Bio Balls or No Bio Balls?

[pcon]

Hey Guys,

I can't seem to get a straight answer on this. No matter whom I ask, or read. Maybe you all could shed some light on this.

I am in the process of starting a salt water tank. I have a 50 Gal Clear For Life Aquarium. it has the built in Wet/Dry Trickle filter in the back.

What I plan to have in the tank is Fish Only with Live Rock. Now I known not to run the tank with carbon. However I have received mixed opinions whether to use Bio Balls. I would like to run my tank with as little maintenance as possible, since I am lazy.

Could someone explain this to me, and maybe even give some recommendations? Thanks!

- Philippe

 

[TRe]

bio balls are pretty much out dated and a thing of the past..... personally id ditch the bio balls but some still use them on FOWLR setups.... with enough water movment/live rock ther not really necessary not to mention in the long run they lead to more nitrates ... hope i didnt confuse you even more

 

[pcon]

Interesting, I had no idea that Bio Balls aren't the thing to use anymore. Wish I would have known that 3 years ago when I bought the tank. I could have gotten a true 50 gallon instead. More room to play with.

So TRe, in a saltwater tank, so you pretty much just run filters for mechanical filtration. Since everything else in the tank itself takes care of the chemical and biological?

- Philippe

bio balls are pretty much out dated and a thing of the past..... personally id ditch the bio balls but some still use them on FOWLR setups.... with enough water movment/live rock ther not really necessary not to mention in the long run they lead to more nitrates ... hope i didnt confuse you even more

 

[TRe]

i dont even run filters... the live rock is the only filtration i use that along with a few good powerheads

 

[Lorna]

Well actually mechanical is pretty much done by a good protein skimmer if needed at all. you could replace some of the bio balls with some liverock rubble but you must make sure that you rinse them occasionally so they don't trap detritus and create a nitrate trap the same as bioballs would. You could use the space to run carbon