Switching from Bio-ball to Refugium???

Hello,

I have a bio-ball set up and i am thinking about switching to refugium. How would i go about doing this? I have a really successful reef right now and really beautiful corals but i think this will get me farther in the long run. I would think that this will mess up my biological filtration but i have no clue how to do this. Please help!

 

Hi Aquariaman

whilst I would be tempted not to make changes if everything seems to be working for you
if you do decide to make the changes your suggesting, the best thing is to do it in stages

as you are aware, some of your much needed bacteria is now residing on the bio balls

how much rock do you have in your tank?

assuming you have enough real estate to house bacteria that is generated for the amount that you lose when removing bio balls

remove 25% 1st week- monitor levels , ammonia, nitrite etc ( having some Seachem Prime on hand would be a good idea, in case you do experience a spike although IME you probably will not)
remove another 25% - 7 days later - continue to monitor
week 3, remove a further 25%
week 4 , remove the last of the bioballs

the slow rate in which you removed the bio balls, will help to ensure bacteria left, can multiply in order to keep up with bio load


Steve

 

Yes, i have about 150 lbs in a 70 gallon tank! hehe. I got it all from a person with a 180 that was going out of the hobby. I have this system right now that is just designed for bio-balls only and would impossible to make it a refugium so i will be buying a new sump with a refugium. Do u have any suggestions about the type of refugium sump for a 70 gallon and still under $200?

 

as large as will fit in the cabinet space, would be my suggestion
you could DIY one , with an aquarium, in which you add the baffles yourself to create the 3 distinct compartments that most go with

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/refugium/bio-balls-vs-refugium-103345.html

I went through the same thing awhile back, What steve suggested is actually how i ended up doing it, only a little faster (didnt have any effects from the removal) Lots of good info in the post if you have the time to read it!

 

How would i make it? Out of acrylic? Do u happen to have any good sites to where i could learn how to do this?

 

check out the DIY forum

I attach 1 example - simply because it has lots of images showing the build process
and the images have a really helpful technique for the baffles you would need

http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/skimmer-sump-pump-build-75982.html