Hiya Hara!
There is definitly a time and a place for bio-balls. After all they are very vAry fast to begin processing ammonia, and they are designed to have MASSIVE surface area so they can handle a HUGE load. However they often trap detris and they are constantly binding and releasing nitrates.
This little "nitrate factory" provides just enough excess nutients to keep your tank covered in micro or macro algaes.
Live rock and live sand also have lots of surface area but they take a lot longer to become established. Also it takes many pounds of rock and sand to do the same job as bio-balls. But in the low light, low oxygen, low flow areas of the dense pourous rock and the deep layers of sand denitrification also occurs. Your rock and sand will actually remove nitrates from your system.
Don't count out skimming as well! Skimmers bind up proteins (organic wastes and uneaten foods) using oxygen. When the skimmer cup fills you just dump the green muck out the door! Thats a lot of work your rock and sand did not have to do! Some people will argue that skimmers also remove good bits (like rotifers) with the bad. This is true, but I couldn't live without my EuroReef. It is my favorite peice of equipment and I run it 24/7.
Growing macros, like caulerpa, in a refugium or in your sump is also a great way to export nitrates. The caulerpa eats up the nitrates as it grows new leaves. Every few weeks you can just reach in and grab up a handful and throw it out the door- nitrates exported! And the best part is you can grow a ton of macros with a inexpensive 60 watt grow light (Home Depot).
But this isn't something you can just set and forget. If caulerpa overgrows it's space and dies back (turns white and goes sexual) it will release those nitrates back into the water. So it will have to be pruned about every other week. Pulling out whole strands is best. Avoid cutting it.
Oh! I almost forgot Xenia! It eats up nitrates and some nasty heavy metals, and can be kept in your main tank. It will eventually grow huge, but its easy to cut back and the new bits can be rubberbanded to a rock and traded to your local fish store. Smells HoRrIbLe out of the water though. LOL!
And last but not least, carbon! It keeps you water nice and polished and helps control the chemical warfare soft corals are always engaged in. It is true carbon will also remove some benificial trace elements... so carbon users should routeinly do water changes with a high quality salt like IO.
It is amazing what people are trying in their sumps now-a-days! Mangrove trees, mud filters, clam filters.... Who knows what the future standards will be! Heck, I bet many of you remember when bio-balls were "revolutionary"! Now, the only thing in my bio-ball rack is a couple of heaters. And the drip plate makes a nice little shelf.