Hi all: sorry if I have missed the answer to this question somewhere else . I am starting to set up a 180 gal mixed reef tank, this being said I have always used a fluval filter with bio balls, filter medium and carbon. Somewhere in the talking reef I heard Rob saying that bioballs are a no for a mixed reef? I would like to know what the difference is? I sure would not want to get off on the wrong track with this tank. Would appreciate if anyone could point me to the answer for this one. Thanks for takeing the time to respond. I don't do much posting but sure try to visit the forum often, great info. Thanks Dassystem1
thanks for the question, heres is the basic reasoning..
bio filtration media, whether bio-balls in a wet/dry, or bio media in a HOB filter wheel, canister filter or other type of filter are designed and are effective in reducing nitrites in your tank.
nitrites are very deadly to fish, so you would employ a unit like this to reduce them.
the problem is that the process in which nitrate is eliminated produces nitrates.
in a FO tank, this is not a huge deal as nitrates are not immediately dangerous to fish.
but in a reef tank, where you house a lot of inverts and coral, nitrates in even a small amount are a serious concern
in a reef tank its better to achieve a more well rounded filtration system using other natural methods such as LR, LS (in a DSB if you choose to do this), aggressive skimming, and such.
if you choose to employ a bio filter such as bioballs or such, you have to perform regular cleaning and care for the unit to prevent it from causing problems. and in most cases its may be more work than its worth
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I have never used bio-balls but here is what I understand. Bio-balls are fine for FO tanks. They build up aerobic bacteria that breaks NH4 to NO2 to NO3. There is not an anaerobic zone to process the NO3 to nitrogen gas so the NO3 just keeps building up. NO3 is not conducive to corals keeping corals.
Here is how I look at filtering a reef tank. You want your system to kinda mimic the ocean, right? So I try to filter my tank naturally with just Live Rock and a top of the line Skimmer. To me, it seems the majority of systems are setup this way.
I don't care for the idea of using carbon unless absolutely needed such as for soft coral competition. In new tanks, no need for it imo.
Natural, natural, natural is the only way to go for me!
I didn't really hit the initial question, but just say no to bio-balls.
Yep I think I get the general idea. I have been lead down the wrong road for a lengthy time I understand now. I have learned a lot the hard way and many dollars later. I am not exactly new to the hobby as I have tried to maintain a mixed 60 gal tank for 5-6 yrs. Thats maybe not a long time, but I am still learning everyday, but I assume that there are many others as well. Its a shame I have lost literally thousands of dollars over the years because of lack of knowledge and misinformation by some LFS. Not only the bucks but the misfortune of corals and fish. But I am doing much more research on my own and not always jumping to first minute decisions anymore. Well enough of my miserable history and I look forward to a better future with you guys. I am always looking at your discussions even though I post infrequently. Das
Glad you are here Das. It's very hard to think of naturally filtering your tank especially if you have done it one way for so long or either made the jump into saltwater from freshwater. Just so hard to think of filtering in any other way, other then with lots of equipment added to your system.
How to run a reef tank changes so much and it's a lot to keep up. There are so many unknowns, but I think we now know that live rock and a skimmer is the best way to filter, to the best of our knowledge. We just need to teach all the LFS's that.
We look forward to seeing lots of success with your new system. We'd love to see you post a tank thread journal on this big tank and watch the setup! Talk to you soon.
I am running two tanks without bio balls. I have a 55g long with a sump and a skimmer and a power head for flow, and I have a 39g Cube which has a hang on skimmer and a big power head for flow.
My 55g had been set up with the typical wet dry and skimmer for 2 years. I was constantly battling green algae on the glass. I was not able to get my nitrates to zero. I had a lion, maroon clown, wolf eel, and a tang.first I removed all the large fish and went to more of a reef set up to get the algae under control. No luck. Even with all the fish gone there was still mad algae groth on the glass. I let it run for a month and I never noticed a change. So after looking into the crazy idea I decided what the hell, so I removed the bio balls over a period of three weeks. I noticed the algae on the glass went from green to red after a significant portion of the balls were removed. Eventually I removed all the balls and shortly there after the algae stopped growing on the glass. The tank has about 90 lb of live rock and many macro algae. The water is now perfect, even after stocking with 5 reef fish.
The 39g cube was a fresh set up. I started in up about two months ago. It was started with no sump. I have a hang on skimmer, 60 lb of live rock and a power head. I have not seen much algae growth at all in this set up. The water parameters are perfect.
Im sold on the idea. Thanks Rob. I now tell my friends to forget the wet dry, and spend the cash on as much live rock as you can. VHO Light+Live Rock+Skimmer+Power Head-Wetdry=Perfict Marine Tank.
if u run an inline de-nitrification chamber after the bio-ball (never been a fan of buying plastic, prefer coral rubble) media soak can be employed in a marine tank, granted FO is the norm, but a reef tank can be achieved if u can deal with the nitate problem. i have seen many examples of this practice still in use on a very large scale!
So if ur commited to the practise & really want to use them u can make a D-nitro chamber, but flow rates dictate success, u can swing in ether court if its not calculated correctly on volume vs flow rate. >>>to fast, nitrites prevail & fail to convert, to slow u produce H2S (hydrogen sulphide) kinda deadly smelling rotten gas smell under 50ppm, but at 50-100ppm, its stops the nose from smelling. 300ppm is considered a high dose,>> 600ppm & this is the kicker here>>> is considered a toxic dose,which drops u to your knee's, which insidently is where the gas thats been leaking resides, cause its heaver that oxygen. thus unless u still have the wits about u to escape the fumes u cant smell anymore, ur cactus! it closely resembles the toxicity of cyanide, so yeah, just to add & re-enforce this discussion id proberly run it without them....lol, cause to massage out the possitives of this outdated system can be dangerous to your health!
bioballs a nitrate factory? 
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