Is it better to put them in a tall thinner container so it takes longer to get to the bottom or wider box to go through faster. I know i have enough bio balls but its not braking it down good enough. Doing more water changes than i should be. Thanks for any insight on this.
Arrangement of bio balls
- Thread starter Florencebigfish
- Start date
Bioballs host bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate...
are you doing water changes because you have ammonia & nitrites?... or because you have nitrates?...
I'm sure we could do a major analysis to see which approach would be more efficient in your particular situation... but the difference is likely to be so small it's not worth the time to debate...
are you doing water changes because you have ammonia & nitrites?... or because you have nitrates?...
I'm sure we could do a major analysis to see which approach would be more efficient in your particular situation... but the difference is likely to be so small it's not worth the time to debate...
Mine would be ammona. Keeping it down. Its not really high..only gets to maybe 1.0 at the most then i do a water change and it comes down slowly. I have 4 motoro rays good size and breeding. Eatting very well. I have one 1800 gallon per pump and a 960 gallon pump cycling this tank through bio balls. Two different filter systems. One box has about 16-17 gallon of bio balls and the other has about 5 gallons in it. Its on the back of a tank that sits on top of my pond for the ray pups. Cycles the same water. Need any more info just let me know. Thanks for any info.
Bio Balls are a great media for a wet dry filter, as they allow air to flow into the balls quite well increasing oxygen exchange...
But as for submerged media, the open space within the balls is simply wasted space. There are many other medias that have far more 'surface area' than bioballs (such as ceramic rings, pot scrubbies, etc). This surface area is what bacteria need to live on...
In my experience, it is very very rare for "not enough surface area" to be the cause of ammonina/nitrite in the water... Much more common causes are overfeeding. This usually results in spikes of ammonia and the bacterial colony cannot grow as fast as the ammonia rises, then when the ammonia is gone the 'extra' bacteria starves off thus allowing the next overfeeding to cause another spike.
The other common cause is increasing the stock on a tank too fast. It sounds like this system has been established for quite some time. Can you confirm/deny this? In other words, how long has this set up been set up and stocked?
In all practical terms, it wouldn;t really matter if you had more water hit the bio balls for less time... or less water for more time... as there is ammonia equally in all fo the water that is not being processed.
But as for submerged media, the open space within the balls is simply wasted space. There are many other medias that have far more 'surface area' than bioballs (such as ceramic rings, pot scrubbies, etc). This surface area is what bacteria need to live on...
In my experience, it is very very rare for "not enough surface area" to be the cause of ammonina/nitrite in the water... Much more common causes are overfeeding. This usually results in spikes of ammonia and the bacterial colony cannot grow as fast as the ammonia rises, then when the ammonia is gone the 'extra' bacteria starves off thus allowing the next overfeeding to cause another spike.
The other common cause is increasing the stock on a tank too fast. It sounds like this system has been established for quite some time. Can you confirm/deny this? In other words, how long has this set up been set up and stocked?
In all practical terms, it wouldn;t really matter if you had more water hit the bio balls for less time... or less water for more time... as there is ammonia equally in all fo the water that is not being processed.
These guys get feed every other day. Thawed fish most days and nightcrawlers. Yes the tank has been established for quit sometime. Its my pic in the avatar. Have you heard of those fluidized bed filters. Ive been reading up on those and that looks like what i need to go with. Whats your opinion on these? So are you saying to i should feed everyday to keep the bio load going?
Check your alkalinity and pH.
See:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=319813&highlight=alkalinity
See:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=319813&highlight=alkalinity
I think the point is simply that you are overfeeding. The amount not the frequency. Although if you fed daily using half as much food the Ammonia spikes should be reduced. If daily feeding eliminates the spikes you have solved your problem. If not, reduce the amount fed.Florencebigfish;4103626;4103626 said:
Has this condition existed from day one ?
Florencebigfish;4103626; said:
DawnMarie is correct... I think you should feed absolutely no more food than the fish are going to consume. It's the 'leftover' food that rots and causes problems...
Florencebigfish;4103626; said:
There are any number of 'bio filters' that will help with your situation. the fluidized bed filter, wet dry filter, even suberged bio media...
Do you have ample water movement within the tank? Ample water movement can keep the water thoroughly mixed up ensuring all of the water is processed through the filter and thus comes in contact with bacteria...
Do you have ample mechanical filtration? Having proper mechanical filtration is also important as this ensures that both leftover food and fish waste is collected and not left in the tank to rot.
Do you clean the mechanical filtration frequently? Once the waste is collected in a filter, it is still in the system, is still rotting in the system and is still contributing to the build up of pollutants. It is important to clean the filter frequently.
I HATE hearing/reading people suggest that certain types of filters can go a very long time between cleanings. While it may be true some filters can 'get away with it'... it's not a healthy approach...
Belive me no food goes uneatin in this pond. Plus i have a catfish in there that cleans up any left overs and usally i have to feed him. Im going to add more bio media on this pond and try feeding more regular with less food. I keep in touch on this.
nc_nutcase;4104093; said:
The nitrogen cycle of the aquarium is pretty much closed. There are very few ways in and out of the tank for nitrogen. Food is basically the only source and it doesn't really matter whether it's eaten or not, its fate is the same. Very little nitrogen is sequestered as increased biomass in fish so if you put the same amount of food in a tank with no fish and just let it decompose, it's basically the same as if there were fish there to eat the food.
Of course, feeding only what's eaten means feeding less which results in less nitrogen added to the system as well as saves money.
To the above, I would add that ammonia is excreted by the gills of fish and nitrate can be reduced by exporting detritus before it even decomposes and becomes ammonia.
nc_nutcase;4104093; said:
I wholeheartedly agree with this and I think it's something that almost all fishkeepers overlook. It doesn't matter if uneaten food or fecal matter is in the tank or in the filter. It's still in the water decomposing into ammonia and being circulated around by the pumps. Nitrate levels will be the same regardless of where the detritus decomposes (assuming you have sufficient biofiltration capacity that ammonia and nitrite levels don't build up). If you could remove the solids from the water, as some self-cleaning filters do, then you only have ammonia (gas?) from the gills and urea (liquid?--basically fish pee) to deal with.
One self-cleaning filter:
http://www.seavisions.com/images/video/cads movie 1-new.swf.html