Quote:
Originally posted by douggiestyle
completely submerged bio balls should be no different then any other surface in the tank. they should not trap any detrius. no idea on how they would work as bubble stoppers.
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they do trap detritus, and every surface in your tank, even inside pipes, is coated with nitrate producing bacteria. The main idea is to keep the surface area down. bio-balls that are underwater behave just like ones in a wet-dry, they just dont operate with as much efficiency since they arent exposed to air as much, which contains more oxygen, etc. They are poor as bubble stoppers though, as would eny object be in this matter. You really want to provide a wide-open, unobstructed space for the water pressure to rise and for bubbles to get forced out by their own bouyancy. bio balls, baffles, and rocks will only serve to mix bubbles into the water... think of it like the downdraft towers on an ETSS skimmer: the bio balls are used to mix the bubbles into the water, not get them out.