I have aprox 500 extra bio balls, loaded with good bacteria, that I am going to move from one tank to a newer tank. I was considering putting them in the sump area of my wet/dry filter. I have a heater in the sump portion of the wet/dry filter. I am wondering, what happens if the bio balls come into contact with the heater. Any kind of issues there? Does the heater get hot enough to melt, or cause some other issue with the bio balls. I know they will float, but there are so many, some will be forced downward toward the bottom of the sump. Thanks for the info
BIo balls and a heater, problem?
- Thread starter 1bigredtail
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If you are really worried, build a heater guard. Its simple, all you need are eggcrates, suction cups and some cable ties (less than $5)
also interested in this, just built a sump and the weather in las vegas is finally starting to cool. I have 44 lbs of ceramic rings in there, gonna have to add my heaters in there pretty soon.
Hello; Not familiar with bio balls, but I used glass marbles in the past. I placed the glass marbles in filters past the filter medium so that the water pass thru them before going back into the tank. They got nice and slime covered (beneficial bacteria) after a while. I left them in place and only changed/cleaned the polyester filter medium. As the filter medium caught most of the detritus, the layer of marbles could stay for a very long time. I assume the bio-balls perform the function of giving the bacteria a surface to colonize the way the marbles did. I also had marbles to play with.