Bio Media: Ceramic rings vs bio-balls vs pot scrubbies vs others

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jechrz

Gambusia
MFK Member
Nov 5, 2013
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Been doing some research as I would want to be adding more bio media to my fx5s. I wanted to get some input on the differences of each of these types of bio media. Been using a mix of bio balls and ceramic media with my current filters but would appreciate some more info for improving my bio filtration. Let me know what you think :)
 
Tons of info on this is you search but in a short answer bio balls are relatively poor for submerged media. Ceramics or sintered glass media will house more bb in a canister
 
brich999 said:
Tons of info on this is you search but in a short answer bio balls are relatively poor for submerged media. Ceramics or sintered glass media will house more bb in a canister
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Agreed, look into some ceramic media. I have 20 gallons of pot scrubbers in a wet dry and dont have anything negative to say about them but for a canister go with ceramic media.
 
Pot scrubbers don't clog like ceramic, but thet don't have as much surface area. They still have a huge amount compared to most media. Stuffing into a cannister is no simple task. If you buy some long thin zip ties you can thread them together and compress them. That way you can squeeze more in a cannister but have good flow and no clogging.

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brich999 said:
...sintered glass media will house more bb in a canister
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Sintered glass seems interesting although i'm wondering how clogged up do these get compared to ceramic rings. I might go try these sintered glass(the eheim ones) and maybe use a combo of filter floss to reduce chances of clogging.

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jechrz said:
Sintered glass seems interesting although i'm wondering how clogged up do these get compared to ceramic rings. I might go try these sintered glass(the eheim ones) and maybe use a combo of filter floss to reduce chances of clogging.

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Just make sure you have all your machanical filtration before your biological filtration, that will ensure it will extend its life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szrUlHTW5Zo
heres a video that explains it pretty well
 
Marine Pure or Ehiem Substrat Pro. Pot scrubbers are ghetto, bioballs are both inefficient and not meant to work submersed.
 
shookONES said:
Marine Pure or Ehiem Substrat Pro. Pot scrubbers are ghetto, bioballs are both inefficient and not meant to work submersed.
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Does ghetto mean inefficient? Or just inexpensive? They sure aren't high tech. Pretty sure after a couple years pot scrubbers are as efficient as new. The Eheim stuff will need to be replaced because it is clogged. By Eheim's own info it can't be cleaned. The pores are so fine bleach can't get the gunk out. I'll go ghetto.

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