removing bio balls

[wickedwes]

I currently have a 120g long tank with about 130 lbs of live sand -2"-3" and about 100 or so lbs of live rock. The tank has been running for almost two years now with this live rock and sand in there from the beginning. I would like to take the bio balls out of the sump in order to gain the space put my protein skimmer in the sump. Is it safe to slowly remove the bio balls completely. I had planned on removing about 1/4 of them each week until they were gone.

 

[chevytrks]

that sounds about right
gotta monitor your water peramters as you do it
as to not over stress the bio system
good luck

 

[tangman99]

That's what I did until they were all gone. You need to be careful when you first remove them to go slow until you see how your tank reacts. Your bacteria levels are in equilibrium with the waste your livestock produces. As you remove the bioballs, the bacteria will grow elsewhere in the tank until it is in equilibrium again. I removed about 10-15 a week until they were all gone. The whole process took about 6 weeks.

 

[wickedwes]

thanks for the info.

 

[dreeves]

You may also keep the balls in slatwater at each stage to ensure they will be ready if you need them...just add some of your tank water to a five gallon bucket every couple of days and run some air in it for O2 and circulation. They should keep colonized with that.