Too many bioballs?

[lhorn]

I've had an 80 gallon tank set up for about 3 years. I actually got it really cheap from a bait shop and it has a big trickle filter underneath. I've got sand and probably 50lb live rock. My problem is my nitrates are not up to par. I've stepped up my water changes for the past few months and the nitrates haven't budged from 40. (Other parameters are perfect). I believe the tank is understocked. One med. yellow tang, a goby, one domino damsel, one small blue damsel and a couple of clowns. I vacuum the sand when I do water changes, I've taken out part of the bioballs a few times and cleaned them, etc. Since I've stepped up my water changes, my skimmer has been producing less, so I'm not sure how much mileage I'm gonna get out of even more water changes. I've also added a small fuge.
My question is, can it be that my water quality is ok except that the bioballs are making too much nitrates? So, by taking out some bioballs, my water quality could improve? Would it be better to just dump the trickle filter and replace it with a big fuge?

 

[reefkprz]

I would discard the bio balls completly and put liverock frags in their place. I personally hate bio balls and think they have no place in marine aquaria. Since the Idea is to remove pollutants before they break down bio balls just make it harder to remove them since bio balls cause break down.
I would also reccomend adding more live rock about a pound and a half to two pounds per gallon if not more (expensive I know)

 

[theappe]

I would also suggest to stop vaccuming your sand. You shouldnt be doing this. You are removing a bunch of beneficial bacteria and possibly stirring up nitrates.

 

[cgrant]

dont take out the bioballs!!!
you have 50lbs of LR and you have a 80 gallon tank, that is not even 1lb per gallon!
Until you get more LR you need the biological filtration that the bioballs are providing!
If then you get rid of your bioballs, i would run a fuge!

 

[cgrant]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
I would discard the bio balls completly and put liverock frags in their place. I personally hate bio balls and think they have no place in marine aquaria. Since the Idea is to remove pollutants before they break down bio balls just make it harder to remove them since bio balls cause break down.
I would also reccomend adding more live rock about a pound and a half to two pounds per gallon if not more (expensive I know)
I am not sure what you mean by breakdown, are you speaking of the biological process that takes place? ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.
If you replace your bioballs with LR, in a trickle filter setup the water does not flow over all the live rock, it only trickles over parts of the rock and the parts that get no water will die!
Running a fuge is recommended for exporting nutrients.