Regards, Edwin Saltwater Aquarium / Fish Tank Forums > Saltwater Aquariums - General Discussion > Bio Balls. Essentially we are talking about a plastic ball – the cost of construction of such an article must be very low – and yet the final product is quite expensive. There are a lot of different types of sand available so the first thing you need to do is check what you have. Does this actually make the trickle filter more efficient? A Bio ball comes with all of those little ridges and holes which allow the aforementioned nitrifying bacteria to grow inside of them. Remove about ¼ of the bio balls from the filter media chamber in which they sit. If the filter is running and the output water goes directly back into the aquarium without being filtered first, it can shoot a bunch of the gunk right into the tank. In properly maintained aquariums, for most (see discussion above of specialized fishes) ornamental tropical species bio balls are, in my opinion, unnecessary. It can be used with freshwater… Trickle filters (of any kind, not just those with bio balls) provide increased oxygenation (as the water is given a larger surface area for oxygen to dissolve in). There are a couple of reasons why bio balls are the best thing to use as opposed to other types of filtration media. If you are doing a water change, you can always use the water right from the aquarium to do this. Aquarium plants can help remove nitrates in freshwater tanks, and live rock can do the same in saltwater aquariums. For display tanks, in particular, indoor display tanks, canister filters or baffle filters are considerably quieter than trickle filters and work (again, in the sense of fish health) equally well. Hop on the list to get them when we start sendin'. They are the biological filter of your aquarium which keeps your fish and plants from being poisoned by unwanted naturally occurring compounds (more on how to clean plants over at this article). The bacteria which can grow inside of bio balls have the purpose of breaking ammonia down. They are can be used in saltwater tanks but are also used in freshwater aquariums and for hydroponics, aquaponics and ponds. Marineland Canister Filter Bio-Balls. It’s worth reminding here that there are lots of bio ball products available, and designs of many are the subject of patents, so its most likely that not all bio balls are equal in terms of their three key abilities (1. surface area, 2. no water retention, 3 ability to “channel” air and water). Another advantage is that bio balls allow. If not using the bio balls, the detrious will get … Bio balls are spheres consisting of tiny tubes that provide a large surface area on which water-filtering microbes can grow. Try not to clean more than ¼ of the bio balls at a time. Cleaning and Maintenance How to clean previously used Bio balls? I have had an interesting online discussion with a friend regarding the relative merits of bio balls. You need to get an ammonia test kit for the water. They are critical to have for any aquarium. Bio balls are a plastic bio media that often gets a bad rap. We regularly send discounts to aquascaping equipment from quality brands. However, they are more than capable of providing biological filtration without issues when used correctly. Required fields are marked *. Bio balls have a moderately low surface area which make them one of the less efficient biomedia for submerged filters. Good thing about bio balls is that unlike other conventional filter media which can wear off and expire over time, it will stay the same and basically all you need to do to keep it fully working is by performing periodic cleaning and … Now, stir the bio balls around in the saltwater to remove dirt and stuck on debris. They are easy to use, easy to clean, and they work wonders. My main concern lies with the relatively limited amount of organic nitrogen available. If you put your fish into an aquarium before this cycling has been completed, the bio balls will not have built up enough bacteria to deal with the ammonia adequately. Any new person to the hobby of marine fish keeping is often drawn to bio-balls as a filter media. This might mean that a corner filter (with its massive surface area on the filter wool) has approximately the same numbers of nitrifying bacteria as a wet and dry filter (in which the bacteria may simply be more widely spaced). Depending on the filter that you are using or intend on using, most will have a space for the biological media to sit. This is the main question we are here to answer today, among others. Nitrites are broken down into nitrates, which are easily taken care of and are not nearly as harmful to your fish as ammonia or nitrites. Can Betta Fish See In The Dark? 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