bio balls or Matrix

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stoney corals are the ones that buildup reefs due to them making a hard inner shell out of the calcium in the water,
 
I've read somewhere that after you cycle, if you don't stock the tank, you should add fish food sometimes to keep the bacteria from dying out. Since the tank has been running for awhile, maybe something caused a spike in ammonia and not enough bacteria to handle the spike due to them dying without any nutrients. Can the bacteria die if we leave a tank running without anything but rocks?
 
They can decrease in numbers and slowly die out. That is the reason it is important not to add to much live fishes and such at one time. You have to give the bacteria time to catchup with the bioload of your tank.
 
Correct, if you will not be stocking it yet you need to keep adding ammonia to feed the bacteria.
 
Not sure why, I was told to remove my bio balls but I didn't. I have not had more than 10 ppm nitrates in my tank. I know this isn't typical, but as the saying goes, if it's not broke don't fix it. Lol

i had bioballs on my 180G reef before i tore it down my nitrates never went over 10 i guess it all depends on your tank and how much maintenance you do
 
I suppose, my water stays clear and my nitrates today are barely over zero. I use bio balls and two dress socks full of activated charcoal in my wet dry filter. It seems to work for me.
 
Thanks to everyone for your help. I do appreciate it.

An update of how things are going and what I've done with my tank after receiving everyones feedback.

I've added that 'marine pure bio filter' at the bottom of my sump and then put the bio balls back over it with half the balls underneath the water the other half out.

ive added Over 20kgs of live rock so now there is over 30kg in total. I've removed all the creatures that were hiding in the live rock including some large round star fish with like 5 long spiky legs.

Just before I did add the rocks I took some water back to my LFS and they told me everything was fine... In saying that I did ask them to use a cap when testing the water since last time the guy just used his finger when shaking the tube to mix it (not sure if maybe that is why it showed ammonia last time they done the test, but this time I noticed the test for ammonia was a lot less brown) I've also added a skimmer to my tank last week as well. And had the water tested by 2 different people and both said everything was perfect.

So hopefully this time round I'll have no issues adding new fish. I was told I should wait at least 2 weeks because the new rocks I've added will 'spike' the tank again.

What I wanted to know now, is that now I'm thinking of adding corrals or anemones... What is easier to maintain Corals or Anemones?

Or should i wait and add fish in my tank then slowly start adding them or should it be done before I add fish? Also is 1 white and 1 blue light enough for the fish/corals/anemones?

Thanks you again

Danny
 
Purevil21 said:
I suppose, my water stays clear and my nitrates today are barely over zero. I use bio balls and two dress socks full of activated charcoal in my wet dry filter. It seems to work for me.

What is 'two dress socks full of activated charcoal and what's a wet dry filter' I'm thinking if it working for you I may add them to my tank as well. I do have a sump underneath my tank with a pump which sends the eater back up and in there I have my skimmer, heater and bio balls + marine pure bio filter'

Thanks

Danny
 
Your sump is a wet dry filter if it has bio balls. Only the area holding your water after filtration is the sump. The side with bio balls is a wet dry filter. I added activated carbon to polish the water. I filled two dress socks with it and tied them up. I then put them on top of the bio balls. Some people put it in pantyhose or anything that will let water pass over the charcoal. If you decide to do it make sure you rinse the carbon before putting it in the filter.
 
Also, I would recommend establishing your tank before adding any anemones or corals. How long has this tank been running?
 
Once the tank is fully cycled (including all rock is cycled) you can start adding livestock. Corals are the hardiest, most of my clients and customers would rather buy a $100 coral than a $20 fish because they are so much hardier. Anemones are the worst. Even in the best tanks they can be iffy compared to fish or corals. They also burn corals as they move around the tank.
 
It's been since October last year... However i only added about 20kg of live rock 2 days ago (totalling now over 30kg) I added a small skimmer last week and also the pure bio filter beneath my bio balls.

What would you recommend corals or anemones ? Like what's easier to maintain and stronger?

Thanks mate
 
Corals. Definitely hardier and a better option. Anemones shouldn't even be considered until the tank has had six months of no problems (not just six months cycled).

Can you post a link to this 'pure bio filter'?
 
Fishguy2727 said:
Corals. Definitely hardier and a better option. Anemones shouldn't even be considered until the tank has had six months of no problems (not just six months cycled).

Can you post a link to this 'pure bio filter'?

Yeah sure it's http://www.cermedia.com/ I basically out this in sump and the bio balls over it.

Let me know your thoughts on it. The LFS where I bought it from has this in some of the display tanks as there filters so I'm assuming it must be good if there using it...????

What do you think about it?
 
Ok but it's in the sump where there is no light. Live Rick needs some light doesn't it.

You don't think it was worth the $100 I paid for it?
 
If you havent had fish for more than a month, you should have had some sort of ammonia supply or the nitrifying bacteria dies off. If you were to put a raw shrimp in and wait a few days your ammonia will spike because it cant handle the biolode.
 
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