does anyone on this site use Bio balls in there sw aquarium I know alot of people have told me there no good and I am not saying they are I just still cant understand why Aquariums and fish stores and just about everyone and every where else I have looked uses them in sw aquariums I hope no one gets mad at me for still wondering and I did understand Lorna about the detritus building up on them but when I asked someone else that has been keeping sw aquariums for 30 years they said that detrtus is on the bottom of the tank in the sand that thewater splashing onto the bioballs makes it impossible for waste and stuff like that to stick so I am really confused
So I have to ask Bio Balls
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To add a little clarification and qualification...
Bio-Balls (or any other high surface area filter media) are great for freshwater (I know this is the saltwater forum, but I didn't want a google search to lead to this being read out of context). The reason they are great is because the provide a huge colonization surface for aerobic bacteria which metabolize ammonia and release nitrite, and other aerobic bacteria which metabolize nitrite and release nitrate. This is about the best we can hope for in a freshwater aquarium, and that nitrate then has to be removed either through water changes, or live plants.
In a saltwater aquarium, we can do one better. Because we have this reasonably porous rock in our tanks (live rock), the aerobic bacteria can colonize on the surface of the rock and do their ammonia-->nitrate thing. However, because this process occurs on the surface of the live rock, that nitrate gets "handed off" to anaerobic bacteria a little further into the rock (in addition to the photosynthetic organisms that live on the rock, algae, etc.), which then "completes" the nitrogen cycle and removes the nitrate.
Bio-balls "short-circuit" that process and produce nitrate in a very oxygen rich environment which doesn't lend itself to subsequent removal of that nitrate.
So... In freshwater tanks, and in saltwater tanks with no live rock, bioballs are better than nothing because nitrate is better than ammonia. In modern saltwater aquariums, live rock and a lot of current is the way to go for filtration.
So, your LFS runs bio-balls because they probably don't run that much live rock in their system. Your friend who's been in the hobby for 30 years still runs bio-balls because live rock as a primary means of filtration is actually a "relatively" new concept.
Hope that helps,
~JW
Bio-Balls (or any other high surface area filter media) are great for freshwater (I know this is the saltwater forum, but I didn't want a google search to lead to this being read out of context). The reason they are great is because the provide a huge colonization surface for aerobic bacteria which metabolize ammonia and release nitrite, and other aerobic bacteria which metabolize nitrite and release nitrate. This is about the best we can hope for in a freshwater aquarium, and that nitrate then has to be removed either through water changes, or live plants.
In a saltwater aquarium, we can do one better. Because we have this reasonably porous rock in our tanks (live rock), the aerobic bacteria can colonize on the surface of the rock and do their ammonia-->nitrate thing. However, because this process occurs on the surface of the live rock, that nitrate gets "handed off" to anaerobic bacteria a little further into the rock (in addition to the photosynthetic organisms that live on the rock, algae, etc.), which then "completes" the nitrogen cycle and removes the nitrate.
Bio-balls "short-circuit" that process and produce nitrate in a very oxygen rich environment which doesn't lend itself to subsequent removal of that nitrate.
So... In freshwater tanks, and in saltwater tanks with no live rock, bioballs are better than nothing because nitrate is better than ammonia. In modern saltwater aquariums, live rock and a lot of current is the way to go for filtration.
So, your LFS runs bio-balls because they probably don't run that much live rock in their system. Your friend who's been in the hobby for 30 years still runs bio-balls because live rock as a primary means of filtration is actually a "relatively" new concept.
Hope that helps,
~JW
Another added caveat.....higher nitrates in freshwater are utilized by live plants etc...in saltwater you don't have live plants per se to utilize the nitrates and most inverts and corals are very suceptible to high nitrates levels. High nitrates also promote the growth of algae which all will agree micro algae is bad for saltwater. The algae that most grow in their tanks is kept in the refugium and they use MACRO algae as a nitrate/phosphate scrubber to remove any remainiing from their system and to out compete the micro algae for nitrates. They grow it in a controlled area in the refugium and usually on an opposite light schedule from the main tank to help maintain consistent ph levels. Some macro algaes (caulerpa) have the propensity to go asexual and have been known to take out whole tanks when they do. Cheato doesn't do this and is probably one of the more popular macro choices for this reason.