Bio media as substrate....

[4D3]

Has anyone tried this?

I have always loved bare bottom tanks, but recently I have been messing with some percolating through.

I recently got some new biomedia as my ceramics were cheap and wearing out. So i got myself a load of marine pure spheres and marine pure gems and packed out my FX.

I was then thinking what to do with the old cheap ceramic noodles, so while the new media was establishing, I dropped the old ceramics into the tank so I didn't get a crash, and to be fair it worked beautifully!



Now, I have grown a love for the partial bare bottom, I think it actually looks really good!

So i have some questions:

1) will this still work as bio media? (I know the answer is yes but it's nice for clarification)

2) as the marine pure spheres aren't under pressure and only have free flowing water, a i correct in thinking this will be slow enough for anaerobic bacteria for nitrate removal - Reason I ask is ever since I did this, after about 6-8 weeks my nitrate went to zero and haven't moved, no water changed, no filter maintenance.

3) are these any downsides to doing this? I can't think of any? I have no detritus, it's super easy for pleco and cory to clear, manual clean is a 2 second stir up with hand.

Lastly, all my fish seem to love it! My Festea and Polleni are big time into digging about. The EBJD are to small to dig and my Oscar is too daft (it's an Oscar) he just floats about being friend with everyone, flowerhorn doesn't dig but it likes to carry stuff about.

It seems this has massively increased the activity in my tank and a huge reduction in aggression, there doesn't seem to be territories any more, all fish are at the front of the tank and occupying the whole water column rather than just sticking to their bit.......

I have been doing this 20+ years, I kinda feel pissed I didn't do this sooner!

Any thoughts? Pros, cons, suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Midwater]

1) will this still work as bio media? (I know the answer is yes but it's nice for clarification)

IMO yes, and work very well. The substrate in rivers is the biomedia.

2) as the marine pure spheres aren't under pressure and only have free flowing water, a i correct in thinking this will be slow enough for anaerobic bacteria for nitrate removal - Reason I ask is ever since I did this, after about 6-8 weeks my nitrate went to zero and haven't moved, no water changed, no filter maintenance.

Possibly, but minimally. I have large sumps filled with lots of pumice, and variable flow rates over the pumice. I have noticed some reduction in nitrates, though not enough to remove the need for water change/continuous drip.

3) are these any downsides to doing this? I can't think of any? I have no detritus, it's super easy for pleco and cory to clear, manual clean is a 2 second stir up with hand.

It will no doubt move around a bit.

 

[4D3]

IMO yes, and work very well. The substrate in rivers is the biomedia.



Possibly, but minimally. I have large sumps filled with lots of pumice, and variable flow rates over the pumice. I have noticed some reduction in nitrates, though not enough to remove the need for water change/continuous drip.



It will no doubt move around a bit.

Thanks for this, and yes you are correct the fish like moving it all about lol but then that just seems to help free any trapped poop!

 

[neutrino]

Of course it's your choice, but the aesthetics are terrible, particularly having visible hanging bags and bio-rings as substrate. Conventional substrate already houses beneficial bacteria, though some of the gravel-like media types might not look so bad as a substrate (first suggestion, if it's something you really want to do). The only reason I've ever done it is as a temporary measure to keep bio media alive during an extended power outage or awaiting transfer to a new filter and tank, but if suspended media is removing nitrates and I wanted to do it that way (I don't need to, my nitrates are already low with driftwood, sand substrate, moderate stock, some emergent plants, etc.), the least I'd do is hide them, perhaps in something like an overflow box with no attached plumbing (second suggestion).

Aquarium aesthetics matter in two respects. First of all, providing something resembling a natural environment, even imperfectly, puts fish more at ease and lends itself to seeing more of their natural behavior, particularly if you can mimic at least some aspects of where they come from. This can be easy to dismiss if someone hasn't seen it for themselves, doesn't pay much attention to behavior, or (even better) has never read about or seen video of fish in their natural habitat. For example, Geophagus, Satanoperca, and other types naturally sift and forage substrate for food, discus, angelfish, severums, and others navigate complex and sometimes dense structure of plants, logs, and limbs, Cyphotilapia gibberosa are associated with open water in rocky habitat, etc.

Secondly, unless we're talking about something like a breeding operation, a basement fish room with rows of tanks, or a lab experiment, part of the reason for doing aquariums in the first place is aesthetic.

 

[4D3]

Of course it's your choice, but the aesthetics are terrible, particularly having visible hanging bags and bio-rings as substrate. Conventional substrate already houses beneficial bacteria, though some of the gravel-like media types might not look so bad as a substrate (first suggestion, if it's something you really want to do). The only reason I've ever done it is as a temporary measure to keep bio media alive during an extended power outage or awaiting transfer to a new filter and tank, but if suspended media is removing nitrates and I wanted to do it that way (I don't need to, my nitrates are already low with driftwood, sand substrate, moderate stock, some emergent plants, etc.), the least I'd do is hide them, perhaps in something like an overflow box with no attached plumbing (second suggestion).

Aquarium aesthetics matter in two respects. First of all, providing something resembling a natural environment, even imperfectly, puts fish more at ease and lends itself to seeing more of their natural behavior, particularly if you can mimic at least some aspects of where they come from. This can be easy to dismiss if someone hasn't seen it for themselves, doesn't pay much attention to behavior, or (even better) has never read about or seen video of fish in their natural habitat. For example, Geophagus, Satanoperca, and other types naturally sift and forage substrate for food, discus, angelfish, severums, and others navigate complex and sometimes dense structure of plants, logs, and limbs, Cyphotilapia gibberosa are associated with open water in rocky habitat, etc.

Secondly, unless we're talking about something like a breeding operation, a basement fish room with rows of tanks, or a lab experiment, part of the reason for doing aquariums in the first place is aesthetic.

Yeah, you have no idea.

Really don't care about your opinion, aesthetic is the last thing I give a **** about..... The bags are phosguard, carbon and purigen. They are in the tank so I never have to disturb my filter.

Also if I need to do anything to the tank, I can quickly remove them with no issue.

If you actually read anything I specifically said I always use bare bottom tanks, I do not like gravel vaccing as it stresses the fish, especially aggressive ones.

Also you don't know what fish I am keeping, how I am keeping them, or the purpose and reasons for doing so....

Now it should be clear I am going to ignore anything further you say as you are not able to read the questions..... As what point did I mention anything about the bags in my tank? No, you just took it upon yourself to insert your tampon rectally and start commenting on things that weren't being discussed.....

Seems like you got offended and you needed to release you little brain you came here to pour useless **** all over a post that offended you?

Can I ask, what colour is your hair?

 

[neutrino]

Yeah, you have no idea.

Really don't care about your opinion, aesthetic is the last thing I give a **** about..... The bags are phosguard, carbon and purigen. They are in the tank so I never have to disturb my filter.

Also if I need to do anything to the tank, I can quickly remove them with no issue.

If you actually read anything I specifically said I always use bare bottom tanks, I do not like gravel vaccing as it stresses the fish, especially aggressive ones.

Also you don't know what fish I am keeping, how I am keeping them, or the purpose and reasons for doing so....

Now it should be clear I am going to ignore anything further you say as you are not able to read the questions..... As what point did I mention anything about the bags in my tank? No, you just took it upon yourself to insert your tampon rectally and start commenting on things that weren't being discussed.....

Seems like you got offended and you needed to release you little brain you came here to pour useless **** all over a post that offended you?

Can I ask, what colour is your hair?

That's all fine. No, I wasn't offended in the least, though it couldn't be more obvious that you were offended. The bags in the tank are in your photos and, yes, I read that you like bare bottom tanks.

My little brain: IQ 140. Hair: brown. Have a nice life.