Best biological media?

[aquariumpredatorkepper]

In a sump to filter lots of bio load, what are the best bio medias?

I will have K1+ running (Biological) , Seachem Purigen (Chemical) and Floss (Mechanical).

Been searching for the most surface area media to add other than the K1, also what will remove nitrate?

 

[Jexnell]

Nitrates are removed by water changes. Change half your water half the Nitrates go with it. The key is to not over populate your tank and have a regular water change schedule based on your tanks conditions.
The way to learn your tank nitrate output is to first do a water change. Take a reading of the current Nitrates after the water change. Wait your normal water change interval. Just before the water change take another test. The difference between the two is the amount your tank makes in that time frame.
Ex: first test reads 10ppm nitrate
You wait a week, take the next test. The results are now 20ppm. So now you know in a week your tank creates 10ppm Nitrates. You do a 50% water change. Now your nitrate is back to 10ppm.
Remember though as fish grow they will make more Nitrates. So water changes will have to be more frequent.

 

[Midwater]

what are the best bio medias?

That's a can of worms.

And everyone on this forum will have a different idea.

I use pumice. It works for me.

I think there might be three ways to remove nitrates, in combination:

• As Jexnell has said water changes. Or as I do, continuous drip.
• Plants. Though I think you might need a lot of them.
• Pumice - that is an awful lot of it in a large sump does remove some. Though some members may argue.

 

[duanes]

Since all biomedia is simply a place for biofilm to attach, the idea that one is better ir worse is pure fantasy
The benificial bacteria don't care.

 

[skjl47]

That's a can of worms.

And everyone on this forum will have a different idea.

biomedia is simply a place for biofilm to attach, the idea that one is better ir worse is pure fantasy

Hello; I started keeping tanks back around 1959. At 12 years of age and no internet I did not know of biomedia. Thing is my tanks did well with gravel and undergravel filters run on air pumps. The BB (beneficial bacteria) truly did not care. I get "modern" fish keepers have lots of new tech to choose from.
In the past I have used glass marbles in the bottom of a new at the time but old school now HOB power filter. It had around a gallon of capacity. I layered lots of filter floss on top of the layers of marbles to catch detritus.
I get the marbles do not have micropores and such but they stacked so there was lots of spaces in between. Allowed good flow as well.
Another low tech bio media i used was activated carbon (charcoal). Such loses the adsorption qualities soon but remains a porous material and if you use the larger chunk stuff stacks so as to allow good flow. Easy to clean by baking in an oven for reuse. (note to the know it alls- I get baking in a home oven will not restore adsorption to the carbon, but it does cook away organic junk and restores some of the porosity)

But chase the ideal material. Pretty sure someone will sell something to you.

 

[neutrino]

Everyone has their own ideas on this. Basically, ammonia and nitrite removal isn't that difficult and there's a lot of ways you can go, though most would probably agree that solid surface, plastic 'bio-balls' are among the least efficient. Nitrates are a different story and it depends on your philosophy, how simple or sophisticated you want to try and be, and how much you want to spend. Algae scrubbers, nitrate reactors, or lots of plants can help (some plants are better than others at this), and I forget just how they did it, but I've also seen a couple of guys do freshwater protein skimming. Nitrate removing media are another story, they make sense in theory, for example the theory behind Biohome is the internal pore structure creates anaerobic, low flow zones within the media that are supposed to approximate a deep sand bed (another approach), but it takes a lot of media (expensive), it takes time (months) to develop a good anaerobic bacteria colony, and meds and a number of popular water treatment chemicals (those that bind up ammonia) and most chemical media short circuit the process (simple, activated carbon is supposed to be the exception to this). It means it works for some but not for everyone, a lot of people either expect fast results or they're 'doing it wrong' and they end up disappointed and calling it snake oil.

My approach is low tech, light to moderate stock, don't overfeed or go nuts with high protein, big water changes, and I have low nitrates. Live plants-- sometimes I have them, sometimes I don't, it partly depends on the fish I'm keeping. Back in my Malawi cichlid days I fabulously overstocked my tanks and nitrates were higher but not high, due to big water changes. I've been on a well for over 30 years, so I don't pay for water, on city water before that, but it wasn't expensive back then.

 

[duanes]

To tech nerds among us, the key to biofiltration, is
the foood to micro-organism ration X flow X volume.....in other words
fish, and their waste compared to biofilm, along with flow and tank volume. in other words...if
you have 1 oscars, ,in a 100 gal tank, filtered by a 6 inch bag of media wit hair ceramic rings, in line with flow of about 1000 gph it should be sufficient.
Just as if the same tank and flow comtains 200 neons with a bag of lava rock.
You are golden if ammonia and nitrite after manditory cycling remain at both at zero.
That is basically your bench mark.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/1f4caa18-ebff-4544-91d3-98eff50cc11a/ee52d4d9-2c3e-4e95-8c7a-9d9c975ec7b6.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds,

If you deside to add 2 mosr oscars, or 200 more neons, you "may" need to add another 6" bag of media.
If your media then gets covered in detritus, and causes ammonia constellation to rise, you may need to increas the pumps flow .

That media will have little effect on nitrate, because the by-product of bio-filtration is nitrate.
With the addition of those extra oscars, or neons, water changes and their volume will probably need to be doubled, or the plant volume in the tank, or sump (in the case of salad bar consumers like oscars) to reduce natural build up of nitrates.

My sumo above, the dark area on the left is where the pump and bio-media are located.
Below my average pH, ammomia, nitrite, and nitrate tests.

Loading the sump with tons extra bio-media,(or a different kind) does not effect the efficiany, because its the food to micro-organism ratioj times flow, that determines water quality efficacy.

 

[aquariumpredatorkepper]

I have been keeping all kinds of monster fish since 2019. Always do big water changes weekly. Just asking to see if there is any specific bio media with the most surface area other than K1+, maybe Maxpect or Matrix would work. For nitrates I have household plants on top always.

Nitrates are removed by water changes. Change half your water half the Nitrates go with it. The key is to not over populate your tank and have a regular water change schedule based on your tanks conditions.
The way to learn your tank nitrate output is to first do a water change. Take a reading of the current Nitrates after the water change. Wait your normal water change interval. Just before the water change take another test. The difference between the two is the amount your tank makes in that time frame.
Ex: first test reads 10ppm nitrate
You wait a week, take the next test. The results are now 20ppm. So now you know in a week your tank creates 10ppm Nitrates. You do a 50% water change. Now your nitrate is back to 10ppm.
Remember though as fish grow they will make more Nitrates. So water changes will have to be more frequent.

 

[jjohnwm]

It sounds like you consider the "best" biomedia to be the one with the greatest surface area per unit volume. I agree that's one way to look at it, but there are other factors that could be considered: cost, ease of handling/cleaning, durability and weight are some that come to mind immediately. One person's "best" may be quite different than another's.

But let's say that you have decided that one medium is indeed the best. If that's the case...why do we see so many nerdy aquarists building their mad-scientist multi-chamber over-partitioned sumps and using 3, 4 or more different types of biomedia? If one of those media is the best, then using any others in concert with it is a mistake; you're taking up space with media which are not the best and which "should" be replaced with that one magical "best" choice.

In many cases, at least for some of these people, the "best" sump is one that looks cool and techy and expensive. A sump that works and also looks the part is inherently better for them than a simple tank that is functionally identical, or even functionally superior, but just looks too sloppy or DIY-style or cheap. That's okay too; it depends upon what type of gratification you expect and want from your system.

IMHO, the benefits of a sump are increased water volume for the system (more water is always better), more space for biomedia (meaning that somewhat less surface area per unit volume of the media becomes meaningless simply because you have room for so much of it), easier access for cleaning/maintenance (which is one of the best reasons not to have countless partitions and small chambers in the sump) and, of course, the simple satisfaction of designing and making it yourself.

I use sumps in order to make my fishkeeping "better" for both me and my fish. Gearhead-aquarists seem to keep fish just so they can have sumps (and other cool gadgets). To each his own.

 

[HUKIT]

I’ve personally never seen any difference between any of the biological media as they perform their intended functions as designed. Some claim to eliminate nitrates but I haven’t found one yet that fulfill that statement.

I’m currently testing this with regards to finishing the nitrogen cycle to eliminate nitrates. It’s only been a few weeks and zero noticeable changes.

Nano-Tech Anaerobic-Block (2 pcs)

Natural & Low-Maintenance Nitrate Reduction Efficiently removes nitrate from aquariums Designed to stimulate growth of anaerobic bacteria Nano-ceramic, porous structure that will not degrade over time Can be used directly in sump Lasts approximately 6 months For freshwater and marine aquariums...

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