Removal of Bio-media and Bio-balls in 28 Gallon AIO

[lee9]

So I've seen this mentioned in a few threads and did a bit of research on the subject but just wanted to post this and get some feedback/advice.

I have a 28 gallon AIO cube. It has four chambers in the back. The first is the filter sponge. The second contains the bio-media (~ 4.5" x 3.5" x 12"). The third has the bio-balls and bags of chemi-pure and GFO (and heater). The fourth has the two pumps in it. I am running a Deltec MCE300 protein skimmer as well.

My aquarium has about 25 lbs. of live rock and has been up and running for about 9 months. I think it has a fairly heavy bioload due to the amount of fish and anemones. I want to remove the bio-media and bio-balls and see if it made a difference in my nitrate levels . I do weekly water changes though so the nitrate level never usually gets above 5 – 10 ppm.

I was thinking of removing the bio-media/balls over the course of three weeks.

1st week – 1 bag of bio-media
2nd week – 1 bag of bag of bio-balls
3rd week – 1 bag of bio-media.

I would siphon out any detritus in the chambers when I remove them and replace with a few larger pieces of live rock. I was also thinking of putting some chaeto and a submersible light in that chamber with the live rock and have the light on at night when the main lights are off.

Anybody see any issues with my plan? Thanks.