I am going to be setting up my 200 gal shortly and am wondering what you all think about how many gals of bio balls I will need. Occupants of this tank will include 5 pbass, 3 lenticulata pike, maybe 3 sp. Xingu II pike, and maybe a silver aro (also considering putting my cats in there). I was thinking of doing a sump with 10 gals of bio balls. Do you think i should do more or less? I am going to run a mag 12 on the sump
how many gal of bio balls? Opinions needed
- Thread starter gman
- Start date
It takes 2.2 gals of 1.5" bio-balls, with 160 sq/ft of surface area per gallon, to filter 100 gallons with a "standard" bio-load. If you're planning on a large load of heavy/messy eaters, then go with 3 to 3.5 gals of bio-balls per 100 gallons.
Just as a FYI...a gallon of nylon pot scrubbers has 370 sq/ft of surface area and will cost you about 1/10th the cost of bio-balls. I filled a 20 gallon bio-chamber for $35.
Just as a FYI...a gallon of nylon pot scrubbers has 370 sq/ft of surface area and will cost you about 1/10th the cost of bio-balls. I filled a 20 gallon bio-chamber for $35.
The ultimate surface footage is cell-pore......
http://www.cellpore.com/
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produ...ll&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1
http://www.cellpore.com/
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produ...ll&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1
Wow id like to put the big slab in the sump im building for my fishroom but $50 i dont think so.Its bioballs and scrubbies for me.
I have seen some references to lavarock for biofilter can you use the bbq lavarocks? that would be pretty cheap!
I have seen some references to lavarock for biofilter can you use the bbq lavarocks? that would be pretty cheap!
Cell-pore was purchased by another company, the mfg. of the product is less then a mile from where I live (not why I pimp them, just discovered the product through Dr. Fosters, and realized they were in my nape). You need a fraction of the amount of cell-pore then you do bio-balls, a 20 dollar jar of squares equates to over 30 gallons of bio-balls....
The problem now becomes the amount of water flow over a jar of cell-pore material. A mag12 will have near zero dwell time on that amount of bio-material. There has to be enough mass to provide an adequate dwell time. Also, the bacteria won't be able to keep a foothold on the bio-material with too high of a water flow.
