Moving bio balls causes cloudy water?

[ml708]

I routinely shake up my bio balls in the sump to prevent dirt from getting trapped on them to increase the surface area for bacteria to grow.

Problem is when I do so, the water always turns slightly cloudy.

Any reason behind this?

[ASHWIN]

I routinely shake up my bio balls in the sump to prevent dirt from getting trapped on them to increase the surface area for bacteria to grow.

Problem is when I do so, the water always turns slightly cloudy.

Any reason behind this?

Your Water Turns cloudy Because There is dirt in the Balls Lol..

I Normally Dont recommend them..But if given good cleaning and Good husbandry can Be good too..

cheers

Rgds Ash

[ml708]

What would be a better alternative? I thought they were supposed to remove dirt but seems they are trapping it instead

[xiggie]

Remove the bio ball .. : )

[ml708]

If I remove it how are the bacteria going to settle and multiply haha

[ASHWIN]

Remove The balls..Adding Live rock To sump/Fuge is good enough For Bacteria Population..Bioballs And Filterwool Or sponges may go Into "Nitrate .Factory's Mode when Husbandry is not performed..Too Much maintainence..therefore Causing shoot in Nutrients..So Remove those Balls..

cheers!

Rgds ash

[Soong Yu Juan]

What?! I am sure bio medias are superior to live rock in providing surface area for bacteria. Live rock also do trap dirt and stuff. Routinely cleaning bio media and live rock is the way to go.

[ASHWIN]

What?! I am sure bio medias are superior to live rock in providing surface area for bacteria. Live rock also do trap dirt and stuff. Routinely cleaning bio media and live rock is the way to go.

Yes As I Stated Good Husbandry Wont lead to problems..Its just That This Husbandry Are forgoten that it..I hv no Right on Judging..Just Sharing My Opinion..

Cheers!

[Soong Yu Juan]

Sorry if I sounded fierce, seems like bio balls are quite different from other bio media like splintered glass... My bad.

[tofubox]

Go with bateria housing media! I vote bacteria king!

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[ml708]

I use bacteria king, the small brown spheres

[james72]

Just put a filterwool upstream of the bioball or biomedia and do regular change of the wool. For me I am too lazy, I just let the dirt accumulate in my ios and I just siphon them every water change. Personally i believe in mother nature - The sand,The rocks & The time.

Cheers,

James

 

[ASHWIN]

Sorry if I sounded fierce, seems like bio balls are quite different from other bio media like splintered glass... My bad.

Lol No Worries We are Free to point out our own perspective ..

cheers

Rgds Ash

[Firestarter]

Its sad that nowadays alot of newbies giving newbies wrong advice.

[ml708]

Its sad that nowadays alot of newbies giving newbies wrong advice.

Well, what's your take on this then, can offer your .02?

[Martian]

These are just discussions... Everyone is entitled to their own views... And discussions should be friendly too....

[ASHWIN]

Its sad that nowadays alot of newbies giving newbies wrong advice.

Hi Bro..Just Out curiosity Which Post In This Thread Is Wrong?. :thumbsup: ...

[tofubox]

Its sad that nowadays alot of newbies giving newbies wrong advice.

Curios to know what wrong advice u refering to? Everyone has their own methods, some work some don't, each tank has its own individual characteristics. So its very hard to say ifs it a right or wrong advice.

I.e In the past wet, dry filter was the way to go, as time improved, other methods have taken over. Doesn't mean wet/dry had it's faults. There are people who had a lot of success with it in the past.

[Firestarter]

Well, what's your take on this then, can offer your .02?

I shall not name names here, and neither do I claim to be an expert. Anyway, for filtration there are 3 basic types. Mechanical, biological and chemical (in the following order). Of course there are others such as cryptic but I won't be discussing about it here. It is a common belief that bioballs, ceramic rings are nitrate factories. True, but to an extent. A good filtration system will employ all 3 types. If you can get your mechanical filtration dialed in correctly, there would not be an issue with the biological stage, which in your case is your bioballs. Now, to simply remove all your bioballs would mean that you lose most of your biological filtration. Its a drastic and unpractical (even you commented where all your bacteria will grow).

[ASHWIN]

I shall not name names here, and neither do I claim to be an expert. Anyway, for filtration there are 3 basic types. Mechanical, biological and chemical (in the following order). Of course there are others such as cryptic but I won't be discussing about it here. It is a common belief that bioballs, ceramic rings are nitrate factories. True, but to an extent. A good filtration system will employ all 3 types. If you can get your mechanical filtration dialed in correctly, there would not be an issue with the biological stage, which in your case is your bioballs. Now, to simply remove all your bioballs would mean that you lose most of your biological filtration. Its a drastic and unpractical (even you commented where all your bacteria will grow).

I shall not name names here, and neither do I claim to be an expert. Anyway, for filtration there are 3 basic types. Mechanical, biological and chemical (in the following order). Of course there are others such as cryptic but I won't be discussing about it here. It is a common belief that bioballs, ceramic rings are nitrate factories. True, but to an extent. A good filtration system will employ all 3 types. If you can get your mechanical filtration dialed in correctly, there would not be an issue with the biological stage, which in your case is your bioballs. Now, to simply remove all your bioballs would mean that you lose most of your biological filtration. Its a drastic and unpractical (even you commented where all your bacteria will grow).

[Firestarter]

Here is my source to back myself.

Please refer to #16 of this thread, posted by Senior Moderator Gouldian

[ml708]

How do we tell if something like bio balls are saturated? I thought they are homes for bacteria and are not compounds that can be depleted e.g rowaphos

[Firestarter]

How do we tell if something like bio balls are saturated? I thought they are homes for bacteria and are not compounds that can be depleted e.g rowaphos

I believe he is referring to the mechanical filter such as the filter wool/sock being saturated with dirt and detritus, not the bioballs.

[tofubox]

I think most bros here are just giving the advice that there are better substitutes over the use of bio balls, assuming the user already has some form of mechanical filtration in place but still getting dirt trapped in the bio balls.

I agree that u need all 3 filtration to achieve good efficient filtering, but with improved equipment over the years, there are also other options for biological filtration as some bros have mentioned. And yes, if anytime you want to do a drastic change like removing all your bio balls at one go for replacement, please do it in smaller batches to avoid any problems with the tank's biological system.

cheers.

[richreef]

bioballs and filterwool will not produce nitrates if they stayed submerged.For cleaning,remove it and wash with water from the same tank.

Wet and dry filtration harbours difference bacteria,the latter actually produce nitrate aft consuming nitrite and the one submerge eliminate

nitrate.