Cleaning bio-balls

[zsalinas]

I didn't think my bio-balls were that dirty but when I pulled some out and looked at them they were filthy. The guy and my lfs said I could just rinse them off or I could throw them in the washer and add a little bleach. He then said to make sure I rinsed them off after really good so I don't get any bleach in my tank. Is this a good way to do it? What are the good ways to clean bio-balls? Thanks

 

[puffer24/7]

just rinse them off with water, not bleach, i leave mine alone though

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by Zsalinas
I didn't think my bio-balls were that dirty but when I pulled some out and looked at them they were filthy. The guy and my lfs said I could just rinse them off or I could throw them in the washer and add a little bleach. He then said to make sure I rinsed them off after really good so I don't get any bleach in my tank. Is this a good way to do it? What are the good ways to clean bio-balls? Thanks
Best way I found was to take them out. Throw them away and replace with live rock.

 

[zsalinas]

Once my tank is esatblished I'll do that or I'll just do a sump/refugium so that's the plan. Right now my nitrates have been high and I read on here that bio-balls tend to trap nitrates. I the balls are my problem since I've tried eveything else. Also the guy how had it probably never cleaned them and he had the tank for a few years. I know the bleach will kill of everything as far as anything live on the balls they'll be like buying brand new ones. So can I just buy live rock and put some in place of the bioballs and that'll work all the same or is there anything else I'd have to do? Thanks for the help!

 

[zsalinas]

anybody?

 

[jttenpro]

What I have read from most sites is to take about 1/4 of them out and rinse them in saltwater you have removed from doing water changes. Do 1/4 each week. Check your parameters and I'm sure if they're as dirty as you say this should bring the nitrates down to a manageable level. I have had my tank up for 6 months and keep 2 prefilters over top the bio-balls and rinse the prefilters out every 3 to 5 days and replace around 1 month. My nitrates are usually around 0. Nothing has built up on the balls at all. This works for me. I do have 90 lbs of live rock as well for a 90 gal. Hope this helps

 

[zsalinas]

That's sort of how I have mine set up the water hits two sheets of different media before touchin the bio balls. I don't know how long they were used but they were pretty dirty. What happens if you take all of them out at once and just clean them? The tank isn't established yet so there's nothing in the tank but some crabs that were already there.

 

[tim_12]

As long as your tank is cycled and you dont have any fish, you'd be safe cleaning them all at once. If the bio balls are your only means of filtration, you shouldnt add any fish for a week or two. You want that bacteria to build back up on the balls.

 

[zsalinas]

ok cool thanks for the help. I can't seem to get my nitrates under 50 ppm. I've done everything I could think of to get them down and they just won't. I didn't even think of the bio-balls at first. I bet the guy before me never cleaned them for the years he used them. The outside ones looked ok but the balls in the middle were horrible. I'm crossing my fingers this is the problem!

 

[mudplayerx]

Originally Posted by hot883
Best way I found was to take them out. Throw them away and replace with live rock.

Amen