Two questions here:1. I was thinking of using some lava rock bought in the bags from Lowes as some bio media for my two xp4's. Any thoughts or suggestions? 2. I have an AC110 on a growout tank. After the fish are moved, I would like it house a single flowerhorn. Right now, I have the pads on the bottom, 4 bags of the small ceramic rings, and the ammonia absorbers on top. Any suggestions on how to add more to handle a large bio load? More rings? Also, no chemical filtration is being used, your ideas and thoughts.
Filter Media... Suggestions
- Thread starter creepyoldguy
- Start date
Lava Rocks have very low surface area and don't work too well. Here's a good guide to what works well http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88677
For best surface area you should get some sort of fancy product such as matrix as mentioned above. You could try substrat pro(made by eheim)
I think the problem with lava rock is that once it clogs, the gunk stays in the crevices and is hard to clean off, whereas with other filter media you can just give it a quick rinse
I think the problem with lava rock is that once it clogs, the gunk stays in the crevices and is hard to clean off, whereas with other filter media you can just give it a quick rinse
Lava rock works fine, even though the surface area is smaller than other media. It is a pain when it sticks to sponges and filter floss though.
As for your replacement media, anything is good. Cheap or expensive, it dosn't really matter as they all do a good job and I personally think it is a waste of money to go buying 1 litre of expensive branded media when you can get 1 litre of something similar for half the price because eheim or fluval is not on the box.
Bio balls or ceramics work great, remember that your sponges are also bio media along with everything in your tank as they all house beneficial bacteria.
As for your replacement media, anything is good. Cheap or expensive, it dosn't really matter as they all do a good job and I personally think it is a waste of money to go buying 1 litre of expensive branded media when you can get 1 litre of something similar for half the price because eheim or fluval is not on the box.
Bio balls or ceramics work great, remember that your sponges are also bio media along with everything in your tank as they all house beneficial bacteria.