Bio-ball cleanup

[memorisa]

I have a trickle filter/tower filled w/ bioballs and crushed coral underneath. after doing some research i found out much about them.

now i want to clean them up, but was wondering how you do that? and also how often?

Thanks in advance,

[indydog1]

hello again. i would remove the bioballs completely. and replace thwem with live rock for added filtration.

good luck.

[memorisa]

indydog1 thank you for your input(s)
I am in the process of designing a new sump and getting rid of bioballs, but ther's this stupid guarantee agreement w/ my LFS where my hands are pretty much tied atm, so can't remove them just yet.
when the sump is built, i will have no longer have a relationship w/ my current LFS then i will do that and add a refugium in the process. but for the time being i'm trying to figure out a way to deal w/ them ballz

[Aquarist007]

how fast and how many you take out at once will depend on how long your tank has been operating with them??

curious as to what agreement gurantee you have with the LFS store for not removing them?

[memorisa]

hi cap'n

its a lil weird but not really. i have mentioned my problems w/ my current LFS here and there in RC but to give you the explanation here it is:

they custom made the tank, set it up. i only stocked the tank from them, b/c the guarantee they give me is since they've been there from the start any losses i have they will reimburse me as long as they come service my tank weekly -- at a cost of course.

but if i do something on my own - buy from someone else, as in fish, corals, cuc etc, it is cancelled. if i add something on my own it is cancelled... i pretty much have to run everything i do by them that has to do w/l the tank. it is pretty ridicolous.

and after i have discovered RC, i have learnt so much and sometimes tell them that i wanna do this or that (as in remove bioballs, refigure my sump, add carbon or run phosban) they always said that's nonsense

i learnt my lesson, but since i started not knowing about RC nor about the hobby much (SW aspect) i had decided to go w/ them. it kinda worked out in the end financially (given all the prices here in Turkey is ridicolous about this hobby) but it has taken its toll on my psychology

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by memorisa
indydog1 thank you for your input(s)
I am in the process of designing a new sump and getting rid of bioballs, but ther's this stupid guarantee agreement w/ my LFS where my hands are pretty much tied atm, so can't remove them just yet.
when the sump is built, i will have no longer have a relationship w/ my current LFS then i will do that and add a refugium in the process. but for the time being i'm trying to figure out a way to deal w/ them ballz

wow---I have never heard of that agreement before---if you rent a tank from someone then I know there are those kind of arrangements where you don't touch the tank and they do everthing

Assuming you bioballs have been up for a year then the bioload in your tank is taken care of by the live rock plus the bioballs
Remove all the bioballs quickly then the bacteria on the live rock is going to have to cycle to take up the slack from the bioballs and you could possible get ammonia spikes ect
So the trick is to take out a small amount--1/4 of them weekly and spread that over a month so the bacteria on the live rock can multiply.
Each time you take some out monitor the ammonia levels carefully

You can also remove all the other media with the trickle filter also

here is an old picture of mine

you can just see the outline of it still



you can see the full system on this thread

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1349443

[memorisa]

i'm reading and will be reading in detail that link captain - thank you very much.

as i said tho, i may have to wait a lil longer, i have ich :/ and as of now my losses including a tridacna and a bunch of fish add up to 1000$ so i am going to wait till i get that back then i will definitely convert

but when i do so, i have this question - should i try to keep the bioballs in a bucket (w/ or w/o flow?) to keep the bacteria alive so that in case of an ammonia spike i can put them back in? so that my corals and fish will not be effected as much?

[indydog1]

no, once the bio balls are gone they are done. you will not need to add them back to your system. if you did you would most certainly end up with a cycle.

[memorisa]

what would i do against an ammonia spike then? (w/o the balls)

[indydog1]

live rock will help to balance things out. taking a hand full out at a time will allow the live rock in your tank to absorb the extra bio load and get stronger. after all the bb are gone then add live rock/rubble from cured pieces, this will help prevent any major problem or cycle.

[memorisa]

Originally posted by indydog1
live rock will help to balance things out. taking a hand full out at a time will allow the live rock in your tank to absorb the extra bio load and get stronger. after all the bb are gone then add live rock/rubble from cured pieces, this will help prevent any major problem or cycle.

indydog, what do you mean by 'add live rock/rubble from cured pieces'? i have about 180 - 240 pounds of live rock in the tank. The reason i give such a huge range is that the LFS sold me as 240 - i never weighed it but i sure have learnt not to trust them.

so are you telling me to add some of that from the display to the sump?

thanks

[memorisa]

also a side question on the cycle restarting-
i have hair algae problem that i'm working on also- today i manually pulled some out, and some parts i went at it w/ a toothbrush..... some parts of the LR are pretty bare now, would that cause a cycle???

[indydog1]

indydog, what do you mean by 'add live rock/rubble from cured pieces'?

to get additional lr or lr rubble. the total amount that will be added should not make your system cycle. just as long as it is already cured, or you cure it first.

also a side question on the cycle restarting-
i have hair algae problem that i'm working on also

how much flow is in your system? and how heavy do you feed? these two directly reflect the algae situation. lighter feedings more frequently and or more flow in the system will help[ cut back phosphate which is probably causing the outbreak.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by memorisa
what would i do against an ammonia spike then? (w/o the balls)

you would do a 20 per cent water change so you should have salt water prepared and up to temp just in case

here is some tips on fighting algae

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1329802