tiffbritty
Member
my bio-balls in my wet/dry filter are covered with sand /dust from my switch from cc to dsb. over a week ago, should i clean them or what should i do. will it afect the job they are supposed to do if i leave them along? 
bio-balls covered in sand dust
- Thread starter tiffbritty
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broomer5
Active Member
I've got a similar situation here.
On your next water change, you can siphon some of your tank water into a clean plastic bucket, reach in a remove the bioballs and just swish them around in the bucket of old tankwater.
Then place them back in your wet/dry and turn the pump back on.
I've done this several times now and then to remove detritus and that dusty gray/brown stuff that collects on them.
Just good basic maintenance practice to do once in a while.
If done quickly - no harm to bacteria in my estimation.
On your next water change, you can siphon some of your tank water into a clean plastic bucket, reach in a remove the bioballs and just swish them around in the bucket of old tankwater.
Then place them back in your wet/dry and turn the pump back on.
I've done this several times now and then to remove detritus and that dusty gray/brown stuff that collects on them.
Just good basic maintenance practice to do once in a while.
If done quickly - no harm to bacteria in my estimation.
broomer5
Active Member
tiffbritty,
Please do not get rid of your bioballs if you have fish or inverts in this tank.
Your DSB is young and not established yet as a primary biofilter.
I believe removing them all at once would be a big mistake.
If you decide later to go with just live rock and living sandbed as biofiltration - that would be fine - but any removal of bioballs should be done slowly over an extended period of time ( weeks/months ), and only after your DSB has had a chance to mature somewhat.
Not knocking the above advise - just stating a precaution that I feel is important to be aware of that was not mentioned.
If you're already well aware of this - then kindly disregard.
Please do not get rid of your bioballs if you have fish or inverts in this tank.
Your DSB is young and not established yet as a primary biofilter.
I believe removing them all at once would be a big mistake.
If you decide later to go with just live rock and living sandbed as biofiltration - that would be fine - but any removal of bioballs should be done slowly over an extended period of time ( weeks/months ), and only after your DSB has had a chance to mature somewhat.
Not knocking the above advise - just stating a precaution that I feel is important to be aware of that was not mentioned.
If you're already well aware of this - then kindly disregard.
tiffbritty
Member
hi boomer5 i'm not getting rid of them i was more concerned, if they will still do their job even though they have the sand dust from the change.also my water was is not yet crystal clear. its been over a week friday will be 2 weeks. is this normal? lost some feather duster in the change some did survive. <img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" />
broomer5
Active Member
Having very fine sand dust on the plastic bioball surfaces would not prevent the bacteria on the bioballs from growing on the sand dust either - in my opinion.
Bacteria grow in the sandbed - they should grow on the sand dust too.
One reason I like to swish the bioballs occassionally in some old tankwater is to remove detritus and any other trapped wastes may accumulate. Just as it's a good idea to blow detritus off of live rock - I've always thought it was wise to blow off detritus from the balls.
I run a reef tank with live rock and living sandbed, refugium, no skimmer and things are doing great.
I run another tank with bioballs in a wet/dry with DSB and skimmer, and limited amount of live rock and things are doing great in that tank too.
Go figure .. huh
It may take quite some time for a tank's water to clear after adding a new deep sandbed. Lot's of very fine particles to settle, become populated with bacteria and look crystal clear again. Amount of circulation and any mechanical filtration ( or lack of ) will affect the time it takes to clear too.
Clear water is great - but if a little cloudy from dust/sand - no big deal in my mind.
It will eventually clear up.
Bacteria grow in the sandbed - they should grow on the sand dust too.
One reason I like to swish the bioballs occassionally in some old tankwater is to remove detritus and any other trapped wastes may accumulate. Just as it's a good idea to blow detritus off of live rock - I've always thought it was wise to blow off detritus from the balls.
I run a reef tank with live rock and living sandbed, refugium, no skimmer and things are doing great.
I run another tank with bioballs in a wet/dry with DSB and skimmer, and limited amount of live rock and things are doing great in that tank too.
Go figure .. huh
It may take quite some time for a tank's water to clear after adding a new deep sandbed. Lot's of very fine particles to settle, become populated with bacteria and look crystal clear again. Amount of circulation and any mechanical filtration ( or lack of ) will affect the time it takes to clear too.
Clear water is great - but if a little cloudy from dust/sand - no big deal in my mind.
It will eventually clear up.
tiffbritty
Member
thanks for your input boomer i'll keep you updated.getting some more live rock soon and a new fish or 2 <img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" />