What is your Favourite Bio Filter Media

[cheetf]

Hahaha. Oh I see. Makes sense.

[.Hack]

I know it is cheap but I would watch the ph when using ANS. Till now
They have not answer me why a media product looking like ehiem substrate pro raise my ph.

I monitor my water perimeter regularly.
So far the ANS medias did not affect my ph level.
Could it be other reason that raise your ph?

[cheetf]

I monitor my water perimeter regularly.
So far the ANS medias did not affect my ph level.
Could it be other reason that raise your ph?

How long have you been using the media? Does your tank contain PH lowering soil as well?

[.Hack]

How long have you been using the media? Does your tank contain PH lowering soil as well?

Been using them for close to 3 months, ph maintained at around 6.5-6.8.
Tank is a bare bottom without any soil or substrate.

[aquarius]

Matrix is not a singered glass media. It is natural porous rock. It is cheper than substrat pro and biohome.

Yah you're right.... I was at clementi earlier on, so decided to check out the price and after comparing all the infos and prices, Matrix is much more worth it than the other 2 brands. ONe thing about Matrix is that they look very ordinary - it looks like a small piece of rock/stone and the surface area doesn't look rough and porous like Eheim's Substrat Pro or alot of the other brands and somemore on close inspection, the media don't even look as if it is very porous on the inside, so it's very easy to dismiss it as a good media. Just looking at the Matrix will make you wonder if the claims made by Seachem about it's surface area is really true. But i'll believe their claims because they are one of the very few reputed companies that bothers to do and provide experiments to back up their claims.

It is only recently that i happened to read reviews on it and later went to their website to check things out that i realised that this is a Gem.

[aquarius]

I noticed something strange on the packaging of Mr Aqua. It has 2 different packaging, The boxed version which comes in only 1L and 5L while the round container version only has 3L. It is stated on the Boxed packaging that the S size has 600sq meter of surface area and the M size has 500sq meter BUT on the 3L round container one, both the S and M sized CRs is printed as having only 450sq meters of surface area, somemore there was a printing error on the S sized CR. It was originally printed as M size but had the correct size sticker pasted over it. Hmmm..... logically the S size should have more surface area as compared to the M sized right??

[.Hack]

Are Seachem Matrix and DeNitrate the same?
Read the labels apparently both does the same thing.
Only thing is DeNitrate more suitable for slower flowrate.

[framejumb0]

Are Seachem Matrix and DeNitrate the same?
Read the labels apparently both does the same thing.
Only thing is DeNitrate more suitable for slower flowrate.

They are same material but vary in size only. So Denitrate requires a flowrate less than 200 Lph to cultivate Denitrifying Beneficial Bacteria. And Matrix is suitable for flow rates higher than 200 Lph but Denitrification is not optimal.

[aquarius]

I know it is cheap but I would watch the ph when using ANS. Till now
They have not answer me why a media product looking like ehiem substrate pro raise my ph.

ANS has a few "series/models" of media, so maybe that particular "model" of media happens to increase the ph?? Alot of companies out there don't tell you such things on their packaging so it becomes a trail and error experience. It's good that people like yourself come here and share stuff like that so that others will know instead of wasting money and getting frustrated with what they bought later.

Please do continue to keep the comments and sharings coming in so that others will learn from your experiences of using whatever brands of media you're using.

[aquarius]

I've read somewhere in AQ that Biohome Plus disintegrates/breaks apart easily after about 1-2yrs of usage and that it feels slimy even after some time of usage....... I've used the normal Biohome media since 2007 and so far did not have any such problems. One thing i noticed about the media is that when i first wet the media, it feels very slimy even after about 3-4mths later when i do my filter maintenance, though the sliminess is not as bad as when i first wet it. But give it more time and it will go away. I would like to bring out a few points to consider before we jump into conclusion that it is a quality issue when it comes to breakage/disintegration issues :

1. What is your water Ph during the duration that you used your media?
Maybe the prolonged low Ph water conditions when using peat or ADA soil caused the media to "spoil" faster? My media is used in water whereby i buffer it regularly with a little sodium bicarbonate to keep my Ph stable and it's done in a tetra/pleco tank.

2. Are the medias packed/put in a way whereby they will be crushed together in a certain height?
If you're using the Eheim Classic filter which doesn't have trays like the Ecco or the Pro series, chances are that all the medias especially in the 2217 series will be stacked high up against each other, causing strain on the medias at the lower/bottom end of the filter, thereby making it break apart more easily? I'm using the Eheim Pro series so don't have such issues.

I hope to hear some views from others who have this problem.

[tetrakid]

Sponges come in various 'hole sizes', especially synthetic sponges, eg nylon, plastic which are sold for home/industrial cleaning purposes (scrubbing pads, etc). It is worth the effort of hunting around for the right sponge/s which suit one's needs perfectly, and they are perfect for experimentation too, at low cost (eg when comparing performance against sintered glass media).

Sponge. Definitely inert.

[dc88]

I vote for Bio Balls. I brought a pack of Dupla Bio Balls (the smallest one) 10 years ago (before the china duplicates floated the market), and being using it ever since. Loaded the whole canister with these and with only one coarse filter pad before the pump head. Never clog, no obstruction to flowrate, clean only once a year. According to Dupla, these bio-ball design is self cleaning and has the maximum surface areas than any other type of media.

[tetrakid]

Bioballs are internally robust and bio-friendly, and internally and externally offering a goodly amount of surface area.

It is definitely one of the best among the many bio-media aound.

[aquarius]

Bioballs are made of plastic and the surface is smooth, so frankly i don't see how it can hold more bacteria than say a Bio ceramic ring. Based on the physical appearance, a bio-sponge would probably contain more bacteria than bioballs. Even if Bio ceramic rings or Biohome does clog up, it clogs up the internal surface area leaving only the external surface area for the bacteria to colonise and even than, it'll probably contain much more bacteria than the bioballs litre for litre. The good thing about bioballs is that because it's meant to be used in wet/dry filters, it creates excellent oxygenation for the tank. Other than that i'm really sceptical about it being a good medium for BB colonisation as compared to the other medias.

[tetrakid]

Probably what is needed is for the bio-ball makers to produce rough surfaces on the plastic rods and crevices in the plastic balls.

[dc88]

BB can cling to "smooth" surface liked nothing, think of your fish tank glass surface, there are plenty of them just our eye can't see. "Smooth" is relative to our human scale of perception.
One testimony is that I have this setup since 2000 till now and never bother to change them.
And it adds no load to the canister pump, no clog, or waste builtup.
I used ceramic ring before too, and it needs to be replaced sooner or later. May be a fresh batch of ceramic ring works more superior than bioball but soon the ceramic ring will run out of steam but the bio ball keep steady in the marathon.

[felix_fx2]

Anyone use k1 media?
Looking for feedback to add inside here.

[dc88]

found some old data on Dupla bioballs :
Dupla Minikaskade
surface area: 3900mm2/ball.
Package: 70 balls recommend for canister filter upto 100L tank
273000mm2
I use 70 of these in a Ehiem Classic 2213 for a 80 L tank. Total surface area=70x3900=

Will check out hows the ceramic ring data to compare surface area,

[SirBest]

Anyone use k1 media?
Looking for feedback to add inside here.

@Felix: There is plenty of write up on this product on the other forum. I think you know as to where I am referring to and I dont know whether am I allow in this forum to reference another "competitor" forum.

[tetrakid]

Make no mistake about it. I will immediately without any hesitation or reservation, prefer bio-balls to anything else,
not even the expensive sintered glass.
But even if bio-balls are more expensive, I will still choose it. In my h opinion, nothing beats bio-balls.

BB can cling to "smooth" surface liked nothing, think of your fish tank glass surface, there are plenty of them just our eye can't see. "Smooth" is relative to our human scale of perception.
One testimony is that I have this setup since 2000 till now and never bother to change them.
And it adds no load to the canister pump, no clog, or waste builtup.
I used ceramic ring before too, and it needs to be replaced sooner or later. May be a fresh batch of ceramic ring works more superior than bioball but soon the ceramic ring will run out of steam but the bio ball keep steady in the marathon.