need of maintenance

[Eb0002]

I have a 180 gallon fish only tank. Has been up for 15 yrs now. I have been somewhat negligent in my maintenance as it has been very stable. I have a large spiny puffer (8"), a cubicus boxfish who is blind from popeye (8"), a tomato clown (very aggressive), a blue tang who is at least 16yrs old and a naso tang so total of 6 fish. I have a wet dry filter and have honestly never cleaned the bioballs. The do have a moderate amount of brownish goo on them and I am not sure how to clean them. If I clean them all at once I am worried I could lose my biological filter. I do have a good protein skimmer also. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[GouldFever]

I'd clean 1/2 of them this month and do another cleaning next month. With a skimmer you should be aok but just be safe

 

[mr_X]

How much live rock do you have in the tank?
If you are going to clean the bio balls, I would do so in your old tank water and not fresh, chlorinated, water.

 

[Eb0002]

I have quite a lot of live rock, not sure how much in pounds but it covers about 1/2 of the back wall of the tank, (tank is 6 foot long). Yes I thought about cleaning them in the old tank water rather than fresh water. I assume the fresh water would kill any bacteria on bioballs

 

[mr_X]

Probably. If you have enough live rock, you won't even need the bio balls. You can safely clean them.