Trickle down filtration and bioballs = Nitrate???

[mikeguerrero]

I need a simple question answered, so I thought of posting it here under general...

I know that bioballs submerged in JBJ cubes can lead to high levels of nitratte, but what about the bioballs that are not submerged and have water trickled under them....

Will that be the same?

I have 10 lbs of live rock in a 6 gallon nano along with 10 lbs of live sand. Will the trickle on the bioballs be bad for this setup?

I have a skimmer built into the system so if the balls need to be taken out, what would be best to place in this empty chamber that is not submerged yet runs on trickle down filtration...

Any suggestions, I'm up to listening....

Thanks,

MG

 

[mutt]

I wouldn't bother with the bioballs. With that amount of ls and lr you have to think of the surface area contianed in those items, bioballs are used to generate a lot of surface area for bacteria to break down bad stuff in your tank right? The only problem is that their is nothing keeping the bioballs clean to prevent an accumulation of unwanted materials.

I've ran my tank for a year and a half without the bio-balls or ceramic rings and have had a very healthy tank.

What i'm saying is that the bio-balls defeat the purpose of the lr and ls. Keep it natural and simple with a small fish load and weekly water changes and the tank should be fine.

 

[skipm]

They still work too fast and end up being nitrate factories. Bio balls by design are meant to be aerobic and the ones that have water trickled over them are even more aerobic than the submerged ones. They should be removed.

 

[reefman23]

LR rubble in a trickle works well...

Jesse

 

[mikeguerrero]

Hey Jesse and folks,

I don't want to run rubble, I don't need any extra filtration back in there, my live rock is 10 lbs and quality at that, I'm sure that would be enough...

What I need for you guys and gals to recommend is what types of media could I place in there; chemipure, seachems phosphate, nitrate removers. This chamber is a really nice size and I want to take advantage of it.

Going on the principle of trickly down, what media do you guys recommend...

Start firing away please, or do you guys really want me to run live rubble, lets here the people....

Thanks,

Mike G

 

[TimSchmidt]

I like the idea of having carbon (chemipure) put there. You don't have to fill it completely. I would leave a little space so that I could add in different media as required (maybe even a sponge or some floss, can't remember what physical filtration you proposed for your new tank.

 

[amf82380]

I agree I would go with like chemipure or something like that but the sponge is working off the same basic princable as the bio balls but it has the other benifit of catching bigger particals but with the good comes the bad the more it catches the worse it is because it holds them so it would have to be rinsed alot or other wise it would end up being the same as the bioballs a nitrate factory so I would just run either carbon or chemipure IMO hope that helps

Aaron

 

[EDGRAY]

I guess if i had a good size chamber were no ideas of what to put and no LR rubble wanted ill probably run CHEMI-PURE, PHOSPHATE REMOVER, POLY FILTER & PURIGEN....

 

[skipm]

I am thinking along similar lines to Eddy. Use the polyfilter as s ponge to trap particulate matter as well as to grab onto unwanted pollutants like copper and other metals. I wouldn't use the phosphate remover unless you need it though.