Cool. I am glad how much I've learned in such a small amount of time. Thank you.Yep. Same as in a SW protein skimmer. Out with the bad, keep the good.
So foaming / protein skimmer is a mechanical filter that takes care of particles so fine, submicron, that they go through a polishing mat... and/or clog the mat and render it ineffective.
The rotting particles then can be viewed as a myriad of tiniest fishes swimming around and exhaling ammonia (and nitrite because the particles are inhabited by the nitrifying bacteria?) and increasing the bioload. I guess Phil says this increase can be significant, even crucial in some circumstances such as 10x-100x overstocking as done at many fish farms.
On the other hand, if the particles are carrying BB's, they should aid in removing ammonia and nitrite right there in the tank water column, unless the colonizing requirements of the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate differ from the requirements of the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite and the former for some reason cannot settle on these particles as well.
I am trying to understand why it is that you appear to be concerned with the nitrites in particular and not with ammonia, Phil?
Is it wrong to lump them together in thinking about what's been discussed?
I am operating on the assumption that the only end product of nitrogen cycle in the rotting process is ammonia. Perhaps you will come back and say rotting organic matter produces nitrite directly too? Not via BB's?