I've kept a lot of set ups over a lot of years. I've always thought "bio media" was hype. I've always been pretty cheap and minimize expenses where I can, including bypassing "bio media"...
And I've never had a tank that lacked the surface area to house sufficient bacteria to convert Ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.
I have a 150 Stock tank filtered by a single powerhead with no media, although it also has a ton of plants.
I once did a fishless cycle in a bare 10 gal with only a airstone as "filtration" (no media). I was able to put an astonishing amount of ammonia in it that was converted to nitrate. This was done just to prove that even a small amount of surface area was enough no host enough bacteria to handle significantly more ammonia than our tanks generate. There is a thread on it here somewhere (about 15 years ago).
I'm not going to argue with anyone who wants to utilize dedicated bio media. But for anyone considering not using it, with great confidence and considerable experience backing it, I'd encourage you to build filtration without it.
And I've never had a tank that lacked the surface area to house sufficient bacteria to convert Ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.
I have a 150 Stock tank filtered by a single powerhead with no media, although it also has a ton of plants.
I once did a fishless cycle in a bare 10 gal with only a airstone as "filtration" (no media). I was able to put an astonishing amount of ammonia in it that was converted to nitrate. This was done just to prove that even a small amount of surface area was enough no host enough bacteria to handle significantly more ammonia than our tanks generate. There is a thread on it here somewhere (about 15 years ago).
I'm not going to argue with anyone who wants to utilize dedicated bio media. But for anyone considering not using it, with great confidence and considerable experience backing it, I'd encourage you to build filtration without it.
