Best bio media? (bio balls-bio max)

plastic pot scrubbies, much cheaper and way more surface area than bio-balls.

go for pot scrubbers - they better than bio balls

not sure if they are better than bio max, but they are definitely cheaper

best bang for your buck

SEACHEM MATRIX.

k thx bye

its all in the beginners guide to filter media
in the set up and filtration forum i think

You need to first design the filter, THEN choose the biomedia. There is no best for all applications, and in some specific applications surface area isn't of great importance. Ultimately, most of the advice you'll get on this topic is just regurgitated from other, often dubious, sources. The truth is a great deal of thought and effort goes in to this issue when there are so many adequate solutions at the ready.

Basically, for submerged applications you need something with lots of surface area (i.e. porous materials). Such designs are not as efficient as wet/dry designs so you need much more bacteria in a given space to do the job. For wet/dry applications you need to maximize access to oxygen. So, look for something that causes the water to wet the media in a turbulent manner rather than channeling through or completely coating the media. In such situations the media should be non-porous (to prevent clogging and the eventual need for cleaning) and highly irregular in shape. Bioballs, scrubbies, etc. work fine here.

Miles;1999009;1999009 said:

SEACHEM MATRIX.

k thx bye

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No way, ehfisubstrat pro is better, and more cost effective.

koop171;1999032;1999032 said:

Has anyone ever worked out what sq.ft is in a pot scrubby? I know of a flee market that sells them for like 5 for a buck. and I can load up on them. And they would be cheep.

the only other question I have about that. Is what do they mean when they say a gallon of media . I know I more then likly sound stupid but I am assumming that its exactly as it sounds and is hoowever much media you can fit into a gal container.

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If you search oddball's posts, he did post a graph with a few different media's surface areas.

koop171;1998983;1998983 said:

So what is the best bio media. I figured out the other day that for my new tank I need at least 20 gals. of bio balls. and it got me to thinking that I should look into whats the best and how much I would need.


I am thinking more along the lines of 30gal. bio balls. The tank I am getting is almost 600 gal. so I need lots of bio. I am assuming that bio balls would be the best but I want to make sure.


Plz let me know whats the best and or where I can get them on the cheep.

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With the way that w/d filters work, pot scrubbies will work fine for you if you want cheap. Several media's out there do a better job, and provide 100-10,000 sq ft/gallon more.