Replacing sump rock with bio balls

[Bent17]

Hi all. I am thinking of replacing my rock in my sump with Bio Balls. What are your opinions on bio balls? Should I go for them or stick with rock? Reasbon being is that rock leave a lot of dirt in the sump which I am not keen on and I dont have much space to move things around as its full with stones.. would love to know about your experience and opinions

 

[Kershaw]

Do you need either?
Have you considered marine pure blocks?

 

[Bent17]

Do you need either?
Have you considered marine pure blocks?

Only just thought about it now so this is all a period of info gathering

 

[Kershaw]

Only just thought about it now so this is all a period of info gathering

Do you have a negative space display? Or is the rock in sump for pods? Just curious if you need anything in there at all.

 

[Bent17]

Was thinking of removing the rock filtration to make it more manoverable and also I get rid of the rock sediment and have a cleaner sump

 

[exnisstech]

Do you need either?
Have you considered marine pure blocks?

I would recommend against the blocks. I have used them and while they work they start to crumble after a while and leave a bunch of sand like stuff as the crumble.
If you want something neater (my sumps are a mess but I'm fine with that) I would break all that rock up and have a container of rubble. I wouldn't want to loose all that bio filter. Use something like this and you can lift it out to clean and even rinse the rubble in old tank water.

One of my sumps. If I want to cycle a new tank I toss one of these containers in the sump and it really speeds things up.

 

[brandon429]

let's see a pic of the display setting (to assess surface area degree in it)

 

[fish farmer]

I would recommend against the blocks. I have used them and while they work they start to crumble after a while and leave a bunch of sand like stuff as the crumble.
If you want something neater (my sumps are a mess but I'm fine with that) I would break all that rock up and have a container of rubble. I wouldn't want to loose all that bio filter. Use something like this and you can lift it out to clean and even rinse the rubble in old tank water.

One of my sumps. If I want to cycle a new tank I toss one of these containers in the sump and it really speeds things up.

...and handy bins of frag plugs.

 

[MrGisonni]

Brightwell products don't crumble away. I have had these in my sump for nearly 3 years now. I added them bc I started the reef with liferock and went bare bottom

 

[Bent17]

Brightwell products don't crumble away. I have had these in my sump for nearly 3 years now. I added them bc I started the reef with liferock and went bare bottom

I am removing slowly my sand to go bare bottom..

 

[kingranch2003]

Brightwell products don't crumble away. I have had these in my sump for nearly 3 years now. I added them bc I started the reef with liferock and went bare bottom

Do you feel like these help filter the water and lower the parameters that you want to lower? I was looking for extra filtration for my aio. I don't have much room for much more rock. Thanks in advance

 

[MrGisonni]

Yeah they've worked well for me I have a decent bit of rock and a skimmer but I have to dose nitrates in my 30 gallon and I feed twice a day

 

[Doctorgori]

while they work they start to crumble after a while and leave a bunch of sand like stuff as the crumble.

this might be a slight understatement…so just quoting for more emphasis

 

[Formulator]

Hi all. I am thinking of replacing my rock in my sump with Bio Balls. What are your opinions on bio balls? Should I go for them or stick with rock? Reasbon being is that rock leave a lot of dirt in the sump which I am not keen on and I dont have much space to move things around as its full with stones.. would love to know about your experience and opinions

The dirt doesn’t come from the rocks and will be the same problem with bioballs. Sumps are a settling area for detritus and there is really no way around it. Just have to siphon it out periodically. Running bare-bottom makes it easier to remove and if you have plenty of live rock in the display, you don’t need any in the sump. Bioballs are better for folks that have minimalist displays without enough live rock to maintain their biofilter. The bioballs shape and porousity provides a huge surface area for biofilm without taking up a lot of space in the sump.

 

[MrGisonni]

3 years in and these bio blocks are still in great shape. I think a mistake that people make as they put them in super high flow areas where almost anything is going to erode.