Quote:
Originally Posted by Melanie  Test Results 7/7/07: (several hours after water change) - NO2 0.1
- NO3 0
- Alk High
- Ph 8.2
- Salinity 1.020/1.021
- Amonia 0.25
- Temp 77 degrees
There is some nasty brown goo in my bioballs. Do you know what this is? Is it bad? How do I get rid of it? 
Why does everyone hate bioballs? |
I think Lynn has answered your question, but the brown goo on your bioballs is detritus. Bad stuff! Breaks down to nitrate. Bioballs have a very large surface area that is highly oxygenated. This is great for the denitrifying bacteria that convert ammonia and nitrite to nitrate, but that is where it stops. Therefore, bioballs are what everyone calls "nitrate factories". like Lynn said, fish are tolerant of nitrate, but corals and most invertebrates are not.
I recommended getting rid of them in the beginning if you were to get 100lbs of LR or more. You are going to have a some kind cycle anyways, and since you don't have any livestock in the tank, you might as well get rid of the bioballs from the get go. Otherwise later when you start removing them you'll get little cycles. Let the LR become the main biological filter from day one. IMO.