Bio balls question?

[rafatoy]

i have a 55 gallon hexagon saltwater tank and i am using a wet/dry sump. and was wonder if the bio-balls should be under water or should the balls be half way under water. have also been told to add a bio meadia filter under the bio- balls. anyone know why i would need that. i thought that was what the balls were for. I did not ask what bio media filter is? Help

[bskerrichard27]

Yes half will be out of water ..on mine over top the bioballs I run a carbon pad then a sponge filter right after the water leaves the bioballs mines a hybrid I run live sand in it and live rock with chateo ..mines also a 55 gallon and I never have any problems ...once a month though I rinse half the bio balls and rotate them because if not the will build up Nitrates

[Ibrahim]

Originally Posted by bskerrichard27

Yes half will be out of water ..on mine over top the bioballs I run a carbon pad then a sponge filter right after the water leaves the bioballs mines a hybrid I run live sand in it and live rock with chateo ..mines also a 55 gallon and I never have any problems ...once a month though I rinse half the bio balls and rotate them because if not the will build up Nitrates

Do you have any pictures?

[bskerrichard27]

Hope this helps

[Ibrahim]

Originally Posted by bskerrichard27

Hope this helps

Yep it does alot I may do that with mine

[Ibrahim]

Originally Posted by Ibrahim

Yep it does alot I may do that with mine

What's that black thing at the bottom right and what's under the bioballs?

[Jmedic25]

If you havent bought the bio balls yet, you can save money buying plastic pot scrubbers from the dollar store. Just make sure they have no soaps added. They work just as well as bioballs. I also pull one out of my sump and scrub stuff with them. After all they are scrubbers LOL. Another good tip is to put an airstone in your sump under the biomedia. If you increase the oxygen to the media you will grow a stronger colony of bacteria. As for submerging the bio balls. Im not so sure. I think they need air to grow so you want them wet not submerged.

[bskerrichard27]

The bioballs sit on a tray then there is sand under them the black thing is the sponge between the baffle and the bio balls... There are many ways to create a filter I just wanted to use both the wet dry and.Berlin filter methods to see how it works minus the piece of crap skimmeri have I don't have noissues at all and my water is crystal clear know if I can get my nano this clear lol

[Ibrahim]

Originally Posted by bskerrichard27

The bioballs sit on a tray then there is sand under them the black thing is the sponge between the baffle and the bio balls... There are many ways to create a filter I just wanted to use both the wet dry and.Berlin filter methods to see how it works minus the piece of crap skimmeri have I don't have noissues at all and my water is crystal clear know if I can get my nano this clear lol

If you don't mind, what kind of wet dry do you have? Ive got the eshopps 100

[rafatoy]

bskerrichard27 thanks...
also you run the carbon and sponge filter pad above the bio balls does it fit? is it ok to also place a bag of carbon under the bio balls?

[bskerrichard27]

Not sure it came with my tank but yours looks very similiar

[rafatoy]

btw whats the name of the protein skimmer?

[rafatoy]

This is mine in the early stages of setup, right I also included ATO floater and temp/ph probe. My skimmer is a HOB, but I see that yours fits perfect inside, although I want to do the same but a little concern with the movement of water my ATO will be turned on/off

[bskerrichard27]

Another thing I see different is u have a submerged pump ... Mine is inline a lot less heat and more room in Sump for skimmer I just ordered my upgrades today for my tank which includes a reef octopus diablo ,so I'm hoping it fits similiar to my sea clone even thou its a tadbigger

[mr_X]

You want as many of those balls exposed to air as possible. Unfortunately, using this to hold a skimmer will force you to keep about 10" of water in it at all times. A skimmer is not going to function properly with a constantly changing water level so i would suggest an ATO as being a mandatory component for this set up.
Those bio balls host aerobic bacteria. the more oxygen they get, the better they work. This is why water is trickled over them, constantly keeping them wet, but not submerged. hence the name -trickle filter or wet/dry.

[rafatoy]

what type of sea clone? most of my equipment was given to me, so i went with what i got. not much room to work with, but i get by, just questions and learning....

[rafatoy]

Mr_X
Good point !!!

[bskerrichard27]

Mr x is correct about the bioballs more air exposure the better ,maineland sea clone 100 I think its junk ...as for the wet dry hybrid I been thinking of.upgrading it also to a regular refugium ...I realy don't like cleaning the bio balls

[bskerrichard27]

I have the carbon pad on top then the sponge filter on bottom yes u can add a bag of carbon but if you use the carbon pad I don't see the need ..also I'm learning also so no one way to do it one thing I learned about this hobbie is everyone has there own way of doing things some work good some don't ..I like to try different things myself some have worked and others have non lol

[rafatoy]

bskerrichard27
your absolutly right, thats why we are all here, diffrent methods, i too have had my not so good things work for me....LMAO!!!!