Saltwater NitrAte Factories

[Aiglos]

Hello;  

In doing my research for my future saltwater nano tank. (fish only with live rock )   Alot of people are suggusting against Bioballs/Biowheels  claiming they are "NitrAte" factories.  

Could someone explain a little more indepth on this subject for me?  

From what I know about the nitrogen cycle, You need amonia to be converted into NitrIte and you need NitrIte to be converted into NitrAte.

How could a Bio-wheel/ball  be producing more nitrAtes then using say just live rock for filtration ?  No matter how much ammonia is being added, the same amount of nitrAte will be the end solution.


Thank you for anyone who can clarify this for me.  Im doing alot of research to make this a success.  


I have another question and I will keep it to this thread as I don't want to waste space for the freshwater keepers.   Who here has experiance with Nano Tanks that can help me out with some individual questions ?  Does anyone know where I can find a reasonable priced JBL Nano Cube ?  Thanks

[Aiglos]

Disregard;  

I answered my own question with a bit more (fluke) research

http://www.fishtanksandponds.net/live-stock/marine/substratechange.htm

However, Crushed Coral isn't big enough to have any sort of anaerobic zone, so it can only process ammonia and nitrite. It does a very thorough job of this but is known as a nitrate factory since it can't complete the nitrogen cycle.

So I assume this is a saltwater term only.  Very cool.[/img]