Bioballs

[owen.h.lewis]

Hi all,
I vaguely remember the guy who sold me my current 140 ltr tank, mentioning to me that it had bioballs in either the filter or the extra airpump/filter he gave me.

They were black in colour, and i was wondering if i need to do anything with them. i.e clean or replace.

If you could let me know that would be great.

Cheers

Owen

 

[fatheadminnow]

Not necessarily.

If they become filled with debris, than just rinse them off in tank water.

-FHM

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with FHM, Bioballs are similar to ceramic rings, just not quite as tough perhaps, in that they have a lot of surface area for bacteria and help to randomize the water path to slow it down for debris capture. At filter cleaning time (once per month is our default recommedation as a starting habit for beginners, assuming its a large filter) the tray or mesh bag or other container of bioballs should be dunked and swished in tank water such that you remove the collected debris. The bacteria will almost entirely be tightly attached to the bioball surfaces, so you needn't worry that you are losing much bacteria when the "debris water" goes down the drain.

~~waterdrop~~