Lava Rock?
- Thread starter eugeneT
- Start date
I was wondering the same thing. I know it is used for bio media in ponds, but what is the process for putting it in a tank?
u need to soak it down in a bucket put it in a 5 gal bucket put somthin heavy on it let it bleed out . change the cloudy water and repeat till clean it may take several turns and days.
As far as bio media for ponds, at my store, the boss doesn't let anyone use lava rock. He claims that it releases minerals that encourage algae growth, but I don't have any experience with it.
Eugene, are you using it for filter media or as a substrate? I'd say that you'd be better off with synthetic media, but if you want the lava rock look then go for it.
Brandon
Eugene, are you using it for filter media or as a substrate? I'd say that you'd be better off with synthetic media, but if you want the lava rock look then go for it.
Brandon
lava rock is excellant biomedia especially in soft water tanks. I recommend it highly. Works best if you have a colony of snails living in it to eat the bacteria that purify the water. This keeps the bacteria colony vigorous and the substrte clean, encouraging new colonies of bacteria. Using snails improves your biofilters efficiency and resiliance to sudden water changes.
Potts050;510912; said:lava rock is excellant biomedia especially in soft water tanks. I recommend it highly. Works best if you have a colony of snails living in it to eat the bacteria that purify the water. This keeps the bacteria colony vigorous and the substrte clean, encouraging new colonies of bacteria. Using snails improves your biofilters efficiency and resiliance to sudden water changes.
Um, I have reservations with your theory. Do you mean bacteria or algae. Snails do eat bacteria, they eat algae. Plant vs organism. Colonies of bacterium will only grow as large as the food supplly allows, so if snails did eat bacteria, there is still no need to have them eating to get the colonies to grow. The extra bio-waste from the snails would not be worth the effort of controlling them in the tank.
I agree, lava rock has its place. It's good, cheap, reliable bio-mass. You can pretty much always expect the same results every time. I like it for outdoor ponds in large bio-filter set-ups in conjuction with a good filtration system as it does clog easily.
Dr Joe
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Dr Joe
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Dr Joe;511005; said:
Some room for healthy discussion here.
Snails do eat bacteria and BB colonies benefit from their grazing. Biolfilters benefit from snails grazing on bacterial colonies. Let me explain.
Bugs colonize the surface of biomedia and it is well known that highly porous materials have high surface area to volume ratios. As a result they can provide large areas for colonization. Water flowing through the voids and gaps between porous biomedia is as a rule, turbulent and therefore well mixed. However, as you get closer to the boundary between the fluid and the bio-media, the flow becomes laminar and eventually non existant.
This phenomenon can be seen in fast flowing rivers and streams that cut through heavy clay soils. They run clear in spite of the fact that they are flowing over clay (which consists of very fine and seemingly easily entrained particles). If you disturb the clay bottom, the stream will entrain the clay creating cloudy water and the suspended particles will not settle out untill the water has reached near zero velocity if at all.
The boundary layer in biomedia is what allows us to have cannister filters with high flow rates that are effective in nitrogenous waste removal. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrates move across the boundary layer through the process of diffusion and are consumed by the bacteria living on the biomedia below the boundary layer.
Here they are able to live and grow rapidly,assexually (clonning) unbuffeted by the turbulent flow in the filter. These bacteria divide and grow adjacent to one another quickly forming mats that get thicker over time, much like corals. Eventually two problems develop;
1. The bacteria become crowded and do not receive adequate nutrient and oxygen by diffusion through the boundary layer, and
2. The colony becomes deep enough that its otside edge enters the boundary layer where it becomes buffetted and stressed by turbulent flow in the filter.
Enter the snail... Snails are very effective grazers of bacteria and will grow quickly feeding on the mats that begin to form on the biomedia. Their culling of bacteria biomass actually reduces the stresses on the remaining bacteria, allowing the BB metabolism to remain high, ensuring they do their work consistantly. )Once again exposed to nutrients, the BB numbers will increase again rapidly untill another snail makes a pass across the colony. Snail waste is consummed by the bacteria. Snail numbers will increase within the biomedia, in direct proportion to the amount of food you are putting into the system.
Cannister filter impellors will imascerate any larger snails that make a run for the tank but once the population of snails reaches a certain density, they will begin to release from the biomedia bacteria gardens and abandon their luck to the current as is their nature to do so. If your fish do not consume snails then taking advantage of the symbiotic relationship in the cannister filter ecology will be of greater nuisance than value.
I keep mbuna who seem to relish the baby snails because I never see them in my tank although the population in my cannisters is impressive.
One final word on bacteria reproduction. Assexual reproduction in BB is what gives them the ability to increase in numbers very rapidly and react to the ebb and flow of nitrogenous waste in our tanks. Sexual reproduction in bacteria is the mechanism that allows a recombination of bacterial DNA within the population. Some of the offspring may be better adapted to conditions in our filters and tanks providing a more stable and reliable colony. Snail grazing encourages sexual reproduction in bacteria. forcing the population to adapt to its environment more effectively.
Pumice is good biomedia for this aproach as it is very porous. It is relatively insoluble and therefore well suited to soft water applications. I also believe that if the stones are large enough then anaerobic filtration can take place in the center reducing the need for drip filters. I prefer to used crushed coral since it provides carbonates, which are necessary nutrients for BB and my water is hard with a higher pH.