bio filter media. i dont want to use scrubbies!
- Thread starter aspear
- Start date
cassharper;2646962; said:
Not arguing on whether this is good biomedia or not, but will point out there is a whole lot more to selection that square foot per gallon. If that was all there was too it you might as well use sand.
Things like water flow, available surface area, ease of clogging, how easy it is to remove, etc should all factor into the selection. Personally I like bioballs and scrubbies. They allow for very high water flow, very easy to pick out 1/4 of them at a time and clean them while leaving the others in there, hardly ever get clogged, etc. With many of these rocklike biomedia they have extremely high surface area but they prohibit water flow, clog easily, waste surface area (much more likely for large parts of the media to be smashed together and be "dead spots"), and in my opinion is harder to clean (assuming you want to just take like 1/4 of them out at a time to clean).
Anyway I think the various media have their place depending on the application, but there are many reasons to use things like scrubbies and bioballs other than being cheap
will do.
could i use like camping pad foam (not sure if thats a common name lol. its a semi rigid foam put on bed or on the ground when camping) also used to make couch cushions etc.
could i use like camping pad foam (not sure if thats a common name lol. its a semi rigid foam put on bed or on the ground when camping) also used to make couch cushions etc.
aspear;2647054; said:
Trashcan will work. Here is a couple pics of my most recent very quickly done sump. It uses a wrapping paper tupperware container to hold the floss and biomedia which drains out the bottom into an old plastic toybox. Not the prettiest or best thing I have ever built, but it works and was very cheap.
There was a clear plastic piece that came with it that I drilled full of holes and slid downt he tank and it got stuck about 6 inches from the bottom and this served as a shelf for my bioballs. Then I drilled holes in the red lid and put it upside down on the top to make a drip plate onto the media. Filled the lid up with other filter media.
mdb_talon;2647073; said:Not arguing on whether this is good biomedia or not, but will point out there is a whole lot more to selection that square foot per gallon. If that was all there was too it you might as well use sand.
Things like water flow, available surface area, ease of clogging, how easy it is to remove, etc should all factor into the selection. Personally I like bioballs and scrubbies. They allow for very high water flow, very easy to pick out 1/4 of them at a time and clean them while leaving the others in there, hardly ever get clogged, etc. With many of these rocklike biomedia they have extremely high surface area but they prohibit water flow, clog easily, waste surface area (much more likely for large parts of the media to be smashed together and be "dead spots"), and in my opinion is harder to clean (assuming you want to just take like 1/4 of them out at a time to clean).
Anyway I think the various media have their place depending on the application, but there are many reasons to use things like scrubbies and bioballs other than being cheap
Some good points here, though each have advantages and disadvantages. Basically scrubbies and bioballs work well in wet/dry trickle setups. Ceramic rings and sintered glass media works better as submerged media then the previous mentioned.
