Bio Balls

[bizzle]

I was wondering if old bio balls could cause you to have high nitrates. My nitrates are about 50 and won't come down. Everything elses is at zero and my salinity is 1.025 temp is 82. I have done 10-15 gallon wter changes twice a week for a monthe and a half and still they won't come down. I don't overfeed and I only have a couple of cromis, a snowflake eel, a scopas tang, and a scooter blenny. If so, should I change them all at once or gradually? My tank is about four months old and I have about 125lbs of LR. The tank is 90 gallons. Any input will be appreciated.

 

[bizzle]

Can anybody respond PLEASE

 

[fishybiz]

How well did you clean the bio balls before using them again? I have used bio balls that were put away for a couple months. Before using them I washed them in a bleach solution. I never had a problem. If your bio's are old and you didn't clean off all the old detritus and "crap" it could cause an ammonia problem which could in turn cause a high nitrate but I doubt that it would take this long to show up. Are you using RO water when you do water changes? Any reason you change so much so often?

 

[thomas712]

The answer is yes if they collect any detritus.
Are you using any prefilter floss above the bio balls?

 

[guineawhop]

i've never heard of bioballs creating a nitrate or nitrite problem if i were you though i would clean my filter or sump in your case, protein skimmer, powerheads, anything that would collect debri because that stuff will also lead to high nitrates.

 

[bizzle]

Thanks guys. I do not have a pre-filter. I have an old school wet/dry that has the two bars that spin around.

 

[fishybiz]

OOOhhhhhh.......wow, I haven't seen one of those on a SW in a long time. I'd be willing to bet that there sits your problem. No telling what kind of things have built up on the inside of it. I'd suggest getting a new wet/dry or do some research on a refugium or sump and go with that. Try a water change as well, with RO water. (You do use RO right?) I have a wet/dry with bio balls that is getting converted. It's such a better, more healthy alternative for your tank.
Good luck

 

[ophiura]

How much do you feed?
What animals do you have?
Do you have crushed coral?
How often do you do water changes?
Do you use tap water?
What test kits do you have/have you had the readings cross checked (an especially important one - some nitrate tests are VERY PARTICULAR in how long they sit, etc)
There are literally so many issues involved in nitrate levels. Just looking at bioballs is misleading.
Bioballs do not cause nitrate problems....the food going in minus the water/macroalgae going out, IMO, causes nitrate problems. Yes, if the bioballs are full of excess waste, that can be an issue. You may need a prefilter to help catch food, or modify your feeding. But per se, IMO, bioballs will not cause nitrate problems.