[clown shrimp]

I have been reading several threads, and i have been noticing that many people do not add bio balls to their sump. i have 24 gallon aquapod and i have bio balls in my sump, should i take them out???? and also i was wanting to get a refugium for my aquapod, what size should i get, what plant should i add, and also ccould a put a living sponge in my fuge to help filter the water? any advice would be great! thanks

[glampka]

Bioballs that are not cleaned on a regular basis can become a nitrate generator. Remove the balls & replace with LR rubble. You can put the rubble in one of those mesh filter bags. I have a 12 gallon Aquapod & that is what I did.
Adding a refugium to the Pod is rather difficult because of the top. The best you can hope for is to turn 1 of the back compartments into one. Problem with that is finding a light to use to grow the algae.

[clown shrimp]

adding the fuge wouldnt be too hard because i have the sun pod 150watt lighting, what sizwe should i do, and how do i clean the bio balls????

[Fishhead Junkie]

i am interested in the answers too, i have been thinking about getting rid of my bio-balls and replacing with live rock. the mesh bag you are talking about..is it sold at fish stores and do you remove some bio balls, add the bag of live rock, let it start a base for a while and then remove all the bio balls all together? good topic. reminds me..i need to do a water change pronto!

steve

[clown shrimp]

lol can you do a large piece of live rock? and what is the rubble all they have at my lfs is the large pieces

[clown shrimp]

of LR or is it the sand????

[glampka]

The small (13" long) or medium (19") Aquafuge would probably fit back there since you have the MH light. You should rinse the bioballs out in saltwater every so often to remove anything that may get caught up in them.
They don't put many bioballs in the cubes so you can just swap them all out at once.
The mesh bag is sold @ all lfs. Comes in 2 or 3 sizes. Has a draw string on it to keep everything inside.
Doubt that a large piece of rock is going to fit. You can make your own rubble - simply take a rock or 2 & bust it up into pieces with a hammer. Be sure to wear safety glasses so something doesn't go flying into your eye.

[clown shrimp]

o ok! and could i buy a 10 gallon tank and make an upstream fuge?

[glampka]

Whatever floats your boat! The Aquafuge are nice HOB units.

[clown shrimp]

ok i think ive seen thoes before but the one i saw had a skimmer i think, since i have a cube i really dont need a skimmer because i do water changes, how much are they also???? and do you have any expirence with them????