Fired Ceramic Media?

[ullysses]

Couldn't find anything on here about it.
Would crushed up fired ceramic be good for filter material. Is there anything different done in the construction of normal bio material, noodles, rocks etc?

Thanks

 

[bbortko]

Ceramic bio media works because it is very porous which gives it significantly greater surface area for bacteria to grow on than a similar sized item with a smooth surface. The fact that the media is ceramic is irrelevant to its ability to host bb, ceramic is used because of factors such as cost, durability and inertness'.

 

[ullysses]

Oh okay thanks yea i wasn't sure if all fired clay could be the same. Thanks alot

 

[Gill Blue]

you'll lose a lot of surface area if your crushed up stuff was glazed.

 

[ullysses]

yea no it wouldnt be glazed just broken pots and other stuff from ceramic room at school.
Would they be beneficial at all?

 

[Gill Blue]

no idea, really. your best bet would be to take some of it to look at under a microscope and see if it's extremely porous. my main concern would be if it would/could leach something into the water. ceramic is basically clay, and there's lots of different things that can be in clay...
can you talk to the person in charge of ordering the material, or supplying it and find out the exact composition of their mix?

 

[isde02]

On of the best bio medias available, bakki house media is fired clay, but they mix saw dust in it before firing so that it well have more pores.

 

[ullysses]

no idea, really. your best bet would be to take some of it to look at under a microscope and see if it's extremely porous. my main concern would be if it would/could leach something into the water. ceramic is basically clay, and there's lots of different things that can be in clay...
can you talk to the person in charge of ordering the material, or supplying it and find out the exact composition of their mix?

Yea I might just give it a miss i don't have access to any of that sort of stuff, i think its just bought as molding clay for pottery.

On of the best bio medias available, bakki house media is fired clay, but they mix saw dust in it before firing so that it well have more pores.

This sort of stuff?
http://www.majestickoi.com/prod535.html
http://www.makc.com/bakki.pdf