Rinsing bioballs?

[Zos4me]

Is it ok to rinse bioballs like once a month just to keep detritus down and keep the tank healthy?I know the bacteria is tough to kill.didnt know if it will do more harm than good.
Thanks

 

[ryanjohn1]

I’ve read that you should not. Dunno if that’s true but it’s what I’ve read. Ands don’t remember where. Are you talking in a reactor or the kindle you drop in a sump?

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

would not recommend it, but if they are dirty then yes clean them
i would say take out half and rinse, then replace.. wait a few days/week then do the other half
you dont want to kill off what you have growing already ,

 

[Zos4me]

I’ve read that you should not. Dunno if that’s true but it’s what I’ve read. Ands don’t remember where. Are you talking in a reactor or the kindle you drop in a sump?

Yes I have a evo all in one

 

[Dan_P]

Is it ok to rinse bioballs like once a month just to keep detritus down and keep the tank healthy?I know the bacteria is tough to kill.didnt know if it will do more harm than good.
Thanks

Bacteria are tough. I think that you are suppose to rinse the bio balls to remove the build up that can inhibit water flow and oxygen availability.. I would swish them in a container of tank water or new saltwater to dislodge any solids. Don’t over do it though.

 

[EricR]

Would swishing them around in old saltwater from water change work or are they too gunky for that?
*never used those plastic bioballs if that's what we're talking about

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

why not use plastic bioballs?

 

[Zos4me]

Would swishing them around in old saltwater from water change work or are they too gunky for that?
*never used those plastic bioballs if that's what we're talking about

No I have the marine pure

 

[ryanjohn1]

I run the brs bio balls in a reactor. Love them

 

[ryanjohn1]

No I have the marine pure

Those. Ok. You can vacuum the detritus out

 

[bushdoc]

Actually some manufacturers recommend to rinse them.
If you do , you have to options, either you rinse them in old tank water or you rinse half of them in RODI water And leave another half un rinsed, then after few months you rinse those.Reason for that is that some of bio media clogs easily and trap detritus.I wouldn’t rinse them once a month though, more like every 3-6 months or so, depending on your bioload.

 

[brandon429]

Interesting comparison between two examples

if bioballs are the only surface area in a quarantine, be careful how you rinse


but if these are bioballs in a display reef they are useless and not helping and not making a difference in ammonia control at all, and if you immediately removed them permanently nothing would change about your reefs ammonia control. Freezing, boiling or drying them or bleaching them or removing them wont ever matter


so, to answer your question we have to know if this is a display tank or a qt. There is no bioload in a display reef that exceeds what rocks carry and requires extra surface area. To use these in a display reef is from carry over training from freshwater keeping that tank bacteria just might not be enough

they’re always enough, in a display reef, due to rocks used.

 

[Zos4me]

Interesting comparison between two examples

if bioballs are the only surface area in a quarantine, be careful how you rinse


but if these are bioballs in a display reef they are useless and not helping and not making a difference in ammonia control at all, and if you immediately removed them permanently nothing would change about your reefs ammonia control. Freezing, boiling or drying them or bleaching them or removing them wont ever matter


so, to answer your question we have to know if this is a display tank or a qt. There is no bioload in a display reef that exceeds what rocks carry and requires extra surface area. To use these in a display reef is from carry over training from freshwater keeping that tank bacteria just might not be enough

they’re always enough, in a display reef, due to rocks used.

I have a fluval evo all in one and I am using them in the first chamber

 

[brandon429]

That size system can't carry bioload up front that would exceed what rocks could carry, these are neutral impact in your setup

It's true saltwater rinsing preserves the bacteria but in the context of the nano reef these bacteria are extras and would not crash the system if removed, due to live rock up front.
If the nano only had pvc pipe up front and was being used as qt they would be a critical link in the layout

 

[Zos4me]

That size system can't carry bioload up front that would exceed what rocks could carry, these are neutral impact in your setup

It's true saltwater rinsing preserves the bacteria but in the context of the nano reef these bacteria are extras and would not crash the system if removed, due to live rock up front.
If the nano only had pvc pipe up front and was being used as qt they would be a critical link in the layout

So are you saying there is no need for them?

 

[Crabby48]

I use marine pure to seed qt tanks. Always flush them out in a bucket of saltwater before moving. Also would do the same for the blocks in my tank.

 

[brandon429]

Absolutely no need for them in any reef display

the system handles ammonia equally well with and without them

why would this matter becomes the next question, they’re certainly no harm to have extra surface area in a system

because knowing exactly how biofilters work allows us to manage threads like this

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/official-sand-rinse-and-tank-transfer-thread.230281/page-54

where every job is removal of surface area. Notice the details that apply to your tank above: any reef on the internet can post there, we remove their entire sandbed plus their bioballs if applicable plus any bricks in the sump, leaving only live rocks, and we transfer the same fish bioload using only those rocks into new tanks.

and for 54 pages, no bottle bac added. We strip reef tanks that whole thread using the rule applied to yours: live rocks in the display are enough for all reefs. This information is used to prevent reef tanks from crashing as we plan to move and swap and upgrade them

post a pic of your reef, let’s see how much surface area is in the display

 

[brandon429]

They won’t hurt at all to use them so keep them if you like. But if you ever wonder if rinsing them too much would crash the tank, no for sure it wouldn’t

 

[Zos4me]

Absolutely no need for them in any reef display

the system handles ammonia equally well with and without them

why would this matter becomes the next question, they’re certainly no harm to have extra surface area in a system

because knowing exactly how biofilters work allows us to manage threads like this

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/official-sand-rinse-and-tank-transfer-thread.230281/page-54

where every job is removal of surface area. Notice the details that apply to your tank above: any reef on the internet can post there, we remove their entire sandbed plus their bioballs if applicable plus any bricks in the sump, leaving only live rocks, and we transfer the same fish bioload using only those rocks into new tanks.

and for 54 pages, no bottle bac added. We strip reef tanks that whole thread using the rule applied to yours: live rocks in the display are enough for all reefs. This information is used to prevent reef tanks from crashing as we plan to move and swap and upgrade them

post a pic of your reef, let’s see how much surface area is in the display

 

[brandon429]

For sure that fits the rule. Helps in planning to know their overall neutrality in the system~