bio balls or new media

[Rolo1990]

I got a seaclear system II 50 gal tank it came with blue plastic balls
should I keep them or get new type or media planning on stating a reef tank. coming back in hobby after 12years ago

 

[GoVols]

I got a seaclear system II 50 gal tank it came with blue plastic balls
should I keep them or get new type or media planning on stating a reef tank. coming back in hobby after 12years ago

If you're going with a reef setup then don't use plastic bio-balls

bio balls can get you down to nitrates, but they can not reduce (gas off) those nitrates.

 

[wonroc]

ceramic media cubes bra

 

[jcolliii]

I like the Seachem matrix stuff. Quite a bit of surface area and quite a bit cheaper than some of the ceramic stuff. I have a liter (half on either side in my IM 25) and my nitrates never get above 10. I'm currently doing a 4 gallon W/C once a month and corals are growing like weeds. I see bubbles trapped under my filter floss all the time - I assume that is nitrogen bubbling up from the matrix below and getting stuck at the bottom of the floss. Really happy with this stuff. I think there are some details in my build thread about the square area, when I added, etc.