thanks for all the replies but no-one has really answered my question. i am aware of the different bacteria and surface areas. the wet dry part of the filter is seperate from the sump tank. i was wondering how many kilograms are in a gallon of ceramic rings as this is what was written by another member (2.2 gallons of bio-media per 100gallons of tank water), so i need 6.6 gallons of bio-media to be safe. how many kilograms is this?. and will my bio media be sufficient for my tank?????
bio-media help
- Thread starter cockroach
- Start date
When trying to work out bio balls, I just use the simple maths of 10% of your sump should have bio material, bio balls are old school though, there are better forms of making biological bacteria.. Try matrix rock. that stuff is freaking crreaaazzy!
cockroach;478525; said:
That is a question that can not be answered. The chart oddball provided has four sizes for the same volume. Since you are set on ceramic rings, you will have to find a source of them and then get the surface area per volume or weight.
The statement "2.2 gallons of bio-media per 100gallons of tank water" is not correct. Out of all of the types of bio-media listed and not listed and of all available sizes, it is correct for only one type of media and only one size of that media.
The best advice that I can give is to get the required information from the manufacturer. They have already sized it and know what volume (or weight) you will need. If you already have purchased the ceramic rings, use all of what you have. If you have more space in your filter, you can add other types of media.
Basically what everyone else was trying to get across is that there are better options than ceramic rings.
cockroach;478525;478525 said:
Woah woah woah!
Easy on the arithmetic aproach to biological filtration. The solution is both simpler and more beautiful than you might think.
First don't rule out the surface area and materials already installed in your tank and how much habitat is already in place for beneficial bacteria. The right mix of substrate, plants and rocks will provide tens of square meters of surface area for bugs to do their job. But areas and volumes of media are less important to a healthy bacteria population than oxygen (for aerobes or lack of it for anaerobes) and nutrient supply.
A well balanced tank with stable water chemistry, low to medium fish density, and sufficient aeration will support a healthy and diverse population of bacteria.
I like to think of filtration requirements as a function of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD).
In its simplest terms BOD is the total amount of organic material in your tank or closed loop system. This includes but is not limited to your fish, plants, driftwood decor, and anything that is biodegradeable in your setup. It also includes your mulm, waste and beneficial bacteria. All of these require oxygen from the water in order to live or to be digested and broken down. It would be very difficult to figure out exactly how much BOD you have since its categories are so large and constantly changing through natural processes. Natural systems, if diverse and healthy at the outset will develope a stable population of bacteria that will maintain a steady BOD by reducing wastes given enough oxygen (aeration) in the system. That is to say that provided nothing changes in your setup for a fixed period then the bacteria population will maintain or reduce the BOD during the course of that period. These bacteria will be widly distributed in both your tanks and your filtration system, in media, substrate, rock surfaces, plant roots etc.
So what changes?
The addition of fish food, a sudden death of a fin buddy, tempertaure change,a water change, a new fish or a batch of fry, to name a few. All of these things affect your systems BOD. The largest impact on BOD starts with our feeding habits.
Food is the one input that has the most impact on BOD. In order to keep your water pristine you need a system that will remove BOD at the same rate that you add to it.
This may seem like a blinding glimpse of the obviuos but accepting this simple fact sudenly makes filtration design seem less complex.
There are three main types of filtration;
MECHANICAL; Removing the logs and frogs from your tanks through traditional cannister or power fitration system that requires periodic maintenance to remove the accumulated waste before it starts to break down and increase BOD. This includes removal of morts, uneaten foodstuffs, dead plant material etc.
BIOLOGICAL; The natural breakdown of nitrogenous waste and other micro-particulates that ocour in your system. I won't go into detail on the nitrogen cycle since most readers already have a solid grounding on that except to say that we often ignore a few important factors in sustaining healthy bug populations.
As stated earlier there is genarally plenty of surface area in our tanks for healthy bacteria populations. Our cleaning and water change practices however can disrupt these communitties and cause fluctuations in their effectiveness. What often widely varies is the supply of micro-nutrients that diferant bacteria need in order to thrive. Aerobic bacteria require in addition to fish waste and oxygen, a source of carbon, ususally in the form of carbonate dissolved in your water. There are of course others but they are widely present in our water supply (in Ontario, Canada) and in proportion to dissolved carbonate in the water supply and therefore of little concern.
Two easy solutions. A well designed cannister filter that is correctly sized for the volume of your tanks and frequent monitoring of pH and hardness to determine when you should make a water change and replenish the micro-nutrients. Water monitoring may need to be performed weekly in newer set-ups but once stable need only be done periodically or after a major change to your system is made. Maintain the pH and hardness within range of your fish requirements and the cannister will do the rest.
A good cannister filter provides a 'safe haven' for your bugs. I prefer to use a separate filter for carbon in order to minimize interferance with the bio filter. The mulm and fish waste that enters the system will be effectively reduced to silicates and other types of ash the will eventually acumulate and require cleaning but this should take a very long time.
Remember that bacteria reproduce both asexually (by auto cloning and dividing) and sexually. A healthy population with enough food and oxygen will start reproducing at a rate as fast as once every ten minutes. That is why having a huge surface area is unneccessary. A stressed or starving bacteria population will reproduce more slowly by sexual means, allowing evolutionary mechanisms to adapt your bacteria population more closely to your aquarium set-up. They will over time reach the right mix and toughness to help keep your water chemistry stable provided you do not allow a situation that will cause the population to crash, such as remove the oxygen supply or introduce a biocide medicatiotion.
This does'nt mean you have to starve your bio-filter to improve performance! I have found that a better approach is to introduce a few small snails to your cannister filter. The snails graze on the bacterial film that developes on your filter media and provide sufficient stress to encourage sexual reproduction, increasing the genetic variabilty and toughness of your bug supply. The ocaisional snail gets immascerated or sent back through the impellor to the tank but these can be a considered as a steady food supply if you have the right mix of fish.
NUTRIENT REMOVAL; or tertiary treatment. Over time nutrients will accumulate in your system and will require removal, the most common and widely monitored being nitrate. This is where in my opinion the sump comes into its own as a tool for fish keepers. I maintain a healthy population of bog plants rooted in pots under a grow light. Nothing in my experience removes nutrients from water quite like a "wet land". Set your sump up to perform the function of a wetland and be rewarded with having to do fewer water changes.
Remember that the purpose and art of filtration is the removal of materials we add to our system in order to keep a desired water quality. Think in terms of biological oxygen demand and reducing amount of oxygen neccessary to maintain a healthy system. Every gram of fish food added to your tanks (less the small amount that is metabolized by the fish) needs to be removed.
What is more important than surface area for bacteria in a biofilter is diversity in bacteria population (acheived over time and through sexual reproduction) and a steady a rate of BOD addition as possible. In other words more frequent smaller feedings. Maintain the water chemistry and a diverse selection of substare and media, and let nature take care of the rest..........
cockroach;478525; said:
If you're talking about my post earlier, it was 2.2 gallons of bioballs specifically, not biomedia in general. I also mentioned that that is what I've read, so it's not written in stone.
you can get the same amount of surface area in less space with a different bio media.
joeytoe;478067; said:Pot scrubbers rule the bio media.
Cell pore is the pinnacle of bio-media......Overstocking is welcomed....
Potts050;478668; said:Woah woah woah!
Easy on the arithmetic aproach to biological filtration. The solution is both simpler and more beautiful than you might think.
First don't rule out the surface area and materials already installed in your tank and how much habitat is already in place for beneficial bacteria. The right mix of substrate, plants and rocks will provide tens of square meters of surface area for bugs to do their job. But areas and volumes of media are less important to a healthy bacteria population than oxygen (for aerobes or lack of it for anaerobes) and nutrient supply.
A well balanced tank with stable water chemistry, low to medium fish density, and sufficient aeration will support a healthy and diverse population of bacteria.
I like to think of filtration requirements as a function of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD).
In its simplest terms BOD is the total amount of organic material in your tank or closed loop system. This includes but is not limited to your fish, plants, driftwood decor, and anything that is biodegradeable in your setup. It also includes your mulm, waste and beneficial bacteria. All of these require oxygen from the water in order to live or to be digested and broken down. It would be very difficult to figure out exactly how much BOD you have since its categories are so large and constantly changing through natural processes. Natural systems, if diverse and healthy at the outset will develope a stable population of bacteria that will maintain a steady BOD by reducing wastes given enough oxygen (aeration) in the system. That is to say that provided nothing changes in your setup for a fixed period then the bacteria population will maintain or reduce the BOD during the course of that period. These bacteria will be widly distributed in both your tanks and your filtration system, in media, substrate, rock surfaces, plant roots etc.
So what changes?
The addition of fish food, a sudden death of a fin buddy, tempertaure change,a water change, a new fish or a batch of fry, to name a few. All of these things affect your systems BOD. The largest impact on BOD starts with our feeding habits.
Food is the one input that has the most impact on BOD. In order to keep your water pristine you need a system that will remove BOD at the same rate that you add to it.
This may seem like a blinding glimpse of the obviuos but accepting this simple fact sudenly makes filtration design seem less complex.
There are three main types of filtration;
MECHANICAL; Removing the logs and frogs from your tanks through traditional cannister or power fitration system that requires periodic maintenance to remove the accumulated waste before it starts to break down and increase BOD. This includes removal of morts, uneaten foodstuffs, dead plant material etc.
BIOLOGICAL; The natural breakdown of nitrogenous waste and other micro-particulates that ocour in your system. I won't go into detail on the nitrogen cycle since most readers already have a solid grounding on that except to say that we often ignore a few important factors in sustaining healthy bug populations.
As stated earlier there is genarally plenty of surface area in our tanks for healthy bacteria populations. Our cleaning and water change practices however can disrupt these communitties and cause fluctuations in their effectiveness. What often widely varies is the supply of micro-nutrients that diferant bacteria need in order to thrive. Aerobic bacteria require in addition to fish waste and oxygen, a source of carbon, ususally in the form of carbonate dissolved in your water. There are of course others but they are widely present in our water supply (in Ontario, Canada) and in proportion to dissolved carbonate in the water supply and therefore of little concern.
Two easy solutions. A well designed cannister filter that is correctly sized for the volume of your tanks and frequent monitoring of pH and hardness to determine when you should make a water change and replenish the micro-nutrients. Water monitoring may need to be performed weekly in newer set-ups but once stable need only be done periodically or after a major change to your system is made. Maintain the pH and hardness within range of your fish requirements and the cannister will do the rest.
A good cannister filter provides a 'safe haven' for your bugs. I prefer to use a separate filter for carbon in order to minimize interferance with the bio filter. The mulm and fish waste that enters the system will be effectively reduced to silicates and other types of ash the will eventually acumulate and require cleaning but this should take a very long time.
Remember that bacteria reproduce both asexually (by auto cloning and dividing) and sexually. A healthy population with enough food and oxygen will start reproducing at a rate as fast as once every ten minutes. That is why having a huge surface area is unneccessary. A stressed or starving bacteria population will reproduce more slowly by sexual means, allowing evolutionary mechanisms to adapt your bacteria population more closely to your aquarium set-up. They will over time reach the right mix and toughness to help keep your water chemistry stable provided you do not allow a situation that will cause the population to crash, such as remove the oxygen supply or introduce a biocide medicatiotion.
This does'nt mean you have to starve your bio-filter to improve performance! I have found that a better approach is to introduce a few small snails to your cannister filter. The snails graze on the bacterial film that developes on your filter media and provide sufficient stress to encourage sexual reproduction, increasing the genetic variabilty and toughness of your bug supply. The ocaisional snail gets immascerated or sent back through the impellor to the tank but these can be a considered as a steady food supply if you have the right mix of fish.
NUTRIENT REMOVAL; or tertiary treatment. Over time nutrients will accumulate in your system and will require removal, the most common and widely monitored being nitrate. This is where in my opinion the sump comes into its own as a tool for fish keepers. I maintain a healthy population of bog plants rooted in pots under a grow light. Nothing in my experience removes nutrients from water quite like a "wet land". Set your sump up to perform the function of a wetland and be rewarded with having to do fewer water changes.
Remember that the purpose and art of filtration is the removal of materials we add to our system in order to keep a desired water quality. Think in terms of biological oxygen demand and reducing amount of oxygen neccessary to maintain a healthy system. Every gram of fish food added to your tanks (less the small amount that is metabolized by the fish) needs to be removed.
What is more important than surface area for bacteria in a biofilter is diversity in bacteria population (acheived over time and through sexual reproduction) and a steady a rate of BOD addition as possible. In other words more frequent smaller feedings. Maintain the water chemistry and a diverse selection of substare and media, and let nature take care of the rest..........
Nice dissertation..
Rallysman---Chompers---Oddball
Did he just say:
Our w/d's were good
A drip system is good
vacuuming the gravel is good
checking water chemistry is good
not leaving the filter off for long periods of time is good
Good to know.
Dr Joe
.
Potts, welcome aboard!
I can tell I am going to enjoy having you here. That was a nice read. There is always room here for the well informed.
Just don't beat me to posting like Dr. Joe does all the time
I can tell I am going to enjoy having you here. That was a nice read. There is always room here for the well informed.
Just don't beat me to posting like Dr. Joe does all the time
