is it ok to leave bio balls in sump if you have reef tank ?

[nimo1969]

:notsure: My lfs said take out the bio balls they should not be in a reef tank .( sump not in the tank).............Is this right ?? He said live tock is all you need for a reef tank the sump should have only have only live rock and skimmer only .I need your feed back on this everyone
Thanks
Nimo1969

 

[fedukeford]

if you have 1-2lbs of LR prt gallon you are fine with out the bioballs , they sometimes relese nitates which isnt good

 

[ophiura]

Need to clarify

They do not release nitrates.
They are VERY effective at converting ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate.
If you had LR rubble in the sump, it would do the same thing.
But if you do not care for either one, do not run prefilters, and they get full of gunk...BOTH will cause potential problems.
The argument against bioballs is that a deep sand bed will "act" preferentially on nitrate produced in nearby surface layers (eg sand surface or LR surface) and less so on nitrate produced "distantly" (bioballs).
But if they are well cared for, they shouldn't be a big issue. They may not be necessary, for sure, but they do not, in and of themselves, cause nitrate issues IMO.
Having LR rubble in the sump is fine as well, but again, if it gets full of gunk and just traps sludge, that would be a problem as well.

 

[nimo1969]

thanks everyone

 

[el diablo]

So if you're going to use bioballs, should you rinse them ever couple weeks in RO water? Or what would be the best method in your opinion?

 

[moby]

Rinse them in the water you just removed when you do a water change.
As ophiura said, it is the gunk that gets trapped in them that causes the problems, not necessarily the balls themselves that are the culprit.
If you rinse them in fresh RO water you will kill the beneficial bacteria growing on them.
Moby

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by moby
If you rinse them in fresh RO water you will kill the beneficial bacteria growing on them.
Moby

If you rinse these in freshwater, and certainly fresh chlorinated tap water, you will kill off a significant number of the beneficial bacteria that live there. The result of this can be catastrophic.