What to fill a canister filter

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skillzdatkillz

skillzdatkillz

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Mar 25, 2006
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So I am going to get an eheim 2260 and I was pricing up how much the recomended eheim media and that stuff Is hella expensive. I was wondering what alternative media you guys fill your canisters with?

Thanks
 
Lava rock. 3 bucks for a 40 lb bag. at the homodepot. Its the cheapest alternative media your going to fine and works just as well. They keep it in the garden department by the plants.
 
Nylon Pot Scrubber I filled my one with Bio balls cost £££££££££££ then found out about these:cry: Have a Surface Area/cu.ft. of 370 compared to Bio-Pin Balls of 130 Approx. Cost/cu.ft. $ 10.00-12.00 Bio balls $ 30.00
 
stotty said:
Nylon Pot Scrubber I filled my one with Bio balls cost £££££££££££ then found out about these:cry: Have a Surface Area/cu.ft. of 370 compared to Bio-Pin Balls of 130 Approx. Cost/cu.ft. $ 10.00-12.00 Bio balls $ 30.00
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Howdy,

Substrat Pro: 20.000 sqft/gal surface area.
Bioballs: 20-30 sqft/gal. Although you don't give units, you basically state that nylon pot scrubbers have twice the surface area than bioballs, which I believe. Let's say 60 sqft/gal. That's still negligibly low compared to sintered glass media.

Considering that a canister has a limited volume, bioballs or pot scrubbers are a waste of space IMO. Using quality biomedia instead boosts your biofilter performance by three orders of magnitude, greatly reducing the risk of nitrite or ammonia peaks. It doesn't have to be Eheim Substrat Pro if the money is tight, but it should at least be something suitable for use in a canister filter.

HarleyK
 
Yea I dont think pot scrubbers would work in a canister. The lava rock could be a possiblity, there is eheim efilav. But there has to be somthing else thats just as good as efisubstrat but cheaper...

So guys theres got to be more of you with opinions
 
skillzdatkillz said:
Yea I dont think pot scrubbers would work in a canister. The lava rock could be a possiblity, there is eheim efilav. But there has to be somthing else thats just as good as efisubstrat but cheaper...

So guys theres got to be more of you with opinions
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Hi! there is i have all ehiem filters ,I was at a petsupermarket here in cleveland ohio there was a gravel that I saw it was grayish white in color vary porus looking the size of pencil eraser all the gravel differ in size and shape I said maybe I could use it as bio media I tried it it has been a year and four months works like a charm it is in a white bag and all it says is aquarium gravel and it says woods aquarium systems on yhe back Bever creek ohio . it cost 3.99 for a 5lb bag .
 
HarleyK said:
Howdy,

Substrat Pro: 20.000 sqft/gal surface area.
Bioballs: 20-30 sqft/gal. Although you don't give units, you basically state that nylon pot scrubbers have twice the surface area than bioballs, which I believe. Let's say 60 sqft/gal. That's still negligibly low compared to sintered glass media.

Considering that a canister has a limited volume, bioballs or pot scrubbers are a waste of space IMO. Using quality biomedia instead boosts your biofilter performance by three orders of magnitude, greatly reducing the risk of nitrite or ammonia peaks. It doesn't have to be Eheim Substrat Pro if the money is tight, but it should at least be something suitable for use in a canister filter.

HarleyK
Click to expand...


ed. Comment---I've been using the nylon pot scrubbies for close to 30 years now. When I first started building filters, I used everything I could think of, including cut pieces of well pipe, hair curlers, plastic shotgun shell wads, strapping tape etc. Every other media worked to some degree but after much trial and error, I found nylon pot scrubbies to have certain advantages:
1. They are produced for food contact, and therefore, you can be pretty sure, no harmful chemicals are used in their production.
2.After Laboratory testing they were shown to have more surface area than most media, except for some of the ceramic media i.e Siporax tm, or activated carbon. The sintered medias and A/C, however, have a clogging problem with DOC's creating a bio-film and clogging the pores, which then must be cleaned manually.
3. They do not allow, unlike strapping tape or bird netting, by virtue of their construction, large gaps with no bio filtration, or compacted areas trapping dirt and debris. You get maximum, even, coverage in the smallest container possible.
4. They last for a long time--I still have 12 Year old systems running with the original nylon pot scrubbies, they lost most of their color, but look like they'll last a lot longer yet.




From


http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?i...q=Nylon+Pot+Scrubber+&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&sa=N



This is where i got the figers from after filling my one with Bio balls i just pass on what i pick up and i know they work well as have used them in my smaller filter.:thumbsup:
 
Hi stotty,

Thanks for the link (and PM). I take it that not you but the owner of that website on ponds has used pot scrubbers.

It's for sure an interesting read. The main argument that comes to my mind is that this site is for pond filters. He does not specify the type of filter he uses, but I think it is safe to assume it's not a typical canister filter. It bet it is more like a barrel or something, I have no clue if it is an external filter or a submerged filter. Maybe it's an external wet/dry with water recirculating as a waterfall or something. Thus, it is hard to say if an extrapolation to a home aquarium canister filter is legitimate.

The clogging of pores in sintered glass media is not that big of a problem in aquarium canister filters as it maybe is in ponds. A clogged pore means that biofiltration turns anaerobic in certain areas. I am fine with that. Anaerobic bacteria break down nitrates and release gaseous nitrogen dissolved in water. It's the underlying principle of denitrators. Anthing that helps me in reducing nitrates is my friend :thumbsup:

Again, if space doesn't matter (as might be the case for pond filters, I don't know), I think bioballs and pot scrubbers are great, cheap media.


skillzdatkillz, I will change the title of your thread from "Eheim 2260" to "canister filter". I know some guys here use more diverse brands of biomedia, but they may overread your thread because you asked brand specific. I know Ducati wouldn't touch this thread with a 10 ft pole ;) Maybe we can get him involved with this little trick. If you oppose just send me a PM and I'll change it back into your original title.

Again, stotty, thanks for the link.:thumbsup:

HarleyK
 
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