bio balls in a wet/dry filter, yes or no?

[Mercury64]

I have a wet and dry filter with the sump and over flow tank ,its been about six weeks since I added the wet and dry and removed the hang on filters, I cant seem to get my nitrites and ammonia any lower the .25
Everyone is telling me the bio balls are a nitrite factory and should be removed, im confused don't you need them, I do have about 100 lbs of live rock in my tank which is a 125 gal

 

[cmor1701d]

Was this an existing tank that you added the wet/dry system to?
How long has the tank been setup?
What else is in there (complete list of everything in the tank, including livestock)

What test kit are you using?
Have you taken a sample to the lfs to have them check?

Are you sure that your tank is done cycling?
NitrAtes aren't a problem until the cycle is done,meaning that Ammonia and nitrIte are reading ZERO.
How long has the LR been in the tank?
Are planning on a FO tank? If so then the wet/dry with bio balls is ok. If you plan on adding any corals then you should replace the bio balls with LR rubble and add another 75-100 pounds of LR to the tank.

 

[fishfreek]

Ill tell you this from my experence.

I have two tanks running. both with sumps or wet/dry. The wet/dry does have bioballs but im not really trickling water over them but insead more or less pouring water over them. Both tanks have a DSB aswell. I dont have nitrate issues in either tank. I belive if I didnt have DSB in the tank with the wet/dry I would have higher nitrates.

 

[Mercury64]

well every one is telling me to take out the balls so I did and replaced with live rock

 

[lando]

Bioballs are not a "nitrite" factory, but can become a nitrate factory. They do a wonderful job at breaking down nitrite to nitrate, however, I feel they fall short in reducing nitrate. With the proper set-up they will work fine. As fishfreak mention, with a DSB and plenty of LR (1.5-2lbds/gal.), and regualr water changes, nitrates should not be an issue. If they are look at feeding as a cause. Many hobbiests have been successfully using bioballs for years and their experience should not be discounted. Now I can tell you from my own experience that when I replaced my bioballs with 40lbs of LR rubble, I saw a substantial decrease in nitrates. And they have stayed down as well.

 

[Mercury64]

Thank you for the info ,I understand what your saying, I decided to take out the balls and go with live rock
Allot of people are tellng me the cycle is faster and the live rock works out better for several reasons