Best Submersible Bio Media?

[duanes]

Bio media is all about space for bacteria to live on, and amount of water flow over it.
I have sumps filled with lava rock that works fabulous.

Moving/fluidized beds are about the bacterial living space, and flow, and the theory that as the old bacteria become less effective, they are sloughed off, and replaced by more viable bacteria.
I use 4 ft fluidized columns of aragonite sand, so beside bacteria colonizing the sand, the sand also acts as a pH buffer. The sand is dissolved by acids (fish urine) thus neutralizing it.


I have seen the fluidized columns over 8ft high in densely stocked aquaculture systems.

 

[DB junkie]

If you combine this with a bio ball sump you don't need the bio chips do you?

I had a sump loaded with Bacteria house and I like the K3 better so far.

Bio balls won't grow the microscopic bio animals that chips will....... These little animals are supposed to eat particles as large as 5 micron. Aside from these chips I'm not sure how else you'd have these beneficial lil buggers in your system........

 

[duanes]

The beneficial bacteria living as biofilm on our media oxidize ammonia and nitrite.
They do not filter particulate, they use the electrons of ammonia to produce energy leaving nitrate as a byproduct.
You cannot determine their effectiveness by the look or cleanliness (particulate/color) of the water.
Their effectiveness is only determined by presence of ammonia and nitrite.
I have tanks without any normal type media, and are still ammonia-less, because any and all surfaces are covered in bacterial colonies. Inner glass, driftwood, rocks all are covered, and at equilibrium because of stocking numbers.
The more overstocked a tank, the more specific types and amounts biomedia are needed.

 

[Lrry93]

Bio balls won't grow the microscopic bio animals that chips will....... These little animals are supposed to eat particles as large as 5 micron. Aside from these chips I'm not sure how else you'd have these beneficial lil buggers in your system........

I thought it was all about providing them dead space to live and k1-k3 wouldn't provide that by design. I guess I am confused as to why a submerged stationary media wouldn't house them.

 

[DB junkie]

I thought it was all about providing them dead space to live and k1-k3 wouldn't provide that by design. I guess I am confused as to why a submerged stationary media wouldn't house them.

Duanes would be a better guy to ask. My scientific knowledge of filtration is simply what has and hasn't worked for me. Trial and error. He's built some pretty crazy stuff and is probably a lot more scientifically educated then I'll ever be.... lol.

I'm just regurgitating stuff I read while researching how to build my filter. I run a pretty heavy bio load. Am very happy with the results I have but I use multiple forms of media.

 

[Deezus]

Do you have a link to where I can get those bio chips?

 

[gangster]

Do you have a link to where I can get those bio chips?

And do these bio chips benefit all types of moving bed media?
Are they just added into the moving bed?

 

[DB junkie]

http://207.150.195.88/subcategories/4412/Kaldnes-Biochip

Not sure why they couldn't be added to any moving bed........ BUT If you didn't like the price of K1 this stuff will probably make you cringe.

 

[yargnits]

I use porus media as it provides additional space for bacteria.
siporax as mentioned is porus. lava rock i think would be too as its like blown glass it think.
the stuff they use in koi ponds is porus i think its called alpha grog.
i use some scintered glass stuff (like siporax) in similar DIY filters and in canisters and i have the alphagrog in a sump on another tank.
all of them work great.
i also like to have some substrate in the tank if possible as this creates more surface area for bacteria also adding to filtration IMO.

 

[DIDYSIS]

I am not going to get in an argument or what over bio media (especially chips which are delicious to eat) and this is all I am going to say but honestly look and see how many people use Chips, maybe 1 out of 100 or 200, I get the idea but maybe thats the flaw in normal K1, that it is actually to small to provide area to protect such small animals, I do not know and I have not done personal studies, heck I would need to use a lab with some high end stuff to see and prove it and I do not have the time or space, But also the boil rate and a lot of other stuff we all do different can make big difference in the bio media we all keep, I think boil rate is something we all could work on getting a more exact from but I figure with my system some boils faster in spots some slower, a good conbination but a study to compare the effects sure would be fun to do, If anyone has any ideas on how to best do one and have it exact let me know, would be fun to get up 4 5 gallon tanks and do the same for all of them with bio media same food and such.

But I look at it like this, WHAT WORKS WORKS, And they all seem to work just fine.

One manufacturer with have a chart showing his is the best, another manufacturer will show a study or chart showing his is the best, and another and another and another and another, all of them picking on each other and saying what is the best. So which is the best--- They all must be(yahoo!! we can have anything we want) going off the studies even done by 3rd parties that only tell the truth and not what product they sell, They all come up with different answers on what is best in the study. So if you want to quote a chart or study go for it but also other studies have been done that say other wise just as much so what about that? Was is a true study? What about the first was it? Who cares, WHAT WORKS WORKS!!!

Overall to me it means they all work and can get the job done fairly easy for what we throw at them, Pick your favorite Flavor and go for it as they all will work plenty well as long as you have it setup right.