high Nitrates

[reefguy1]

ok, I will take the pad filter off tonight and do a water change tomorrow. I will work on the fish this weekend....thnx for the help guys!

[kwdelre]

Please post your test results in a few days...i'm curious to see how quickly your nitrates lower.

Oh yeah...do you get a good amount of skimmate with that other filter running?

[jfurg75]

not to distract the thread i am curious about bio balls? are they bad? thanks

[kwdelre]

Bio balls harbour nitrates by holding onto detritus and such. Unlike a skimmer that totally removes it from the water.

[jfurg75]

OK so i have a 36 gallon refugium and a deltec 1600 skimmer on a 120 gallon tank should i remove the bio balls from the chamber?

[kwdelre]

Well, how long has the tank been up? Have you had a problem with nitrates? I would just cause of the negative effect they can have. Its up to you.

[jfurg75]

i recemtly had a little high reading tank is almost 2 years old!

[kwdelre]

Well...if your not having a problem no reason to change anything!!

[jfurg75]

good point !!

[reefguy1]

Yes, I get a fair amount of skimmate....not a bunch tho. That is one reason I felt like maybe my test kit was wrong or something, Everything in my tank is doing really well. I will let you know any changes that I see! thanx again

[Doug1]

Originally Posted by kwdelre

Bio balls harbour nitrates by holding onto detritus and such. Unlike a skimmer that totally removes it from the water.

To expand on this a bit further, bioballs in a typical wet/dry setup host arobic bacteria in a hi oxygen environment, these are very efficient at converting ammonia to nitrate and then nitrate. The bacteria that further convert nitrate to free nitrogen live in low oxygen environment, something lacking in a wet dry setup, ( I know they sometimes have a submerged sponge, but its not enough to make a difference)

[jfurg75]

Originally Posted by Doug1

To expand on this a bit further, bioballs in a typical wet/dry setup host arobic bacteria in a hi oxygen environment, these are very efficient at converting ammonia to nitrate and then nitrate. The bacteria that further convert nitrate to free nitrogen live in low oxygen environment, something lacking in a wet dry setup, ( I know they sometimes have a submerged sponge, but its not enough to make a difference)

Thanks doug....... i am not sure of what i should do though...... i did have some abnormal nitrate readings a few weeks back but i had neglected a change by a couple weeks so i figured it was my fault!

[Jen's&Gil'sgoneReef]

Originally Posted by Doug1

To expand on this a bit further, bioballs in a typical wet/dry setup host arobic bacteria in a hi oxygen environment, these are very efficient at converting ammonia to nitrate and then nitrate. The bacteria that further convert nitrate to free nitrogen live in low oxygen environment, something lacking in a wet dry setup, ( I know they sometimes have a submerged sponge, but its not enough to make a difference)

So I understand your point so what do you do about it? Should you replace the bioballs and add live rock will that give spaces with low o2 for de nitro bacteria to grow?

[jfurg75]

thanks jen ....... thats my question!!!!

[kwdelre]

If you do decide to remove the bio balls, you don't NEED to put live rock in its place. just enjoy the volume