Bio balls

[lanacane214]

Will bio balls carry unwanted pests? I had to rip my tank down cause I had ,aptasia,flat worms,asteria stars,and worst of all these anemones.tried to kill them with everything imaginable but they just came back stronger.any way this tank was hooked up to a 55g sump I'm my basement for 10 years I have a ton of bio balls totally submerged the sump has been hooked up to another tank I set up for my corals while I set up my new tank,I have my new tank ready for cycle it's hooked up to a separate sump started off with dead rock and sand ,if I take bio balls from the sump is there a possibility I will introduce pests from my old tank to new one? Thanks

 

[marrone]

They could contain things like flat worms and Aptasia but if the bio balls have been keep out of the light the chances of them having those things is very small, as all of those things need light. I would rinse them, using saltwater, and inspect them before reusing them again, especially if your tank them things in them.

 

[lanacane214]

Bio ball pic,a lot of good life in there animals jumping out ,don't know if it's worth taking a chance mixing things up from old nightmare tank to new tank

 

[reefiness]

i dont think bioballs are supposed to be totally submerged. if you just had water trickling over them, you would have even less critters hanging out in them. Like that bristle worm in the picture would probably not survive on balls that were being trickled over.

that being said, i would do what marrone suggested. If your not convinced, you can always dry the balls out for a week or so then rinse them and put them back in. just be careful with an ammonia spike if you do this because you will lose a lot of your nitrifying bacteria and will likely require a supplement for a few weeks.

 

[mrdobie]

I don't know any thing about bio balls. that being said can you dip them like coral to eliminate the nastys you don't want in your new setup. hope it works out for you.

 

[Dre]

Why would you consider using those bio balls on your new setup Submerged or not? I would not use them unless i boil them and dry them out first. Secondly you don't need bio balls submerged or not in your system. I wouldn't even use the same net in both tanks. Bio balls are old technology anyway.

 

[lanacane214]

OKJust wanted to seed it,I ended up using Dr tims nitrifying bacteria (the one and only)wasn't worth taking a chance

 

[Dre]

Lmao, good choice...

 

[lanacane214]

Bio balls submerged perform the same objective as submerged live rock,to provide surface area for benifitial bacteria to grow ,my intention was to take some of those bio balls with benifitial bacteria on them and put them in new sump therfore seeding new tank with new bacteria ok lol

 

[homegrowncichlid]

Yes the bio balls will carry whatever pest that's hiding in there to the new tank. Even if just one pest slips in on 1 of the 100 balls you move, you've just introduced it. Easy to wash out in fresh water and reuse, though I agree with previous post that bio balls are meant to be used in a trickle filter, as they are non-clogging, with big open spaces.

If you want to save the bacteria, all you need to do is take all your balls, and placed them in a wet bucket or garbage bag, close it off so that it goes anoxic for x amount of time and gets really stinky so that everything dies off, except for the bacterial, which will go anaerobic. Once all pests are dead, rinse everything off in seawater and reuse.

 

[theMeat]

Bio balls are nitrate factories. Surface area yes, porous no = nitrate build up, Get rid of them, and replace with rock rubble, or better yet matrix or marinepure

 

[Dre]

Bio balls are nitrate factories. Surface area yes, porous no = nitrate build up, Get rid of them, and replace with rock rubble, or better yet matrix or marinepure

All the things you mentioned create nitrate as well. Nitrate is part of the cycle. And nitrate is not bad like what people been tell us for decades.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

If you guys are comparing surface area, a grain of activated carbon probably has more surface area than a bio ball, but the carbon pores clog. Anyway, porous live rock/rubble also provides plenty of surface area and they all serve the same function of giving bacteria someplace to live on, therefore they all generate nitrates (though a large chunk of rock will denitrify towards the center...)
Anyway, we're all going off topic. The author of this post was just asking about bio balls transport, not the pros and cons of its use. (Now that I think about it, algae scrubbing really makes bio balls obsolete in a trickle filter.)

 

[theMeat]

All the things you mentioned create nitrate as well. Nitrate is part of the cycle. And nitrate is not bad like what people been tell us for decades.

Too much nitrate is bad, That's not going out of style.
Porous enough and denitrification takes place, especially in a low flow area

 

[Dre]

Too much nitrate is bad, That's not going out of style.
Porous enough and denitrification takes place, especially in a low flow area

Too much of anything is bad you don't need anyone to tell you that. Too much Meat is bad And that is not going out of style. Please put this train back on track.

 

[Mr.First]

Pretty funny about the too much meat comment. Finally a thread of interest, and I am going to hijack it anyway. I just started a 29 Cube using the Bio balls that came with it. I know many people say not to use them because there are better products/materials that could be used, but is this based on any facts, or tests that have been done ? Am I really still in 2015 if I continue to use the Bio Balls ?

 

[marrone]

The question is what type of tank are you planning on keeping? If it's a FO or Fowlr tank then the Bio-balls are OK to use, as since you're not going to have any corals then you're not worried as much about nitrates. Fish can handle the nitrates and simple water changes will be enough. If you're going to have corals then you probably wouldn't want to use them and instead use something like LR, which will have bacteria that will remove the nitrates, otherwise you'll need to have something in place that will keep the nitrates down, like a skimmer, refug, or do a lot of water changes.

 

[Mr.First]

Always could count on the guy behind the curtain. Thanks.

 

[theMeat]

The question is what type of tank are you planning on keeping? If it's a FO or Fowlr tank then the Bio-balls are OK to use, as since you're not going to have any corals then you're not worried as much about nitrates. Fish can handle the nitrates and simple water changes will be enough. If you're going to have corals then you probably wouldn't want to use them and instead use something like LR, which will have bacteria that will remove the nitrates, otherwise you'll need to have something in place that will keep the nitrates down, like a skimmer, refug, or do a lot of water changes.

Yup. While is see your point and agree completely, don't get why if there are better things to use, why use bio balls. Water changes are no fun and costly, fo, fowlr, reef, whatever.

 

[marrone]

He has a 29gal tank, a tank that size water changes aren't that hard to do. Bio-balls do work, and yes there are better things to use, like LR or even some of the porous glass products, but if you're going to do a Fo or Fowlr then Bio-balls will work just fine too. Sometimes it's better to go simple, and not over think things.