Is Biohome necessary?

[illumnae]

My new setup is a 1ft cube using a large HOB filter (got myself the biggest Atman one as I preferred a larger internal capacity for filter media) with a regulator so that I can reduce the flowrate and not have a tornado in my tank.

I've noticed that Biohome is highly recommended by alot of people not just on this forum but just about everywhere. However, my understanding is that the big advantage to Biohome is the large surface area to volume ratio. Given that my media volume is now rather huge for a 1ft cube (it has a larger capacity than an Eden 501 if I include putting sponge in the inlet flow column), is Biohome absolutely necessary?

Another thing I took into consideration was that beneficial bacteria requires a certain amount of bioload to feed on in order to survive. As such, if there are plants in the tank and the bioload is low, the equilibrim number of beneficial bacteria that will sustain the tank after it has settled should be rather low shouldn't it? In that case, wouldn't putting Biohome in be an overkill as you have alot of surface area, but not enough bacteria to occupy such a large space?

[bossteck]

I would tend to agree with you on the basis of some of the things you said:
1) you have a larger than required filter that I supposed is packed with other forms of bio media
2) You have a low bio load.

But, if like me, you're the type who feels that bio media can last a long long time... then biohome (if their claims about the total surface area it provides for the bacterial colony is true) would be a good investment, imo.

Cheers!

[illumnae]

Hi, thanks for your reply bossteck. Just as a followup to your recommendation, wouldn't biohome be just as prone to clogging as any other filter media? as far as i know, it's still made of sintered glass right? so if i have no need for the large surface area of the biohome, wouldn't it be alot more cost efficient to use other "lesser" forms of biomedia as they all end up clogging up and having to be replaced at more or less the same time anyway?

[Nicky]

My take on this.. biohome or other brand media is more for tanks with high bioload and low in 'natural filter media'.
By 'natural filter media' I mean driftwood, substrate and even plants.
Hence you will read alot of good recommendation of biohome from fish-only-hobbists.

In a typical planted aquaria, we have lots of natural surface areas where beneficial bacteria can reside and hence I question the use brand filter media that promise large surface area. I think normal filter media will work just fine.

[bossteck]

Hi,

Short answer, I feel for your case... YES. Ceramic rings are enough.

Personally, I felt that bio media will last you a life time and if your filter / sump is well arranged, I don't think the media will get clogged that easily.

Even if they are, I feel that a good wash, maybe in hot water etc will renew it.

Personally, I would even venture to say that the whole clogging issue that will render the bio media ineffective, is just a conspiracy to get hobbyists to spend more $$.

[Quixotic]

Is yours a healthy growing, heavily planted tank? If the answer is yes, then Biohome or other media is not really necessary.

With a healthy growing, heavily planted tank, plants will readily take up ammonium and therefore, biological filtration (nitrification) can be deemphasised.

However, some (any) media will be helpful in case in ammonium spikes, which can happen if your bioload is too much or overfeed too much.

[blackBRUSHalgae]

Hi,



Personally, I felt that bio media will last you a life time and if your filter / sump is well arranged, I don't think the media will get clogged that easily.

Even if they are, I feel that a good wash, maybe in hot water etc will renew it.

Personally, I would even venture to say that the whole clogging issue that will render the bio media ineffective, is just a conspiracy to get hobbyists to spend more $$.

I totally agrees with you!!!

I once had Eheim substrate I for eight years and then one day my itchy hands decided to trash them them away for some ultra cheap fiberglass rings. I did made the switch progressively. but eventually my ammonia spiked and big green water issues came along! Currently using Eheim substrate pro and everything is nice and dandy.

For my old Eheim substrate, all I did was to flush them with tank water whenever I serviced my canistor. I would say my tank would still be in excellent form if I still have the old Eheim substrate I.

Pardon my blunt nature, but biohome to me is just like Eheim substrate but with marketing gimmicks in order to price much higher.

[Quixotic]

Pardon my blunt nature, but biohome to me is just like Eheim substrate with marketing gimmicks in order to price much higher.

I can understand your point but I would say, to each his own.

The important thing is that aquarists know and understand what they are using, and how these function within their own tank environment.

[illumnae]

Is yours a healthy growing, heavily planted tank? If the answer is yes, then Biohome or other media is not really necessary.

With a healthy growing, heavily planted tank, plants will readily take up ammonium and therefore, biological filtration (nitrification) can be deemphasised.

However, some (any) media will be helpful in case in ammonium spikes, which can happen if your bioload is too much or overfeed too much.

my tank will be planted, but not heavily unfortunately. i'm looking at planting it lightly with some anubias nana on bogwood and some moss (1 stone tied with it and perhaps a corner for a moss floor). i might or might not put in a crypt corner in the background. but overall i think it's gonna be very lightly planted with no co2 to boost plant growth.

i do intend to put some form of biomedia in and am currently thinking of putting lava rocks in (as the filter is currently seeded with some lava rocks from a matured filter). however, as i do have a substantial volume of space for biomedia (i bought a filter with more volume than an Eden 501 for a 1ft cube), i was wondering if biohome would be a necessary expenditure. i'm looking at paying 4x more for 1/2 the physical volume of filter media (so total of 8x more) when looking at lava rocks vs biohome.

[Quixotic]

There is a lot to if than just the biomedia alone, stocking, plants, feeding and maintenance etc, they are all inter related in an aquarium environment.

Since it is lightly planted and cost is an issue, then stick to the the lava rocks or other cheaper medias. These will still enable the bacterias to colonise and provide the nitrification needed.

As long as you don't stretch your stocking bioload, don't overfeed, perform the necessary water changes, they will still do the job for you. If you overstock and overfeed, no amount of super-fantastic biomedia will help (whether Biohome is "superior" or not will not matter in these conditions).

[illumnae]

Thanks for the tips =)

just as a point of interest though, is there an equilibrim point of surface area required for bacteria, or is it just "more is better?"

as mentioned in my first post, i was under the impression that the various inter-related factors would interact with each other and some cosmic calculator would determine the exact number of bacteria needed to maintain that particular tank with that particular bioload and that particular number of plants etcetc. with that number of bacteria needed, any more bacteria that reproduces would die of starvation due to there only being that particular amount of "food" for them to process (of course, the death of the "extra" bacteria would result in more "food" which would in turn support more bacteria...but eventually an equilibrim taking into account the dying bacteria would be reached)

as the equilibrim amount of bacteria would only require a certain amount of space, any additional space provided to them would be wasted right? i'm assuming that reliable brands of filters would create filters with volumes sufficient for the equilibrim amount of bacteria to settle on more "normal" biomedia like lava rocks or ceramic rings, especially those that bundle their filters with such media.

as such, wouldn't it be rather safe to say that unless you severely overstock or underfiltrate your tank, Biohome or any other form of "superior" biomedia is just a waste of money as the added surface area provided by Biohome is going to be wasted anyway

[vratenza]

Thanks for the tips =)

just as a point of interest though, is there an equilibrim point of surface area required for bacteria, or is it just "more is better?"

as mentioned in my first post, i was under the impression that the various inter-related factors would interact with each other and some cosmic calculator would determine the exact number of bacteria needed to maintain that particular tank with that particular bioload and that particular number of plants etcetc. with that number of bacteria needed, any more bacteria that reproduces would die of starvation due to there only being that particular amount of "food" for them to process (of course, the death of the "extra" bacteria would result in more "food" which would in turn support more bacteria...but eventually an equilibrim taking into account the dying bacteria would be reached)

as the equilibrim amount of bacteria would only require a certain amount of space, any additional space provided to them would be wasted right? i'm assuming that reliable brands of filters would create filters with volumes sufficient for the equilibrim amount of bacteria to settle on more "normal" biomedia like lava rocks or ceramic rings, especially those that bundle their filters with such media.

as such, wouldn't it be rather safe to say that unless you severely overstock or underfiltrate your tank, Biohome or any other form of "superior" biomedia is just a waste of money as the added surface area provided by Biohome is going to be wasted anyway

interesting point of view.

My own point of view is this:

the extra "underutilized" surface area of eheim substrat/biohome can provide extra headroom for gradual increase in the tanks's bioload over time as it matures. you do not want a situation when u are caught when ur bioload tips ur finely balanced and "calculated" biomedia capacity...........ammonia spike ensue....
so I say, if u have the budget, go for the better biomedia with more headroom, further more, most of these superior biomedia have long lifespan and reuse potential. Personally I am a supporter of eheim substrat pro.