Cheap bio media?

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viking252200

viking252200

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2007
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Tokyo,Japan
I just got an eheim 2260 and a 2250 and between the two of them I need around 30 liters of media.

While eheim' s is by all accounts, very good, it's also rather expensive, so I'm looking for something a bit cheaper...

Pot scrubbers are, believe it or not, quite difficult to get here in Japan, so I was thinking about lava rocks, heard conflicting opinions on that media though.

Any good ideas?
 
I hear mostly good about lava rocks. If you have a good amount it should be fine
 
Hello; I have used glass marbles as bio media. The drawback being they are not porous so there is not the internal surface area. Smaller diameter marbles will pack a bit tighter and yield more surface area. The good things being that the marbles do not pack tight enough to restrict water flow and being non porous can be cleaned.

Another substance that works is the carbon used in tanks. I know it's adsorption properties get filled quickly but it is porous and non toxic. I used it back a few decades ago when I thought it can be recharged by baking in a home oven. The baking in an oven at 500 degrees F does cook out the organic stuff that tends to clog up the pores and the carbon can then be reused as a filter medium even tho it no longer adsorbes.
 
Seachem Matrix is pumice stone/rocks and a very good porous media. Seachem's more select pumice stone media is De*nitrate which is smaller but also doped with nitrogen-absorbing chemicals/resins.

You can purchase 1/4" - 3/8" pumice rock on eBay and other places for comparably very cheap prices and it'll be virtually the same as that used in de*nitrate without the bleaching and nitrogen removing chemicals. *However, you must be sure to get *screened* pumice rock 1/4 - 3/8" or it will be in different sized pieces up to 1/4" - 3/8". Otherwise, most will be in smaller pieces and some almost like powder.

Lava rock doesn't have a deep pore structure but it's still ok as a biomedia. Pumice stone is much more pourous.
 
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I did a quick search for pumice here in Japan and I can get 15 liters for 9 bucks or so...
So under 20$ to fill up those massive canisters..
Can't beat that!
 
It really is a good deal. Pumice is very porous internally which reminds me to mention that it will need to be rinsed thoroughly using a strainer. It holds a lot of dust within its pores. I couldn't believe how much rinsing it took before the water started running clear.

And again I can't stress how important it is to get pumice stone that has been screened to remove the smaller pieces. Most bags are not screened. Screened pumice usually costs a little more but is worth it. A couple months back I purchased 3.5 gallons/13.25 liters screened 1/4" - 3/8" pumice for ~$25.

Here's a comparison I made between pieces of Seachem De*nitrate and similarly sized and shaped pieces of pumice rock. The de*nitrate pieces are on the left (white) and the regular pumice pieces on the right ... except for the top two pieces which are backwards.
20170413_171421_zpstv2ljdof.jpg
 
I've dumped lava rock from the grilling section at lowes into my sumps with no problems. My current sump setup will house all of the lava rock I have left over (16 lbs) plus some pumice like tarheel96 tarheel96 posted. Speaking of tarheel96 tarheel96 where did you find your pumice?
 
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