From Bio balls to Live rock???

[CowboyUp]

I need a little assistance please. I am currently running a wet/dry sump with bio balls. I've heard and read that for an astablished reef/fish tank it's a good idea to remove the bio balls and replace them with live rock. The tank has been up and running fine for about two years now. Here's the question: when I put the live rock into the sump, does it have to be completely submerged? Will it be okay half submerged and the water trickles down over the top of all of it? Will I now have to "light" up my sump since it will contain LR? Thanks for any and all help,

John :bouncebox

 

[Rougiem]

John:

I had the same setup in my school's tank. Yes you are correct, remove the bio balls they cause more problems than they are worth. You can replace with live rock. I would just make sure most of it is submerged and is kept wet. Some of mine is a bit out but is being saturated with water. I hope that helps you!

Cheers!

 

[BoomerD]

DON'T remove all your bio-balls at once!! You could have a serious ammonia spike, which would most likely be disastrous to your tank. Maybe a hand-ful per week. Definitely you CAN replace it all with rock, but if you have enough in your tank, (1-1/2 to 2 lbs per gallon) then it's not necessary. Many run a sump filled only with equipment. A few smaller piles of rock in the sump is also ok, for "pod piles" where pod populations can grow and thrive. Rock that is NOT kept submerged will not perform the de-nitrification process, and will remain a biological filter, much the same as bio-balls. In order to be fully efficient, it must be submerged, not just wet.

 

[Rougiem]

I agree Boom...I forgot to mention that...I removed them a little at a time and thanks for the tips on the rock. Mine is actually all submerged now!

Cheers!

 

[Reefreak]

BoomerD Hit it right on, all rock must be submerged. Remove bio balls slowly, I removed mine weekly about 1/10 at a time and had no problems. I do have allot of live rock 1.5 lbs per gallon. Your last question on lighting, No light is required for the live rock to due its job.