Over the years many manufacturers have laid claim to having the best biological filter media, typically based upon a surface area per litre etc.
I remember back in 1992 when I had my RTC it cost me a small fortune to fill the then flagship Eheim 2034 (the original and biggest capacity "bucket" filter) with Siporax, and also the weir and sump tank, it was a sintered glass product in the shape of Eheim's EhfiMech.
Apparently they ceased trading in the late 90's.
So what's the best bio media on the market today from these four?
(or what do you think is best if it's not in my list)
1) EhfiSubstrat (Eheim)
2) Bio-Spheres (Hagen)
3) Bio/Bacto Balls (AquaMedic)
4) AlphaGrog (Generic)
The consensus on items 2 and 3 from many is that they are only really suitable for sump tank/trickle filters and NOT for use within externals, do you agree?
Now how about bacteria resilience?
Without any solid scientific data to refer to when doing any maintenance work on externals I have always worked on the principal that 1 hour was the critical time to finish within, supposedly a huge number of bacteria die after the 60 minute mark. Opinions on that? Is there any reliable data for maximum filter "off-line" time without huge bacteria loss?
Also, what causes the loss when it does occur? Is it the lack of water flow over the bacteria, the "contact time" in a u.v. scenario or lack of oxygen?
Or both? What is the media was still submerged and the water aerated heavily?
I remember back in 1992 when I had my RTC it cost me a small fortune to fill the then flagship Eheim 2034 (the original and biggest capacity "bucket" filter) with Siporax, and also the weir and sump tank, it was a sintered glass product in the shape of Eheim's EhfiMech.
Apparently they ceased trading in the late 90's.
So what's the best bio media on the market today from these four?
(or what do you think is best if it's not in my list)
1) EhfiSubstrat (Eheim)
2) Bio-Spheres (Hagen)
3) Bio/Bacto Balls (AquaMedic)
4) AlphaGrog (Generic)
The consensus on items 2 and 3 from many is that they are only really suitable for sump tank/trickle filters and NOT for use within externals, do you agree?
Now how about bacteria resilience?
Without any solid scientific data to refer to when doing any maintenance work on externals I have always worked on the principal that 1 hour was the critical time to finish within, supposedly a huge number of bacteria die after the 60 minute mark. Opinions on that? Is there any reliable data for maximum filter "off-line" time without huge bacteria loss?
Also, what causes the loss when it does occur? Is it the lack of water flow over the bacteria, the "contact time" in a u.v. scenario or lack of oxygen?
Or both? What is the media was still submerged and the water aerated heavily?
