bioballs or no balls?

Mortgaged Reefs · Sep 2, 2012

I have a 30 gal reef tank with a small 8gal refugium with deep sand bed, live rock, cheto, and a 10k bulb. I have my ocerflow full of bioballs. What are some good resources for the FACTS about bioballs in a reef tank. I have heard mixed reviews. Thanks

bknapp · Sep 2, 2012

I would leave them out, everything I have read says that they are a detritus trap and will in turn raise Nitrates. If there is a spot in your sumo for them I would just substitute some live rock in it's place. Just my $ .02. No experience with them. Hopefully someone who has run them before will chime in.

Dowtish · Sep 2, 2012

+1 to above. You will get much more surface area on live rock for biological filtration. Just add some LR rubble in your sump, and throw the bio balls out. more trouble than they are worth.

Young Frankenstein · Sep 2, 2012

I use bio balls with no problem, in my 20g denitrator, actually i use 20g of them :) if used properly are beneficial, if not they are a nitrate factory. In your case under high flow they will be beneficial, in a low flow you would have to keep them clean.

Connie · Sep 2, 2012

I started out with bioballs in my 90g. I had nitrates out the roof so I took the balls out and added cheato and rock rubble. I have had 0 nitrates since. The refugium and sump seem to look a lot cleaner.

muteturkey · Sep 2, 2012

I know of a 280 gallon reef that has a simple trickle filter with bio balls that has been successful for 20+ years. Never reads nitrates. I don't see where people get bio balls are a nitrate factory. The 3 running reefs at my house all have bio balls and have never read more than 10 nitrates and that's only if they go for more than 4 weeks without a change. I'm not trying to slam everybody, this hobby is based around people's experiences and opinions so there will be differences, I just haven't seen happen to anyone I know.

Dowtish · Sep 2, 2012

I am fully aware that bio balls can work, Ive seen them. I think it really comes down to how you maintain your tank. I had a canister filter on my reef for awhile and it worked fine. But i cleaned it religiously. I just think there are more efficient ways to maintain parameters without all the work.

thirty5 · Sep 2, 2012

having them in an overflow is a problem IMO. you need yo have water pass through a filer sock or a filter pad first. ssame goes with live rock in a sump. you don't water flowing through them first that will dep cause the detritus to get caught. I am not a fan at all if you already have like rock. it really is not needed.

just my 2 cents..

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Mortgaged Reefs · Sep 3, 2012

Great thoughts everyone... but does anyone know of any studies done with concrete facts i could dive into? Seems like a lot of opinions at this point. But not with the risk. I may need to get a couple pounds of rubble rock. Any ideas on where to get rubble rock?

muteturkey · Sep 3, 2012

Most local fish stores will have rubble rock.

gmoney243 · Sep 3, 2012

Bio balls are simply designed for fish only tanks that don't have enough live rock/ surface area to allow proper breakdown of ammonia into nitrates. With live rock or a tank that has plenty of area for bacteria there's no need for bioballs. The reason people say bioballs are nitrate factories is because generally organics get stuck in there and if not cleaned can become a nit/phos factory. This is why trickle filters have a pad on top to stop all that junk from going into bioballs. Either u use bioballs or live rock using both is redundant. Just google bioballs not really to much to research.

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Mortgaged Reefs · Sep 3, 2012

OK, so I had the balls in for about a month. I took them it tonight and siphoned the area, it was full of detritus. I tested the levels and to my levels and to my surprise, everything was perfect. Pseew... earth too risky for me. I put the bio balls in originally to help my brother jump start his new tank by growing bacteria from mine. Thanks for the comments.

Connie · Sep 4, 2012

I'm sure bioballs will work just fine for a lot if not most people. It just didn't work for me because I feed my livestock heavier than necessary, therefore, the balls were a nitrate factory. It's much easier for me to clean the fuge and sump without them. Every situation is different and really comes down to your preference. Keep us posted and let us know what you went with. :roll: