[mykeld]

i have a 75 gal. reef tank.
my question is, i have elevated nitrates about 20ppm.
ammonia o,nitites o,ph 7.2, calcium 450ppm.
i have done all iknow to do to lower nitrates.
lfs said elevated nitrates would not be a problem, i disagree.
my system has 75 lbs of liverock,2 inches of live sand,protien skimmer.
how do i go about removing bio-balls,and should i remove them thanks for help.

[prow]

well first need to know what kind of creatures do you have.how many snails and hermit crabs starfish ect... your cleaning crew. but to get a foot hold on it start by increasing your water changes. do a 20% every two weeks. if need to do more. if you do once a week only do about a 10%. and clean your sand bottom real good. for long time control need more info to help.

[Samper]

Yes you should remove them, If you can cut off the flow to you sump for a while I think it might help. Cut the flow, remove them, let the crap settle, siphon it all out, restart flow.

[zhenya]

Hi mykeld, welcome to Reefland!

I agree with Samper, removing bioballs is a prudent thing to do in a reeftank when you ustilizing live rock and live sand. 2" of sand isn't a deep sand bed but I wouldn't syphon it regardless, if it is live and has worms and other infauna in it.
Just shot down you pumps, remove some bioballs and restart again, I think removing them little at the time is a safer apprach.

[marxsman]

should the balls be replaced with anything?? If not, then what is the point of the old wet/dry?

I have been replacing mine with live rock bits

[tcobos]

It has been my experience, you dont need mechanical filtration (wet/dry) for a reef tank with live rock and a good protein skimmer... I have an 80 gal reef tank w/120 lbs of live rock and a in-sump protein skimmer... I have never had problems with nitrates... I agree with the previous replies... remove the bio balls.. You may want to cosider either more sand or live rock...

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by marxsman

should the balls be replaced with anything?? If not, then what is the point of the old wet/dry?

Sump. Simple as that. You can add some additional live rock pieces in there but what is the point? I think if you have enough live rock in your display than adding rock rubble to eliminate bubbles in the sump is OK thing to do. I keep few pieces in my sump just so I can glue frags( when needed) and to have it handy for that purpose.

[reefologist]

Zhenya is right . Do it a little at a time and remove the bio balls. You will be better off in the long run....Good Day......reef

[almostdiva]

Agreed w Gene and others...

I did the same thing about 3 years ago now... removed the bioballs in thirds, over a period of about 5 weeks. I replaced the bioballs with some smaller pieces of live rock. When all the balls were gone, I took the wet/dry out, took out the rock, added about an inch of really coarse grade sand, and put the rock back in. It's basically now a refugium.

In your main tank, you need at least 3 inches of sand for an effective deep sand bed in order to get denitrification. It should also be sugar sand/oolitic sand (it gets printed on bags both ways). As Gene said, you should not disturb the bed -- just let the worms and other critters hang out and do their thing. Here's a link I stole from Rick's Reef site that may help you...

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