Description
Package Size: 2″x3″, since the balls vary in size considerably from batch to batch and even within a batch. An order is now a full bag, the number of balls may vary.
Filter Starter Balls kick start your filter by releasing a steady stream of beneficial bacteria that goes to work consuming ammonia and nitrite. These gel balls were originally designed for use in moving bed filters, but are really effective in all styles of filters.
They can be used to start up a new filter or to help keep the levels of ammonia and nitrite under control in heavily loaded tanks. We recommend a quarter bag of of balls for 40 gallons of water. They are designed for freshwater and may not be effective in marine systems.
When using the Filter Starter Balls, I’d suggest you place under the media so they won’t float away and leave the filter. If you are not confident you can retain the Balls in the filter, then I’d suggest you place them in a media bag.
Molly (verified owner) –
This will be my 3 order of the bio balls.. my water quality is always perfect!! I was always fighting to have the water just right ( PH, ammonia, nitrate and nitrate) and this leaves the guess work out!!
Don Chamberlain –
Molly,
Thanks for the feedback. It’s great to hear the Starter Balls work so well for you.
Happy Fish Keeping,
Don
David –
Returning customer here, 18kg of ultimate I have ordered in the past and loving it, and i ordered about another 10kg from amazon.. I recently installed a 40 breeder sump to my 150gal XH discus aquarium and got rid of 3 big sun sun canister filters. Since getting into discus I had to add more bio media because discus produce so much waste and they quickly overwhelmed my biological media and the new biohome ultimate media I recently added is not fully seeded yet..so these starter balls do a great job at kick starting the biological filtration..its a great product..thank you and I highly recommend it..
Don Chamberlain –
David,
Really appreciate the feedback. I have a lot of customers for the Starter Balls, but don’t get much feedback about them, so it is great to here how well they’re working for you. Thanks for the photos of your system. We’ll get them and this comment up on your Customer Page very soon so other folks can see how you setup your Discus tank. Thanks as well for your new order today. I hope the MAXI works well in your Sump.
Stay safe, and…
Happy Fish Keeping,
Don
Beth Cothern (verified owner) –
I will be receiving my filter starter balls today to add to my Biohome Ultimate Filter Media (love it). I am coming back to fish keeping after 20 years. I am excited to use these groundbreaking products. I am doing a fishless cycle and will add the starter balls to my Aqueon canister as instructed for my 55 gallon tank. At what point after my tank is established with my fish would it be advantageous to add another set of starter balls?
Don Chamberlain –
Beth,
Glad to hear you like the Ultimate. I hope the Starter Balls help your startup go smoothly. I’ve always thought that once the filter was cycled and you had fish in the tank there would probably be adequate bacteria occurring naturally. However, I do add Starter Balls to each of my Koi Pond Filters every month and I have quite a few customers that order a bag or two periodically.
I’m hoping they are seeing some benefit, but I’ve never really had feedback indicating why they’re adding Starter Balls periodically. I’m going to post this exchange on GreatWave TV to see if we can get any comments.
The manufacturer recommends adding new ones monthly, but you certainly wouldn’t need to add a full bag that often. If you decided to use them regularly, I’d suggest a quarter bag each month.
Good luck with your new tank, and…
Happy Fish Keeping,
Don