Bio balls

Time and time again this discussion has been brought up when comparing bio balls to ceramic rings, and the general theory is that bio balls increase the nitrate levels (from what i have gathered), so my question is simple.....

I have a free tray in my canister, and i have bio balls lying in my cupboard, therefore would it be advisable to just throw them in? i have ceramic rings, carbon and ammonia remover in the other trays.

 

Should be fine if you have the space available to my knowledge!

 

I have a power head with two canister attached one has sponges in the other ceramic rings, will this be good enough to filter the water properly on a 1,2.
@ Snail hope you dont mind my question

 

I agree with jwalker. I think the thing with bio balls and increasing nitrite levels is because of the surface area. The balls doesn't have that big area for your bacteria to colonise. So then there wil be less bacteria to breakdown your nitrates and then the levels wil not be as low as expected. So with ceramic rings or sera siporax which is more porious provides a larger area to colonise, thus more room for bacteria and better or faster time tn breakdown your nitrates etc.
So seeing that you already have some ceramic rings in filter i cant see why not you can add the bio balls.

Regards

 

Agree, if you have the extra space why not.

 

@Donny, more info please on canister etc...

 

Its a style king power head i think (1200litres a hr) with two filter canisters attached to it.

 

@Donny, is that the only filters on the tank?

 

yes water changes once a week and filter clean once a month. Added the ceramic rings last night cause i gave the sponges a clean cause they were clogged and causing the power to make a noise.

 

Hmmm... I am honestly not sure!

At a quick taught it sounds like filtration is abit low but the problem is I am not familiar with your filter at all!

Does anyone else have more experience with this type of filter?

 

Looks identical to this:
http://www.tropicalfishencounter.com/store/images/105_0535_edited-2.jpg

 

@snail

You should be fine I have a 3ft with sump and it works fine didn't have any problems until sunlight came and brought algae with it lol.

 

I thnk there are a couple of points to clarify here....

Bioballs, as in plastic balls with slats in, are designed more for use in a sump, but they are part of a chain of filtration....

The ideal setup for a cannister should be.... Ceramic rings... Provides mechanical fitration.... then Blue Sponges.... Helps filter out large particles, and provides surface area for bacteria colonies.... Then Bioballs or other substrate like Eheims 'Substrate Pro'.... This provides large surface area for the bacteria to colonise, allowing more surface contact with water, and so allows more biological filtration.... Then fine filter floss... This allows smaller particles to be trapped.

The Bioballs, or substrate (not to be confused with sand 'substrate'), is specifically designed to allow the large nitrifying bacterial colonisation, which is what breaks down your dangerous Ammonia and Nitrites into less harmful Nitrates. So, to say it increases your Nitrates is true, but this is a good thing. You would then remove the NItrates through regular water changes.

So, to answer your question, Bioballs can be used, and will help, but I would feel that in a cannister with its reduced water volume (compared to a sump), then a 'Substrate' like the Eheim Substrate Pro would work better. Its quite expensive, but it can be re-used and 'washed' to remove dirt. Just always wash out any filter media in a bucket of Tank water from your water changes. This allows the bacteria to not be completely removed. Do not add any chemicals, just pure tank water!

Hope that helps?

@Donny, I would say that you would need more filtration in that tank? Hi water flow is not necessarily needed, but a larger surface area for the bacteria to colonise is whats important. F4bar has a small cannister (for a very reasonable price) that should suit that tank for sale at the moment, maybe PM him?

Regards
G!

 

Thanks for detailed info Big G
Have been in contact already with F4bar

 

@Big G, please clarify this one for me! Most people say use ceramic rings for biological filtration and I have seen a few that say it is for mechanical only?

also what type of sponge are you referring to when you say blue sponges?

@Donny, glad you got the info you need

 

I am currently using Seachem Matrix, Seachem Purigen and sponge in a trickle filter I got from @Altum and then a Canister with different density sponges for mechanical filtration. Working great. This is on a 1.2m 240L tank....

 

Well, to put it one way, ANY surface in the water system can, and will, be colonised by bacteria, so from that point of view, yes, the ceramic rings will provide some biological filtration, but they are not very pourous, and have a comparatively small surface area compared to Bio Substrates.

As I understand it, they are primarily designed to help break up large particles of debris and waste, before handing over to the bacterial, or Biological filtration.

When I refer to blue sponge, I mean the sponge that you see in just about every filter, that is available from the LFS's. It is a Sponge with small to medium holes in it, which aids in trapping the larger particles, and also provides more surface area for the bacteria to colonise.

Hope this helps?
Regards
G!

 

@Big G, does help so lets see how I understand this,

Bio substrate then would include things like, seachem matrix, sera siporax?

So would things like Boyu ceramic rings also fall under Bio substrate?

 

Bacteria can grow on just about anything, even your sponges and provide biological filtration, however the larger the surface area the more bacteria can be grown and you will have better filtration.

Thats why matrix and others like it are better than ceramic rings as the matrix has a much larger surface area that way you get for bacteria and so better biological filtration.

Thats how I understand it.

 

Any 'ceramic rings' fall under Mechanical, but as mentioned, will add some surface for bacteria to colonise.

I am not familiar with Siporax, so cannot comment, but Matrix is Bio substrate.

Regards
G!