Bioballs: Filtermedia

[Ant]

This is a follow on from this topic: http://ace.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=15719

What are a good brand? (i.e. most surface area) I've been looking into getting some myself.

Anthony

[BlakeyBoyR]

I think it is important to point out that from what I can gather, bio-balls are really meant for applications where they are not submerged, but have water trickling over them such as a wet/dry filter. If the filter media is to be submerged you're better off with something like matrix or spun glass noodles.

Just my 2 cents.

[BaZ]

Why?

I always thought that was to do with oxygen exchange, not the media's ability to filter.

I use a combination of bio balls and pot scourers in my rack sump, and they are all submerged except for about the top 5cm. I prefer them to be submerged because if we have a long-ish power failure I don't want all the bacteria to die off when the water stops trickling.

I may be wrong, and perhaps I am not using my balls correctly, but so far they seem to be doing a good job for me

As for different types or styles of bio balls, how much difference could it really make? I thought the concern here was surface area

[anchar]

I may be wrong, and perhaps I am not using my balls correctly, but so far they seem to be doing a good job for me

My wife Jodie gave birth to a son today, Charlie Austin Barrett

He's not exactly tiny, weighing in at 3.8kg (8lb 6.5) and is 51.5cm long.

I would tend to agree that "they seem to be doing a good job " for you BaZ

Andrea

PS> feel free to moderate

[BlakeyBoyR]

I am only going off what other people have told me. I was told that bioballs were, and I quote 'useless', submerged. I never quite understood it myself as obviously they still have a surface area which bacteria are able to colonise.

Perhaps I need to be more careful with who I take advice from :/

[wrk21]

BB,

your right they do need oxygen for the bio to work, but that is a good point baz has brought up about when the power go's orf.

it probable is working for baz as the bacteria is living off the oxygen in the water.

having said that, you would like to think that the power companies can keep it on more time then its off.......

wayne

[nannat]

when the power goes off the level in the sump will increase perhaps covering the bioballs.everyones sump is not the same one,and mine will overflow if i filled it up over the bio balls.i would guess only that bazs sump would get greater oxygen exchange though if his bioballs were wet.im sure there is bacteria though

in there baz.

in a different current post on bioballs it is advised bio balls be specifically designed rather than just plastic spike balls.i believe there are rates of efficiency in regards of sump designs and media used.

though im not good to rate others against mine.i needed to add a cannister to my smallish sump just the other day.my fish must be growing and eating more as the sump was adequate to the number of fish in the system,and none have been added of late.or ive been overfeeding.

[Colfish]

from what i ascertain from all my reading, bio balls only operate at 60%

efficiency fully submerged. for 100%, they should be 'wet/dry'.

the design of bio balls does have an impact on how well they perform.

you will need a lot more 'el cheapo' to do the same work of a good brand name.

bio balls are not for filtration of any discription.[ sponge and 'floss' serve that purpose] they are for oxygen exchange and bacteria activatey.

PS. Merjo, imho that comment from far left field went totally over head.

[BaZ]

Merjo as I typed that I wondered who if anyone would pick up on it.

My first thoughts were Ducksta, but you were not too far behind

[Ducksta]

BaZ you know I leave your balls well enough alone when it can be avoided...

[wrk21]

the other option is to use gutter guard left rolled up, works well and very cheap if your doing a large system.

$2.00 per roll from , yes bunnings.

wayne

[Ant]

As for different types or styles of bio balls, how much difference could it really make? I thought the concern here was surface area dntknw.gif

Baz, if you read the post this follows on from it states that some bio balls are better than others, and yes it is to do with surface area.

Do you realise that etched dye bio balls offer twice the surface area of cheap imported ones?

The out come of this is you need only half as many good ones as you do cheap ones to do the same job.

THe surface of the dye (tool) in which they are injection moulded has a very fine pattern put on it. This roughness increases the surface area therefore the amount of bacteria that can colonise it. The Aussie ones are made of food grade poly ethelyne which means you will have no trouble which is possible if regrind or reclaimed plastic is used in cheap ones. I like cheap too, but bio balls are something that cheap is probably not better.

Anthony

[BaZ]

Yeah I know all that but my point was that in such a small item (1 bio ball) I didnt think there was too much room for extra surface area. I'm not sure that it makes all that much difference in the big scheme of things, but that's just my opinion.

I use scourers as my main media, the bio balls are only in there because I already had them, and they are a good size to fill in a few gaps.

[Ant]

ahhhhhhh i seee

[DanceswithDingoes]

Nitrosomas and Nitrobacters will thrive in an oxygen rich environment. The trickle system maximises the oxygenation of the water as it passes over media. Bio-balls are designed to provide a maximum amount of surface area in the minimum amount of space. Matrix aka Sintered glass has the advantage that the larger pieces have so much surface area that closer to its porus centre all of the oxygen has been consumed allowing anaerobic bacteria to live, these bacteria convert nitrate into hydrogen suphate gas which dissipates into the air.

[trofius]

on the topic of gutter guard i found some in the gardening section of BIG W today that is twice as fine as the bunnings stuff (5mm squares) and for only $1.68 for a 8m roll.....

[Alan]

Goodness me, time there was a FAQ post on 'bio balls'....there are so many missguided ideas on how they work and their best performance. They have been around for so many years that there has been some 'folk lore' grown up around them. Most with no scientific basis !!! They were in use before a lot of present day aquarist were borne.

The concept of bio balls is maximum bacteria colinisation without getting clogged up with gunk. Works just as well, if not better submerse in a well oxygenated system than emerse (wet/dry) if both have a prefilter.

Alan.

[DanceswithDingoes]

Goodness me,  time there was a FAQ post on 'bio balls'....there are so many missguided ideas on how they work and their best performance.  They have been around for so many years that there has been some 'folk lore' grown up around them.    Most with no scientific basis !!!  They were in use before a lot of present day aquarist were borne.

The concept of bio balls is maximum bacteria colinisation without getting clogged up with gunk.  Works just as well, if not better submerse in a well oxygenated system than emerse (wet/dry) if both have a prefilter.

Alan.

←

To answer your intial question Anthony, good old Australian made Aquasonic Ovi-Balls are as good as any and are relatively cost effective

With the utmost respect Alan that is bull. Bio balls were designed as an efficient fitration medium for wet/dry filter systems in the sewage treatment industry. Wet/Dry systems were around (I assume) before you were born at the turn of the century. How can a wet/dry system function if it is wet/wet? Degassing best occurs if the medium is NOT emersed as this gas exchange occurs for every drop of water. If the media is emersed you cannot ensure that all the water contacts the medium before it passes through. Nor the maximum amount of oxygen is accessing the media. The only drawback with wet/dry is the fish need to be fairly nitrate tolerant as it is so efficient it creates much of the by-product nitrate.

You'll be telling us young whippersnappers that slate bottomed tanks are more efficient than glass bottomed next

Author: Winston Vaughan Schoenfeld

Published on: February 25, 1997

Among the most popular filtration systems is the "wet/dry" trickle filter. A good picture of a wet/dry filter can be seen here. As with box filters, these filters rely on an initial mechanical filtration provided by fiber-floss, which sits just above the trickle filter as shown in the above figure. Gravity causes the aquarium water to flow to the filter, through the fiber-floss prefilter, and then into the trickle filter portion of the wet/dry system. If you are wondering where the name "wet/dry" comes from, it is very simple. The trickle portion is considered to be the "dry" portion and the submerged chemical and biofiltering system which follows is the "wet" portion. The trickle partition consists of a trickle tray, which separates the incoming water into smaller streams which "trickle" over the bio balls placed below it. The water then collects in the filter reservoir where it goes through chemical and sometimes biological filtration, depending on the configuration. The water which collects in the reservoir is then returned to the aquarium by a power pump.

[BaZ]

This is all making some very interesting reading

Here's a few more things to think about though, these are the reasons I have my media submerged:

- If the power goes out for a while here, my media and bacteria are all still submerged.

- I'm under the impression that fish which come from an over-oxygenated system do not do well in bags at long auctions

- The water level in my sump now means I can do a 25% water change for the whole system by simply draining and refilling my sump. Having my balls exposed would mean I'd be only changing 5-10% each time, or I'd have to do individual water changes for each tank.

So yes, perhaps the bio balls might work a bit better if they were not submerged, but at what cost?

I see no advantages, just disadvantages. My system is well filtered as it stands right now

[BaZ]

FYI here is a pic which shows a small portion of my media.

You can see it is mostly scourers with maybe 10% bioballs to fill the gaps.

I'll try to get a better pic today.

[DanceswithDingoes]

Baz, the high oxygen exchange in a trickle filter benefits the bacteria on the bioballs more than the fish, which reduce toxic ammonia and nitrites. True, in the event of a power failure the bacteria would take longer to die in a submerged system but the they will eventually die and the trickle system offers faster repopulation when reactivated. If you are really stuck in a power outage an bucket full of sump water topping the tank up every half an hour will keep things humming along (and help oxygenate the main tank)

If you really prefer to submerge your media you may want to consider replacing the bioballs with bags of sintered glass media (Matrix), as these will foster anaerobic bacteria and help reduce nitrate levels.

[mianos]

The bacteria will be everywhere anyway.

This paper has most of the relavent detail:

http://ce.ecn.purdue.edu/~alleman/w3-artic...r-behavior.html

[DanceswithDingoes]

Although both nitrifying bacteria appear to have this denitrifying capability, the biochemical balance between `nitritifiers' and `nitratifiers' may, itself, become disrupted by oxygen deprivation. Specifically, `nitritifiers' exposed to low oxygen conditions seemingly generate higher levels of intermediate hydroxylamine. In turn, the presence of this chemical will disrupt, and possibly terminate, the activity of their companion `nitratifiers,' resulting in a short-circuiting of the normal nitrification sequence.

Thus the more oxygen it recieves the higher its productivity, as I have said before trickle systems are often blamed for being 'too effective' as they produce greater levels of nitrifying by-product, Nitrates, which generally must be exported (water changes.) Requiring wet/dry systems to have more regular water changes.

Please remember my argument is specifically on the optimum environment for bioballs NOT wet/dry systems in general.

Personally I believe the best sump system is a baffled sump wth sponge pre filters, followed by 2 passes of sintered glass (matrix) and this has the potential for complete ammonia, nitrite, nitrate removal/reduction and is mechanically simple.

[Ant]

Some very good info here, thank you. If that is the best setup for a trickle system, what is the best setup for a canister filter? And what order should the media be placed?

My setups

Sponges (top)

Mini Bio-balls

Ceramic noodles

I also have shell grit in a medium bag right at the bottom

[DanceswithDingoes]

A trickle system should include a tower that holds an appropriate number of bioballs (I think its like 1 per litre or similar), a prefilter plate/grid with holes and a floss prefilter, a nylon bearing spinning arm, a sump that will hold the levels from the outlet/inlet of the main tank should the pump fail (or power go out.) In the sump directly under the tower are the heaters (at least two identically set heaters) Along the sump should be 2-3 baffles, the first holding sponge the 2/3rd holding sintered glass (these can be substituted temporarily for chemical scrubbers such as carbon) the last section holds the return pump. In the tank the inlet should use a durst pipe or weir and the outlet either a rain bar or directional flow.