Scrubbies vs Bio Balls

[spiff]

Yeah, I think they're harder to get than they used to be. I checked at least a dozen online sources and they were all out. I might have found a few places that would sell an individual package, but not a full case at any sort of discount.

I bit the bullet and bought 500 bucks worth of Matala matting instead. In hindsight, I think the rigidity of the media will work better for my setup. I already expended more effort than I'm happy with looking for pot scrubbies and had nothing to show for it. I think I might have saved about 25% of that cost if I did go with scrubbies, but oh well. I needed enough to fill 600 gals worth of sump.

 

[CTU2fan]

i got 12 per tray in my FX5, 36 in total

Thanks, at least now I've got a ballpark number to shoot for. I'll probably get more and put some in my sump and in my 404 which currently has biomax and floss.

 

[jcardona1]

yeah, its gets tight, but 12 will fit. this is how i arranged them

 

[yemista]

can you use scrubbies in a fluval 405 instead of the bio media they provide? do scrubbies need to be replaced? the bio media that came with it says to replace it every 3 months

 

[fishdance]

Actually there are lots of misconceptions on this board and bio-balls Vs bio-fill (scrubbies) is a good example. Another common misconception is that high flow rates are better than slow. A third misconception I often see is that larger filters (albeit inefficient) is somehow better than compact.

http://www.ntcresearch.org/pdf-rpts/AnRp06/F04-MD11-A6.pdf

 

[michael]

honestly never considered "scrubbies" just use traditional biobalss and sintered glass and lava rock by ehein. I heard sintered glass is the best , NO?

 

[oscarsftw]

Scrubbies work really well, in my experience.

Then again I have; TOPoly pad + Fluval prefilter media; MID:9 Scrubbies; BOTTOM: Poly Pad + Fluval Biomax.

I have great results and crystal clear water.

 

[Steve_Henderson]

Thanks for all the responses! I'll check out a few of those places, and maybe get in on the group buy. I'm not really sure how many I'll need. I'm remodeling my 55G sump for my 75 gallon tank to see if my new design will be better. Then I'll be using probably the near same model for another 55G sump to filter my 240 gallon tank which is in dire need of better filtration. My arowana and clown knife haven't been happy lately .

 

[jcardona1]

scrubbies really are the way to go, especially for a sump. its a no-brainer; more surface area = more beneficial bacteria. and pot scrubbies have almost 4x the surface area of traditional bio balls

 

[X24]

Did nobody take a look at fishdance's pdf? Fishdance seems to have mountains of experience, an open mind and lots of scientific data, but chances are 3/4 of you people just ignored it.

Take a look at that article. A lot of it went over my head, and i have no clue what flocked fabric is, but it shoots down a lot of "standard information" that gets handed out every thread on this forum.