Bio Ball question

[rosco]

can too many bio balls cause the nitrates in the water to increase. and can too many bioballs compete with live rock for bacteria

 

[daniel411]

It's advised that you take out approximately a 1/4 of your bio-balls each month during a water change. Rinse them off in the old aquarium water, than add them back into the biobal chamber. This will remove most trapped deitrus which if left on its own would raise nitrate levels over time.
Regarding the bacteria. The bacteria will be competeing against ITSELF for food. It will grow on your bio-balls, live rock, etc. How much food in your aquarium will determine how much coverage they have. To my knowledge.

 

[falconred]

noway i run over 700 gal with lots of bio balls . marineland did a study with diffrent setups the only tank that showed nitrates was the tank with no skimmer