Any new person to the hobby of marine fish keeping is often drawn to bio-balls as a filter media. It's cheap, readily available, and works in almost all filtration. Only to learn that this filter media has earned the name "Nitrate Factories" and is severely looked down on by any "senior" aquarist.
The truth is that we WANT biological filter media to produce nitrates. Nitrates are far less deadly to our aquatic life than its two predecessors, nitrite and ammonia.
So why does the marine community look down on bio-balls? Bio-logical filter media houses nitrifying bacteria that turn ammonia into nitrite, then the less deadly nitrate. In order for a filter media to produce excess nitrates then there has to be an excess of ammonia. Most people who setup bio-balls do not provide the necessary mechanical filtration prior to the bio-balls so they trap solid particles that break down into ammonia. Mechanical filtration should be cleaned and rinsed much more often than your biological media.
But there's the argument of "if you clean them often enough then you wont have a problem." Wrong, rinsing any bio-media like its a mechanical media will eliminate the nitrifying bacteria, thus anytime you perform filtration maintenance will give you a "mini cycle."
So, it could truthfully be said that bio-balls are a great biological media, since they've earned the name nitrate factories, but anyone using them must provide proper mechanical filtration prior to the bio balls.
The truth is that we WANT biological filter media to produce nitrates. Nitrates are far less deadly to our aquatic life than its two predecessors, nitrite and ammonia.
So why does the marine community look down on bio-balls? Bio-logical filter media houses nitrifying bacteria that turn ammonia into nitrite, then the less deadly nitrate. In order for a filter media to produce excess nitrates then there has to be an excess of ammonia. Most people who setup bio-balls do not provide the necessary mechanical filtration prior to the bio-balls so they trap solid particles that break down into ammonia. Mechanical filtration should be cleaned and rinsed much more often than your biological media.
But there's the argument of "if you clean them often enough then you wont have a problem." Wrong, rinsing any bio-media like its a mechanical media will eliminate the nitrifying bacteria, thus anytime you perform filtration maintenance will give you a "mini cycle."
So, it could truthfully be said that bio-balls are a great biological media, since they've earned the name nitrate factories, but anyone using them must provide proper mechanical filtration prior to the bio balls.