example) then I use bioballs.
 

Pntbll687

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Nothing wrong with running a wet/dry system.

If what you're doing is working and fish and coral are healthy then I wouldn't change anything.
 

Pntbll687

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The argument goes something like this ….

Plastic structure of plastic bio-balls means that there is no internal surface area for denitrification thus they act as a nitrate 'factory'. Ceramic/rock like structure of more modern bio-media means there is internal surface area for denitrification and they mirror the performance of natural rock.

Whether there is actual scientific data to support this contention is less clear.

The nitrate factory is more a product of poor maintenance and not cleaning detritus and build up in the sump. Canister filters get this reputation because people set them up poorly and then don't clean them as often as they should.
 

ca1ore

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The nitrate factory is more a product of poor maintenance and not cleaning detritus and build up in the sump. Canister filters get this reputation because people set them up poorly and then don't clean them as often as they should.

Proper husbandry is important of course, but the build up of nitrate is a function of BOTH input and output. If you have adequate export mechanisms, you could never clean your filter socks and have vanishingly low nitrate. Use of bio-balls in this case would be fine as they'd not be required to serve a denitrification role. Conversely, if you have inadequate export mechanisms, you could clean your filter socks hourly and would still have climbing nitrates. In this case, the use of bio-balls would mean that you lack a potentially effective reservoir of denitrification.

Hard to say where one tank could handle bio-balls and another could not. Lost of factors at play.
 
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NShirke

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@ca1ore , @Pntbll687, I know there is no right answer. Let's say for an instance, we agree to use "new" bio ceramic media as bio- balls are "outdated".

With use of Ceramic bio media, we can form a rock like formation. So, can we use ceramic bio media(ball/plates/cubes) within the tank? In this way, we have the biological filter to behave like rocks in the tank just like sump. Due to rock like formation, it can gel with other aquascape. It wont look shabby like plastic balls does.

It will eventually have live bacteria, so it will act like live rock. Plus, adding some more room for your coral, if we drill a holde in it.

Am i out of mind yet?
 

AcroNem

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@ca1ore , @Pntbll687, I know there is no right answer. Let's say for an instance, we agree to use "new" bio ceramic media as bio- balls are "outdated".

With use of Ceramic bio media, we can form a rock like formation. So, can we use ceramic bio media(ball/plates/cubes) within the tank? In this way, we have the biological filter to behave like rocks in the tank just like sump. Due to rock like formation, it can gel with other aquascape. It wont look shabby like plastic balls does.

It will eventually have live bacteria, so it will act like live rock. Plus, adding some more room for your coral, if we drill a holde in it.

Am i out of mind yet?

No, you aren't. I believe there was a ceramic "rock", shaped like a rock, made from the same marine pure ceramic as their other media that was made to be placed in your display and provide more biological filtration. It wouldn't matter where you placed ceramic media in your system, it will function mostly the same unless your goal is solely denitrification.
 

Pntbll687

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@ca1ore , @Pntbll687, I know there is no right answer. Let's say for an instance, we agree to use "new" bio ceramic media as bio- balls are "outdated".

With use of Ceramic bio media, we can form a rock like formation. So, can we use ceramic bio media(ball/plates/cubes) within the tank? In this way, we have the biological filter to behave like rocks in the tank just like sump. Due to rock like formation, it can gel with other aquascape. It wont look shabby like plastic balls does.

It will eventually have live bacteria, so it will act like live rock. Plus, adding some more room for your coral, if we drill a holde in it.

Am i out of mind yet?

You could put it in the display. I personally would not. I would keep it in the sump or canister.

I wouldn't put it in the tank simply because it wouldn't look very good, TO ME. It would eventually mature and become covered in bacteria and blend in, but not something I want to do. You could get some siporax or ceramic rings, which would be much easier to mount coral to.

Theres lots of ways to do things like mount corals. Here's Top Shelf Aquatics tank with lots of pvc pipe used to mount corals.
1591203528064.png


And here is that tank once filled in

1591203564811.png
 

ca1ore

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Seems to me it's mostly an aesthetic choice. There are some companies making artificial rock, LifeRock for example (I've used that in place of tonga branch rock). Then there are enterprising reefers who make their own artificial rock (a handful of threads here over the years). Mostly it gets grown over anyhow.
 

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