Pondering the nitrates....

A

axepilot

AC Members
Jan 10, 2005
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Part two of my question:

I did a 30 percent water change a couple of weeks ago while I was suffering a pretty bad algae bloom. When I changed the water, I let the sump level rise to cover about 1/3 of the bioballs. I noticed a BIG decline in the algae and nitrate levels with some of the bioballs submerged. I added a 15 pound piece of live rock just prior to the water change. Now, I'm pondering:

Did submerging some of the bioballs cause the nitrates to decline?

Did the live rock cause it?

Or, was it a combination of the two.

My tank is 75G FO, and my feeding has remained consistent.

????????
 
I'd vote for the l.r. it has a resident population of bacteria that converted it to nitrogen. The bioballs don't have anything close to the surface space in the l.r also they don't have an anoxic area where bacteria convert it to atmospheric nitrogen. Not that it matters too much in a f.o. but, the bio balls will catch detritus over time and leach nitrates into your tank water unless you keep them pretty clean.
 
Actually, the best piece of advice you can get at this point is to continue adding some more live rock with the goal of completely removing your biomedia. Depending on the live rock density, you can get by with 30 to 60 lbs of rock easily, especially if you have a nice layer of aragonite sand.

The bioballs are a detritus trap. This causes all sorts of problems, including phosphate buildups, algae blooms, declining pH, and fluctuating alkilnity. This doesnt' even consider the nitrate that is constantly pumped into your system by bioballs. The ideal filter for a marine aquarium is a good protein skimmer, a layer of aragonite, and live rock.
 
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