can bio balls be used for freshwater?

[Bderick67]

Nitrate factories thsts what they are supposed to do. You guys do know that nitrate is the poeduct produced by your biofiltration, right?

 

[girliefishlips]

+1 Bio Balls are nitrate factories in such that the end product is nitrate. To control the buildup of nitrate you will have to add another form of filtration such as algal or plant filtration, de-nitrate filter/anaerobic zones, chemical media, water changes. With freshwater, nitrate buildup is not such a problem as it is with saltwater, so, bioballs are still very effective and useful for use in FW.

 

[David R]

Toby, I agree we often go way overboard on the bio media, but I would be very interested to see how your tanks with NO bio media and their filtration are set up. I am well aware that the every surface area in the tank is essentially bio media, but with the exception of SW tanks with live rock, or perhaps a similar set up in FW (maybe a rift lake tank with not many fish and plenty of rock), I think it not having some sort of high-surface-area media in a filter of some description would severely limit the amount of fish you could keen in a FW set up.

i agree with toby my dad kept an oscar in a 20 gal tank for about 7 or 8 years before we gave him away and all he ran was a few rocks and once of those filters with the air pump connected and cotton/carbon (not that i agree with keeping them like this) but if he managed to keep such messy fish in such small tank with weakly water changes without the ammonia killing the fish all this extra media is unnecessary half the time

First post so I'll go easy on you, but there is a big difference between "good advice" and what somebody managed to get away with. Just because someone else did something foolish (like keeping a potentially 12"+ fish in a poorly filtered 20g tank) and didn't kill the fish doesn't necessarily make it worth advising others to do the same.

Nitrate factories thsts what they are supposed to do. You guys do know that nitrate is the poeduct produced by your biofiltration, right?

Exactly. "Nitrate factory" may be a negative term in the context of a reef aquarium, but in a FW set up that is exactly what they're supposed to be!