How to get rid of bioballs?

[julesjt]

My tank is about 3.5 months old and is doing great. It is a 90 Gal with a 35 Gal custom sump. I have a lot of bioballs in the overflow section, than I have a section where my in tank skimmer and phosphate reactor containers are located. The third section is where water overflows into another bioball section and than water gets pulled into the return pump section.

I want to remove my bioballs and use a filter bag in the first section and either remove the second set of bioballs with filter pads or nothing.

I hear that you can't just remove all the bioballs since it can shock the system. So how much should I remove and what time frames per removal?

Hope I didn't confuse everyone

[Parrothead]

2 handfuls a week, and test your water as you do it

[Steve McKay]

It sounds like you have a lot,remove two cups a week and you should be fine.

[julesjt]

If I do remove, what test should be performed? What would have the biggest impact? Nitrates?

[julesjt]

Also do you agree to get rid of the balls? I like the filter bags to capture particles and just changing the bags and washing them every 2 weeks. I get mixed reviews on the balls. I have enough section in the sump that the air bubbles should be gone by the time it makes it to the return pumps without the balls

[Steve McKay]

If I do remove, what test should be performed? What would have the biggest impact? Nitrates?

No,ammonia and nitrite.You test to make sure your not removing to many to fast.One thing you must consider is do you have enough circulation in your tank to push water through your LR where the bacteria is.

[Steve McKay]

Yes,I do most certainly agree with removing them.The filter bags and pads also produce NO3 as an end product by holding the particles in place,if you want to keep them you should clean them at least every other day.The only filter I use is the overflow prefilter (sponge) and I clean it every other day unless I scrape algae then I clean it that day.The skimmer is what does the job of removing organics,it is the most critical piece of equipment.Other than the prefilter sponge there is nothing else but the skimmer and my NO3 is 0.0.

[julesjt]

I have a 1800 GPH pump for the sump. I have two koralia powerheads 600GPH for upper and lower tank flow. I will remove the bioballs and do the sponge thing. Can you tell me what to look for on this sponge? Also I am confused on nitrate and nitrite. I dont have both tests, should I test for both?

[Steve McKay]

The sponge is in the overflow (it's round,about 8"-10"long),you should have one unless your tank is drilled.It filters the water before it goes to your sump.When you first start a tank and it starts to cycle,first you will have ammonia then that will change to nitrite,then the nitrite will change to nitrate.When you first start a tank you need all three test kits,then after the cycle you really only need the nitrate test kit unless you have a problem.If you don't understand the nitrogen cycle then Google it and research it.

[julesjt]

Well I did phase 1 of removal and the 3.5 month old balls had a lot of particles that got released into the water. I will do another chunk this weekend with a 10 Gal water change with new phosphate powder in my reactor. It is amazing that you can easily be pointed in the wrong direction when starting. Stupid Biloballs!!

[Steve McKay]

Well I did phase 1 of removal and the 3.5 month old balls had a lot of particles that got released into the water. I will do another chunk this weekend with a 10 Gal water change with new phosphate powder in my reactor. It is amazing that you can easily be pointed in the wrong direction when starting. Stupid Biloballs!!

Exactly!

[julesjt]

Update.............


Well I started to remove my bioballs and ran into a problem. My tank prior to messing with the bioballs was awesome and yesterday I came home to a green mess! And I am assuming it was because the bioballs being moved around released a bunch of crap a few days prior. So in I stopped my pumps and removed the rest of the bioballs in the sump. I than did a 15 gallon water change but sucked most of the water from the section where the bioballs were. Hoping I suck up most of the bad water.

I will let this run for awhile and may do another water change in a week.

Does this make sense what I am going through? Am I attempting to fix the problem properly? Again this is a young tank and I am assuming it is also still cycling. I do have the brown like algae on my sand only that I was told to just leave it alone and it will equal out ang go away. I am fine with that, but I know the green algae had to be from the bioballs being disturbed and moved around during the first removal.

[Steve McKay]

After 3.5 months your tank is not cycling.It is worth it if you want a reef setup,corals don't do well in high nitrates.Yes you are attempting it the right way,a reef filtering setup consists of a reasonable amount of LR,good circulation,carbon,and the best skimmer you can afford within reason.No bio-balls or filter media with the exception of a filter sock,prefilter sponge or pad and these must be cleaned at least every other day if not daily.This is how you keep nitrates low.

[julesjt]

How long does a tank take to cycle? I have a very nice skimmer, 300 bucks. I phospate reactor with carbon too. I want to get rid of the rest of my bioballs and do the filter bag on the overflow section.

What can I expect during the cycle and my nitrates were low til I messed with the balls. But I can assume that I am doing well once the rest of the balls are removed. I will remove those on the next water change in about a week and do the same thing.

[Steve McKay]

Cycling can take various amounts of time depending on conditions but after 3.5 months it is definitely over.The diatoms will go away in time after they have consumed all the food they use.If your tank is cycled you will have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite but you will have nitrate.Water changes get rid of nitrate.

[julesjt]

Thanks, I will do the rest of my bioballs with water changes and get my system back to good conditions. One more quick question is in a 90 Gallon tank with about 15 or so gallons in the sump how much water is needed for a good water change? I been doing about 15 gallons for my water change. Should I increase or decrease and when my system starts to get stable can you decrease the change to 5 or 10 gallons?

[Parrothead]

Thanks, I will do the rest of my bioballs with water changes and get my system back to good conditions. One more quick question is in a 90 Gallon tank with about 15 or so gallons in the sump how much water is needed for a good water change? I been doing about 15 gallons for my water change. Should I increase or decrease and when my system starts to get stable can you decrease the change to 5 or 10 gallons?

10 gallons on a bi-weekly basis would be ideal for your set-up

[Steve McKay]

10 gallons on a bi-weekly basis would be ideal for your set-up

+1.I have a 50g+sump with a total of 49g of water,I do a 8g water change every two weeks.