Canister Filter Setup Question??Should I use Bio Balls??

[lucky777]

My current setup inside my new Rena XP3 is as follows:

bottom basket has 20 pores per inch and 30 pores per inch foam
center basket has ceramic rings from my fluval I just shut down and poly fill
top basket has poly fill and micro filtration pad

I was considering removing Polyfill from center basket and putting small bio balls in their place for more biological filtration.  I don't know anyone using the in a canister filter for a freshwater setup, but I wanted to ask you guys/gals if you think it is a good idea or should I just leave the polyfill floss.  I don't ever use carbon in the filters unless I'm removing meds in case your wondering why it's not listed in canister content.  What do you think?

[babblefish1960]

Definitely, most definitely, bio balls, or pot scrubbers or porous ceramic rings such as bio max, or eheim's bio substrat,  you will love the biological mass that will grow there, much better than just polyfil, which clogs anyway.

[kennyman]

whats the difference between bio-balls and the bio-ceramic products?

[babblefish1960]

Bio balls are customarily mere plastic orbs with manytimes their surface area within their structure, whilst porous ceramic rings or gravel or whatever form they take, have extremely minute holes that allow purchase by the equally minuscule bacteria within the huge surface area resultant from the shape and porosity of the ceramic.  Either work well, all one is looking for in a biological bed is massive surface area per cubic inch maximized using various methods.

[lucky777]

Hey Babble I have a question for you, I have just added the bio balls in place of the floss.  My question is I have read that when using bio balls to be aware of the possibility of high or excessive nitrate levels over time due to the build up on the bio balls.

Is this more of a myth or an actual cause for concern? What kind of maintenance should be done to keep them maintained or should I even worry since I do weekly 30% water changes and have never had issued with nitrates prior to this?

[babblefish1960]

It doesn't sound like a genuine concern other than were the filter to be shut off for an extended period or allowed to get too cold.  The bacteria only grow to the numbers that are required for the bio load in the tank, if the load is excessive, the nitrates will be higher anyway.

30% water change weekly, depending upon the resident fish, sizes and numbers, sounds sufficient, and that does not need to be altered.  Myself, when I clean a canister once or twice per year, I do not clean the biological material, just the sponges, and I have been doing this with good results for many, many years, on several very large tanks, so I would suggest that it works well enough.  If you find the biological material covered in crud and want to clear it off, just rinse it gently in tank water, but don't scrub the bacteria off of the media, over cleaning will have you establishing the filter all over again.

[lucky777]

What do you consider an extending period of time? I'm going to be moving on November 30 and it could take 3-5 hours to move, plus I imagine it will be slightly cold but the filter itself will be in the car with me.

What will the cold do to the media?

[babblefish1960]

The time it takes you to move will probably be fine, I was referring to a few days not operating, and as for cold, it will severely depress the bacteria if it goes below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, so putting them in blankets won't hurt at all.  Treat the bacteria the same as you would live fish, and it should survive nicely.

[kennyman]

The nitrate concern would be related to how much detritus gets trapped in there would it not? When you were dumping the floss you were exporting the detritus and as a result removing its eventual conversion into nitrate. Where as; if your other media becomes clogged with detritus and you dont rinse it out all that crud sits there leaching N back into the system.

IN SW anything that traps detritus is considered a Nitrate factory. As there is no association of anaerobic bacteria in the filter removing it. But in FW I guess the same philosophy can be applied.

Thanks for answer Babble. I was wondering what the benefit of the balls could be over bio-max ceramic. The only ball type product I have seen is the Aquascape bioball for ponds and there is not much surface area to those. I thought they were a ripoff tbh. These other balls have much more interior to them it seems.