wet/dry filter
- Thread starter whiterose
- Start date
T
thomas712
Guest
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...659#post409659
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ight=bio+balls
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ight=Bio+balls
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ight=bio+balls
Tons more if you care to look them up.
From one of my old posts:
I'll try to be fair to both sides here.
Pros of bio balls.
First off, these little guys are great for starting a tank, they help tons in the cycle by breaking down the more toxic ammonia and nitrites into the less toxic nitrates and keep the oxyegen high.
Bio balls offer more surface area than an equal amount of a replacement item like liverock.
They have far more ability to oxygenate the water than liverock.
The more oxegen supplied to the process results in a faster reaction capability of the filter to change the breakdown process.
The amount of surface area contained in bio balls supports a far greater amount of nitrifying bacteria, The amount of nitrifying bacteria in any system is dependent on two factors here. The amount of food supplied and the amount of surface area available. Due to the round shape with the little spikes these little balls have much to offer in surface area.
With maintanance; to repeat; With maintanance these bio balls have a lot to offer any wet/dry sump application. They are not a bomb waiting to go off, they are not nitrate factories anymore than any other mechanical filter. Using a filter floss before the bio balls removes much of what people erouniously think of as to much maitanence with bio balls. Just change the filter floss weekly or bi weekly when ever needed.
Cons of bio balls.
The do tend to get dirty, therefore they will collect a certain amount of slime and junk on them. This leads to a nitrate buildup. In larger amounts the nitrates can lead to a problem, typically nitrates above say 30 ppm.
This initself is the cheif complant about them and the big con that everyone talks about.
One of the big reasons that people change or remove the bio balls is to go to a more natural type of filtration. The other is that they do not want to hassle with cleaning them.
Bio balls are not the only way to filter the water. Liverock will work in its place by upping the water level in the sump and using it much in the same way you would in the main tank. Others just replace them with liverock rubble and let the water splash over them, but in my opinion this is not as efficant as the bio balls. Also my opinion that if liverock rubble is used without raising the water level the rock itself will still get as dirty as any bioball and will need cleaning itself, but since I have not personally gone this route I can not speak from any experience on the liverock in the sump.
In the end it is the one who owns the system who must decide how or what method they will choose to filter the water. What ever the choice is the goal is the same, to achieve excellent water conditions.
Anyone with a reef tank or saltwater tank must have a method of removing nitrates. Some just feel safer without the bio balls
Hope that helps some, and I hope that I did justice to both sides.
Thomas
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ight=bio+balls
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ight=Bio+balls
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ight=bio+balls
Tons more if you care to look them up.
From one of my old posts:
I'll try to be fair to both sides here.
Pros of bio balls.
First off, these little guys are great for starting a tank, they help tons in the cycle by breaking down the more toxic ammonia and nitrites into the less toxic nitrates and keep the oxyegen high.
Bio balls offer more surface area than an equal amount of a replacement item like liverock.
They have far more ability to oxygenate the water than liverock.
The more oxegen supplied to the process results in a faster reaction capability of the filter to change the breakdown process.
The amount of surface area contained in bio balls supports a far greater amount of nitrifying bacteria, The amount of nitrifying bacteria in any system is dependent on two factors here. The amount of food supplied and the amount of surface area available. Due to the round shape with the little spikes these little balls have much to offer in surface area.
With maintanance; to repeat; With maintanance these bio balls have a lot to offer any wet/dry sump application. They are not a bomb waiting to go off, they are not nitrate factories anymore than any other mechanical filter. Using a filter floss before the bio balls removes much of what people erouniously think of as to much maitanence with bio balls. Just change the filter floss weekly or bi weekly when ever needed.
Cons of bio balls.
The do tend to get dirty, therefore they will collect a certain amount of slime and junk on them. This leads to a nitrate buildup. In larger amounts the nitrates can lead to a problem, typically nitrates above say 30 ppm.
This initself is the cheif complant about them and the big con that everyone talks about.
One of the big reasons that people change or remove the bio balls is to go to a more natural type of filtration. The other is that they do not want to hassle with cleaning them.
Bio balls are not the only way to filter the water. Liverock will work in its place by upping the water level in the sump and using it much in the same way you would in the main tank. Others just replace them with liverock rubble and let the water splash over them, but in my opinion this is not as efficant as the bio balls. Also my opinion that if liverock rubble is used without raising the water level the rock itself will still get as dirty as any bioball and will need cleaning itself, but since I have not personally gone this route I can not speak from any experience on the liverock in the sump.
In the end it is the one who owns the system who must decide how or what method they will choose to filter the water. What ever the choice is the goal is the same, to achieve excellent water conditions.
Anyone with a reef tank or saltwater tank must have a method of removing nitrates. Some just feel safer without the bio balls
Hope that helps some, and I hope that I did justice to both sides.
Thomas
blemmy_guy
Active Member
well i have one for about 2 months now Wet/ dry with bioballs, and it has done wonders for my water, there r a lot of people on here who really dont like them, but there working great so far, i plan on rinsing them off about every 6 months, and thats not too much trouble for me, good luck and happy new year! todd
blemmy_guy
Active Member
Thanx for the advise, and it sounds like good advise too, ido you think q 6 months is good enough, or should i do it more or less often?? thanx todd
blemmy_guy
Active Member
cool,, i appreciate the advise, ill do the same! thanx todd
whiterose
Member
In regards to cleaning the bio-balls, how do you guys go about cleaning them? Do you take out all the balls, clean only half and put the clean balls on the bottom and the other dirty half on top? Any advice on how and when to clean the sponge on the top, bottom and back filter? I heard those are not to be disturbed, but I wonder.
blemmy_guy
Active Member
im not sure about the live rock??? but you have a good question there? maybe Thomas can answer that one for ya. good luck todd
T
thomas712
Guest
Are you suggesting to use live rock as bio balls? or instead of bio balls in the dry portion/ trickle portion of the wet/dry?
T
thomas712
Guest
Originally posted by whiterose
In regards to cleaning the bio-balls, how do you guys go about cleaning them? Do you take out all the balls, clean only half and put the clean balls on the bottom and the other dirty half on top? Any advice on how and when to clean the sponge on the top, bottom and back filter? I heard those are not to be disturbed, but I wonder.
I would do only 1/4 at a time. Some folks I know have placed their bio balls in larger grid nylon nets, 4 or 5 bags to fit all the bio balls, then they just yank one out rinse and replace, a plastic colored tag tells them which one they did last.
If by sponge you mean filter floss then whenever it get dirty replace it so that those larger particals don't dissolve into DOC's and become nitrates.
Sponge on top, bottom and back filter? :notsure: of what? got a pic?
Thomas
thangbom
Active Member
hum.. i have my 155 up for about 1 1/5 years and i only cleand my bio-ballz once.. i just grabed hands and hands full and rinse them off with tap water then plop them back inmy wet/dry... i dont clean my bio-balls too much for i clean and switch my filter pad that lays on the drilled hole thingie that drops the water on the ballz.. they ball befroe i evn cleant them seem clean to.. they felt like brand new.. just wet thats all... but i clean them n e wayzz... it was fast and ez... did it in 5 min... did about 1/2 of the bio-ball i had.. about 3 galz worth..... ehh so far i like my bio- ball filter.. the r ez to work n work good..
T
thomas712
Guest
Originally posted by ThaNgBom
i just grabed hands and hands full and rinse them off with tap water then plop them back inmy wet/dry...
Could I just submit to you that by doing it that way you destroy the bacteria colonies that inhabit the bio balls with the tap water.
It is possible that in a 155 (and only 3 gallons of bio balls) that you had plenty of bacteria on the rocks and sand in the tank that your system may not have been bothered by what you did, however I suggest that it is a poor practice to do it that way.
To each there own.
Just thought I would mention it.
whiterose
Member
By sponges I mean the one that is a tube that goes in the back of the tank itself, then the flat square one that fits on top of the wet/dry filter that drips to the bio-balls, and the rectangular one that sits on the bottom of the wet/dry filter. Should those be rinsed off or not? I heard doing so destroys beneficial bacteria.
T
thomas712
Guest
The only one I know of is the filter floss that sits on the top of the trickle plate, this is above the bio balls chamber just above the bio balls. This should be repalced anytime that you believe it looks dirty. Every week or two depending on how it looks. The bacteria is supposed to be on the bio balls. If you have filter floss below the bio balls then I would remove it and not use it again. If you have a skimmer that is empying out into a large sponge filter then that can remain until it gets really dirty like every couple of months or so.
Ahh do you mean a pre filter sponge that is attached to an external overflow? If so then it can be rinsed as necessary or replaced every couple of months. With three sponges/floss in place I would not replace them all at once. If they are housing bacteria then you don't wan't to get rid of them all at once. With a wet/dry though the object should be to have the bacteria on the balls, thats where all the magic happens with oxygenation, and breakdown of ammonia and nitrites.
Thomas
Ahh do you mean a pre filter sponge that is attached to an external overflow? If so then it can be rinsed as necessary or replaced every couple of months. With three sponges/floss in place I would not replace them all at once. If they are housing bacteria then you don't wan't to get rid of them all at once. With a wet/dry though the object should be to have the bacteria on the balls, thats where all the magic happens with oxygenation, and breakdown of ammonia and nitrites.
Thomas