Help@@@nitrate Problems@@@@

florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
I disagree. Take a typical piece of LR rubble, lava rock or Tufa rock or whatever other POROUS rock you may choose that is the same overall size as a bio-ball, compare the surface area and you will find that the bioball has a much smaller number, because the bioball is not porous and has no surface area inside,
Bio balls are in constant contact with nutrient rich water hence the propagation of nitrifying bacteria. Live rock while porous need this water to pass through it to feed any nitrifying bacteria colonizing. Advection alone is to slow a process to cause any great growth That is why nitrifying bacteria if any forms on the surface of the rock and that is predicated on flow carrying nutrients passing over the rock . Just got off the phone with a teck from Coralife One gallon of Bio-Balls has a surface area of approximately 21-1/2 square feet.
Except for extremely large pieces of LR, large enough to provide areas deep inside of no or extremely low oxygen, no denitrfication occurs in LR..
Porosity my friend porosity If I took a softball size rock with a porosity to allow slow advection areas of deprived oxygen can sustain anaerobic bacteria. Size is not the deciding factor its composition
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by lluv24
http:///forum/post/3118684
okay so should i change the bioballs with lr rubble or not?%
%
It seems that your thread has gone off on a tangent. If you are asking if you remove your bio-balls and add live rock or rubble will it help your nitrate problem I would like you to consider this. There are two major ways in which we remove nitrates from our tanks. Dissimilatory nitrate reduction. That is where bacteria convert nitrates to nitrogen gas and the gas is expelled via air and gas exchange. The second way is assimilatory reduction. In this method nitrates are taken directly into the tissue mass of higher forms of algae. What has to be remembered is that the nitrates are not removed until the algae is harvested. Bioballs cannot perform any of these methods. Their only purpose is to facilitate nitrification via nitrifying bacteria colonization on their surface
Live rock or rubble has the ability to harbor anaerobic bacteria. These bacteria remove nitrates by dissimilatory reduction. IMO nitrate removal via live rock or rubble is hit and miss and very slow at best.
I would ask you to do some research on assimilatory reduction and see if you can incorporate that method into your system
Note. I mean this with no disrespect intended. I am sure you have read many posts concerning dosing on the boards. IMO it is not something you should consider at this time
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Replacing bioballs with live rock rubble will not, IMO, solve your nitrate problem because most contributors to nitrate issues are due to overfeeding and overstocking.
what do you feed
How often
what animals do you have (specific type of fish)
What type of test kit did you get?
What is your type of filtration - do you have any sponges and do you rinse them?
By the way, nitrate issues are not typically fatal and do not require rash or quick decisions. The advice in this thread, IMO, can lead to more problems if done as a quick response instead of a long term plan. I personally would not remove your bioballs; I would get in the habit of keeping them clean. Once you have nitrates under 20, you can start looking at other options. But bioballs are not per se causing your problems, IMO, and live rock rubble will not fix it quickly as a replacement.
IMO, live rock rubble, like any other "biomedia" (eg ceramic rings, spaghetti plastic noodles, bioballs) can be used in a wet/dry chamber and could be exposed if used as this sort of media. But like any of the above, if not properly maintained...it will be an issue.
IMO, your crushed coral is also a likely problem if you don't siphon it.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
The advice in this thread, IMO, can lead to more problems if done as a quick response instead of a long term plan
And that is the major problem with our hobby today IMO and not just limited to this thread. Everyone wants a quick fix answer. No homework no researches just tell me what to do. “I want it fixed. I want it fixed now” Many of my posts in response to questions are in fact questions. I hope my questions at least give the hobbyist something to think about and not just a response to blindly follow
BTW O please read my thread Stop the delivery and tell me what you think
 
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