Replacement for bioballs in an established tank

rharr21 · 10/06/2010, 06:58 PM

I have an established tank almost 6 years old. It is a mixed reef with a shallow sand bed and deep miracle mud/refugium chamber in the sump. 65 G display & 29 gallon sump. The sump contains bioballs in one of the sections and lots of detritus has built up in them over the years. There is an inch + deep layer of sludge in the bottom of the compartment too. I've had a number of problems recently (nitrate and phosphate) and the only place it can be coming from is this chamber. I've read enough to know this is not the best setup, but I've not been very proactive until now because I didn't have problems. I want to clean it out. What is the best way to do this? Should I just isolate the sump and take all the balls out & suck the detritus up with a shop vac? Then what should I replace it with? Clean bioballs? Filter sock? Live rock? Or I've read up on vodka dosing and I could try and clean the nitrates and phosphates out using that method? I have a decent skimmer so it should do the job, but I'll still be left with bioballs. Any suggestions???

neoalchemist74 · 10/06/2010, 08:34 PM

I would remove a small hand full of bio-balls every week until they are gone. In the meantime run extra fresh carbon and new GFO. Then when its empty put some live rock in the chamber. Recently I've been dosing Brightwells microbacter7 without zeostones or a carbon source and my nutrients are pleasingly low.

rharr21 · 10/06/2010, 09:48 PM

I will do it over time as you suggest, so I don't eliminate all my filtration at once. I'll have to look the Brightwells microbacter7 up, because I'm not familiar with it. Thanks.

lordofthereef · 10/06/2010, 09:59 PM

So you have no love rock? IF you have rock in the display o personally would not be fearful of just taking the whole sump offline and giving it a good cleaning, especially if you aren't heavily stocked.

Palting · 10/06/2010, 10:52 PM

An inch of sludge in the bioball chamber? Wow! How'd you let it go that far gone? Sorry if I sound rude, just trying to be forthright and helpful. How are the prefilters?

Well, you got quite a problem. You have active biological conversion to nitrate not only on the bioballs, but on that sludge and any filters you have allowed to go biologic. You cannot just clean them all out all at once, else you'll lose all your bilogical filtration and have one heck of an ammonia spike. You have to do it in stages. I also would suggest not doing anything fancy like vodka dosing until you get the basics corrected first.

I would first clean up things not designed to go biologic. I would clean/replace all mechanical filters first, then suck up all the muck from the bottom of the bioball section of the sump. That should get rid of all the rotting stuff producing ammonia and the subsequent nitrate/phosphate production. Leave the bioballs alone for now to continue ammonia processing. Check ammonia daily for a week. If you get ammonai spikes, get ready to do frequnt water changes. If no ammonia spike, then you can start getting the bioballs out a little at a time once a week. Make sure you have enough rock in the DT to take over the processing, and keep checking ammonia.

When you do the water changes, make sure to vacuum up your shallow DT substrate to further get rid of the junk and detritus.

Is the refugium with deep miracle mud 6 years old as well? Deep substrate loses the "miracle" nitrate reduction capability around that time, and become nitrate factories. You'll need to work on that, too.

rharr21 · 10/10/2010, 06:59 PM

lordofthereef

I have a lot of LR, but not sure how much I have. I'd say a 1/4 of the volume of the tank.

Palting
The sludge built up over time and I was not very proactive about cleaning it out. It is mostly concealed by the black plastic chamber built into the sump and the portion I can see is so full of life (tube worms, and a cloud of copepods swimming around) I hate to kill it. I've changed out the miracle mud two or three times. The last time was over a year ago, but less than two.

I'm going to remove a little at a time, just to be safe.

10/06/2010, 06:58 PM	#1
rharr21 Premium Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Slidell, Louisiana Posts: 313	Replacement for bioballs in an established tank I have an established tank almost 6 years old. It is a mixed reef with a shallow sand bed and deep miracle mud/refugium chamber in the sump. 65 G display & 29 gallon sump. The sump contains bioballs in one of the sections and lots of detritus has built up in them over the years. There is an inch + deep layer of sludge in the bottom of the compartment too. I've had a number of problems recently (nitrate and phosphate) and the only place it can be coming from is this chamber. I've read enough to know this is not the best setup, but I've not been very proactive until now because I didn't have problems. I want to clean it out. What is the best way to do this? Should I just isolate the sump and take all the balls out & suck the detritus up with a shop vac? Then what should I replace it with? Clean bioballs? Filter sock? Live rock? Or I've read up on vodka dosing and I could try and clean the nitrates and phosphates out using that method? I have a decent skimmer so it should do the job, but I'll still be left with bioballs. Any suggestions???

10/06/2010, 08:34 PM	#2
neoalchemist74 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Longmont Colorado Posts: 627	I would remove a small hand full of bio-balls every week until they are gone. In the meantime run extra fresh carbon and new GFO. Then when its empty put some live rock in the chamber. Recently I've been dosing Brightwells microbacter7 without zeostones or a carbon source and my nutrients are pleasingly low. __________________ You have two ears and one mouth, so you should listen twice as much as you talk. Current Tank Info: in progress

10/06/2010, 09:59 PM	#4
lordofthereef One reef to rule them all Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Leominster, MA Posts: 5,299	So you have no love rock? IF you have rock in the display o personally would not be fearful of just taking the whole sump offline and giving it a good cleaning, especially if you aren't heavily stocked. __________________ "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself" ~ Josh Billings Visit My Home page for current build thread (click my user name and select "Visit LordoftheReef's Homepage" in the drop down menu!

10/06/2010, 10:52 PM	#5
Palting Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,912	An inch of sludge in the bioball chamber? Wow! How'd you let it go that far gone? Sorry if I sound rude, just trying to be forthright and helpful. How are the prefilters? Well, you got quite a problem. You have active biological conversion to nitrate not only on the bioballs, but on that sludge and any filters you have allowed to go biologic. You cannot just clean them all out all at once, else you'll lose all your bilogical filtration and have one heck of an ammonia spike. You have to do it in stages. I also would suggest not doing anything fancy like vodka dosing until you get the basics corrected first. I would first clean up things not designed to go biologic. I would clean/replace all mechanical filters first, then suck up all the muck from the bottom of the bioball section of the sump. That should get rid of all the rotting stuff producing ammonia and the subsequent nitrate/phosphate production. Leave the bioballs alone for now to continue ammonia processing. Check ammonia daily for a week. If you get ammonai spikes, get ready to do frequnt water changes. If no ammonia spike, then you can start getting the bioballs out a little at a time once a week. Make sure you have enough rock in the DT to take over the processing, and keep checking ammonia. When you do the water changes, make sure to vacuum up your shallow DT substrate to further get rid of the junk and detritus. Is the refugium with deep miracle mud 6 years old as well? Deep substrate loses the "miracle" nitrate reduction capability around that time, and become nitrate factories. You'll need to work on that, too. __________________ Anything I post is just an opinion. One of many in this hobby. Believe and follow at your own risk of rapid and complete annihilation of all life in your tank :) Current Tank Info: Incept 3/2010, 150 RR, 50g sump, 20g fuge, 150w 15K MH x3, T5 actinics x8, moonlight LED x6, 1400gph return, Koralia 1400 x4, 300 g skimmer, 4 tangs, 2 mandarins, 2 perc, 6 line, 3 cardinals, 2 firefish, SPS, LPS, zoas, palys, shrooms, clam

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10/06/2010, 09:48 PM	#3
rharr21 Premium Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Slidell, Louisiana Posts: 313	I will do it over time as you suggest, so I don't eliminate all my filtration at once. I'll have to look the Brightwells microbacter7 up, because I'm not familiar with it. Thanks.

10/10/2010, 06:59 PM	#6
rharr21 Premium Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Slidell, Louisiana Posts: 313	lordofthereef I have a lot of LR, but not sure how much I have. I'd say a 1/4 of the volume of the tank. Palting The sludge built up over time and I was not very proactive about cleaning it out. It is mostly concealed by the black plastic chamber built into the sump and the portion I can see is so full of life (tube worms, and a cloud of copepods swimming around) I hate to kill it. I've changed out the miracle mud two or three times. The last time was over a year ago, but less than two. I'm going to remove a little at a time, just to be safe.