The best Biomedia, period.

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Wow, thanks everyone for the quick responses.
rodger said:
Forget what manufacturers claim. No media will do much about nitrates. If cost is no object, why are you concerned about electrical cost to operate a large air pump? or did I misread your question?
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I should probably rephrase that, I will spend as much as I need to to get the best for my fish, however spending less for more would be awesome. Also I realize that nitrate is always produced because well, thats what biomedia does, however I have heard of people having problems with media (especially bioballs) trapping the nitrate so that water changes have a hard time getting rid of them and you actually have to clean the media to fix this issue.
boldtogether said:
Best ever? Well, you will get a lot of K1 comments, but for me, Eheim Effisubstrate Pro....I have about 18L in a filter specifically for bio and I open that filter once a year....just to see whats going on...always just a little sediment and that's it. Strong comsistant biological activity.


I have used pumice before and it is outstanding bio-media as well. I like lava rock too...
Ceramic (blocks or rings) and scintered glass, are, in my opinion, probably the best for virtual maintenance free bio-media.
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I did not realize so many people here used submerged media, or that it was such low maintenance! How much do you think I would I have to use?
 
I am a seachem matrix fan, pond. I change the water to control nitrates, :)
 
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Ceramic media clogs over time. The minerals in the water percipitae and clog the pores. It eventually has only the outer surface hosting BB. Plus you need to move it around regularly or poop settles in all of the spaces. Nobody has ever been able to document to me about plastic media needing cleaned more than ceramic. I'm a K1 fan. Never needs cleaned or replaced. It is self cleaning.
 
DIFish said:
Wow, thanks everyone for the quick responses.

I should probably rephrase that, I will spend as much as I need to to get the best for my fish, however spending less for more would be awesome. Also I realize that nitrate is always produced because well, thats what biomedia does, however I have heard of people having problems with media (especially bioballs) trapping the nitrate so that water changes have a hard time getting rid of them and you actually have to clean the media to fix this issue.

I did not realize so many people here used submerged media, or that it was such low maintenance! How much do you think I would I have to use?
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The amount needed is really a guessing game....an educated guessing game.
Eheim and other media manufacturers will list, usually, how much is needed based on tanj volume....but that is only a place to start. My media is only "fed" very mechanically filtered water...and I feed it a much slower rate than the return pump moves to ensure a more efficient contact time....
Point is, every tank and bio-load is different. If you feel your tank is "average" as far as fish stock, then following the manufacturer recommendation will be a good starting point.
 
rodger said:
Ceramic media clogs over time. The minerals in the water percipitae and clog the pores. It eventually has only the outer surface hosting BB. Plus you need to move it around regularly or poop settles in all of the spaces. Nobody has ever been able to document to me about plastic media needing cleaned more than ceramic. I'm a K1 fan. Never needs cleaned or replaced. It is self cleaning.
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True....key words: over, time.
my Eheim media is 5yrs old and still works like it did when new...well, at least it seams that way. ...my water quality is the same now as it was 5yrs ago....
I have regenerated eheim pro with very good success.
 
rodger said:
Ceramic media clogs over time. The minerals in the water percipitae and clog the pores. It eventually has only the outer surface hosting BB. Plus you need to move it around regularly or poop settles in all of the spaces. Nobody has ever been able to document to me about plastic media needing cleaned more than ceramic. I'm a K1 fan. Never needs cleaned or replaced. It is self cleaning.
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Yeah that is what I am trying to avoid, although I am not too sure how much k1 I will need. Based on others I would say around 50 liters of k1, does this seem close?

boldtogether said:
True....key words: over, time.
my Eheim media is 5yrs old and still works like it did when new...well, at least it seams that way. ...my water quality is the same now as it was 5yrs ago....
I have regenerated eheim pro with very good success.
Click to expand...
Thats awesome that you can use it for so long! If it really works that well I might have to consider using some submersed in addition to k1, you can never have too much filtration.
 
The best biomedia is live sand and live rock in the tank, period. In reef system, you use deep sand for aerobic nitrification near surface, and anaerobic denitrification deep down. In freshwater, you use shallow sand for aerobic nitrification only, and no need for denitrification as WC is the easiest way to remove nitrate. A 1" sand or gravel substrate, a few rock, and good oxygenated flow from HOBs or circulation pumps will do a better job than any man made bio matrix.
 
viejafish said:
The best biomedia is live sand and live rock in the tank, period. In reef system, you use deep sand for aerobic nitrification near surface, and anaerobic denitrification deep down. In freshwater, you use shallow sand for aerobic nitrification only, and no need for denitrification as WC is the easiest way to remove nitrate. A 1" sand or gravel substrate, a few rock, and good oxygenated flow from HOBs or circulation pumps will do a better job than any man made bio matrix.
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I tend to agree but will disagree with the idea that sand and rocks provide adequate surface area for a proper bio-mass....especially for those that are heavily stocked or go bare bottom and minimal decor. And you can only hang so many HOBs on a tank and fill them with limited filter medium both mechanical and bio.
HOBs are for tanks up to like 100g appropriately stocked and fed conservatively.
And take rocks...not all are porous. Many aquarium safe rocks are not very porous at all so a bio-mass is left to populate the surface only. Plastic decor will also provide surface area.....but in the end, large tanks with lots of fish will require some sort of man made bio-media
The nice thing about this hobby is the pioneers that went before us. They tried and failed for us to pave the way to what is now gold standard fish husbandry. Granted, the old ways were adequate, to a certain extent, but the new ways aren't without merit. We know today that certain fishkeeping practices are better than others and we also know that the added surface area afforded by adding a man made media will benefit the bio-mass and the well being of the aquarium as a whole.
Old school is good for some and I believe reserved for aquariums 100g or less and appropriately maintained/stocked...
but if man made bio-media was unnecessary, there wouldn't be a majority using it.
Jus my $.02
 
I have 7.5ppm nitrate tap water, my tank nitrate have been around 10 ppm. With 10% water change bi monthly. Half stocked and fed daily. 1 cu/ft sand/ pumice to 35 gallons of water. Still tinkering with the plumbing a bit, but it seams to be working.
 
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