Bio Balls how often should they be cleaned????

[mjm889]

I cleaned them for the 1st time today and they were nasty,long overdue i guess,hopefully this will help with my nitrate problem, i placed them into the a bucket and used tank water to break all the dirt, any other ideas on how to do this, also often should this be done i clean the filter pad every other week.

 

[spanko]

Your cleaning method is fine, just get all the loose detritus rinsed off real well. Do not scrub them. As for how often do 1/3 of them each time you clean the pads. So purchase different colors so that they know which ones have been cleaned when. Blue this time, red the next time etc.

 

[mjm889]

thanks how long does it take for nitrates to go down after water change and cleaning of bio balls

 

[spanko]

Too many variables to give you an answer to trust. You can figure though that if you do a 10% water change your nitrates should go down by about 10%. So if you have nitrates of say 20, do a 10% water change you nitrates should be around 18 after the change.

 

[levinjac]

you have to clean bioballs i did not now that

 

[jaxfishgirl]

Not really clean then, just kinda rinse them off with the water you drain from a wc. It has beneficial bacteria on them and actually cleaning them will clean off the good bacteria.

 

[levinjac]

oh ok thats what i do but i thought he ment accualy clean then with warm water

 

[srfisher17]

Clean them with tank water at water change time. As Spanko, and others have said, don't scrub them. The slime is home to your friendly bacteria. BTW; I doubt that cleaning bio-balls is going to eliminate a nitrate problem, although it will help.It will take a while for your nitrate level to reflect the cleaning---no instant fix. How high are your nitrates and what's in your tank? You may not even have a problem.

 

[mjm889]

my levels were always at a 40 for the last year in a fish only tank, i was fine with that. the tank is a 135 gallon fish only with cuc. i have 1 yellow 2 clowns (false) and now added 3 green chromis two weeks ago,prior to this added 3 more chromis smaller one two got suck up into the wet dry,removed them the next day, one was lost, i found him yesterday while on did my maint. i am guessing this was the reason for the spike up to 100. i did a 30 gallon water change plus cleaned the bio balls using tank water, all fish are doing great eating swimming, but levels are still at 100, going to do another water change 10 gallons today, no live rock, only fake corals all my other readings a great 0 amm 0 nitrites temp 76 sal 1021

 

[srfisher17]

It can be a job to keep nitrates low without LR. There is a lot of debate, but I agree---40ppm is fine for fish-only. Water changes and keeping crud build up (in filter & substrate) should keep nitrates at an acceptable level.

 

[florida joe]

Henry Henry Henry this was to easy so i will pass

 

[mjm889]

how often should i stir up the substrate everyday i wipe the glass and then stir up the substrate so it looks good is that too much???

 

[florida joe]

what are you using for substrate

 

[mjm889]

live sand

 

[florida joe]

then look into a good cuc that will stir up your sand

 

[mjm889]

thanks how many crabs etc for a good cuc in a 135 gallon

 

[meowzer]

forget crabs.....snails....nassarius are good for sand
do you have any at all????

 

[mjm889]

no snails just crabs,ok snails it is

 

[RyanGSPlover]

I have a GSP in my tank so i cant use snails to stirup my sand cuz he destroys them in seconds lol what can i use to clen and make my sand look good