Bio balls...

I have a 29g Biocube and it comes with a small sump the majority (2nd area) filled with bio-balls. The purpose of these are supposed to provide a bazillion surfaces for water to trickle over and oxegenate and get ride of bad.

Question: do they work? Is there a down side? Is there a better way?

My next project is to try to build an ATS (algae scrubber) to help me control that growth in my tank. I am in the planning stages now trying to figure out should I build a full blown fuge with a different skimmer (also in question) and my ATS. I don't know if it is possible to build a refugium/sump/ATS combo. Space is a premium, as is my wife's happiness. (do NOT get me started) LOL

As usual, I want it all and I want it NOW. Hey, it is what we men do.

do they work?

bio-balls is pretty much old school, If you were going to have this tank with fish only and No Live Rock You Need some type of Bio-filtration. and Bio-balls is a great Bio-filtration Factory, but if your using Live rock Bio-balls is not needed Live Rock should be all the bio-filtration one needs.

Is there a down side?

The Down side of using Bio-balls with LR is to much bio-filtration can promote un wanted Nutrients, that produce fuel for un wanted algaes.

Is there a better way?

Natural is always IMO your Best route, LR and a Good skimmer is basicly one of your Best methods.

As usual, I want it all and I want it NOW. Hey, it is what we men do

This is Not a good rule to go by in this hobby, you have to remember the "Earth was not Created in one day".

I always toss the bioballs, if you use them they have to be taken out and cleaned regularly which is gross and a pain the rear. Otherwise they just trap nutrients and cause your nitrates to rise.

toss the bio-balls... They tend to work for the first parts of the nitrogen cycle but can cause a buildup of nitrate over time. LR is much better.

Remember the fuge and ATS are basically doing the same thing. There are pros and cons of each setup. I am running a fuge and skimer in mine and it seems to work well. The local fish store owner here in Fargo doesn't run a skimmer at all and just has a very efficient ATS. All 3 of these are competing for nutrients to export so all three may not be needed together.

It al depends on what way YOU want to run your tank and the types of maintenance you want to do. In time I wil be turning my fuge into a display fuge with different algaes and plants as well as a grow out area for mushrooms and zoas of different kinds. Just personal preference I guess.

I am going to try a small ATS in addition to my fuge to see what happens to the fuge. If they work good together I may leave it and stop the use of GFO for a bit and see what happens.

So are you saying fill the 2nd stage with LR instead of bio balls? i get that that are not "necessary" or duplication. Do I just have nothing in my sump area 2?

"Nitrate" generators would explain why I am having an algae problem.

Still scratching my head.... over do I chuck them and put LR in my sump or nothing at all in that 2nd stage area?

Nannook wrote:So are you saying fill the 2nd stage with LR instead of bio balls? i get that that are not "necessary" or duplication. Do I just have nothing in my sump area 2?

"Nitrate" generators would explain why I am having an algae problem.

Still scratching my head.... over do I chuck them and put LR in my sump or nothing at all in that 2nd stage area?

Yes chuck them. A litte at a time if thay have been in there for a long time. Put has much LR as you can in to the sump.

Or yo could stick some cheto in there to.

Home_Depot wrote:Or yo could stick some cheto in there to.

and sand or mud

I have a sapphire skimmer in that chamber, i got rid of the bio-balls for that reason. I am looking to upgrade my 29 biocube, have you done anything to yours?

Hi Brad, I upgraded my lighting, one of my ballasts went out, so I ordered a 4 bulb 144w kit from nanotuners.com It was 180 bucks with a fan upgrade to variable speed. I did a modification to allow for my carbon cartridge filter above the second chamber of my sump. (first chamber housing my heater and skimmer. Anyway the biocube is a nice compromise with my wife who does not want a huge tank.

Cheto I get, but sand or mud? Serious? Wouldn't that eat up my pump? Won't I need light for my Cheto? There is a clear pane in the back of my 2nd chamber, I wonder if I could "manufacture" a trough with an ATS curtain and a light to come in the back. hmmmm, I may try to experiment with that. Thank you for the thought porker, or provoker is the word.

I didn't use my back chambers for squat, live rock rubble is just another thing to clean out and in such a small tank I can't see it actually doing anything useful, sand again would just be a mess. In my 12 gallon I had the heater in one chamber and pump in the last, that was it. In my 24 gallon I ripped off that whole section because it seems like a huge waste of space just to hide the heater and was hard to get the pump in and out to clean, not to mention I couldn't fit a big enough pump back there for the flow I needed and had to add an in tank powerhead anyways. However I believe there's a skimmer or two that fit in the back chambers now if you want, the sapphire is one and I think the nano tunze might work too.

Well bio balls are removed, a little rubble and a ATS 1.0 I will try to post pictures tomorrow and see how my Algae garden grows. Is the biocube brand skimmer not good?