Which biologicial media better ?

[aykinhk]

Hi all, a question here:
I am think to change some of my biological media of my 2 fx6.
At the moment I am just using only marine pure spheres balls fill up 2 tray of each fx6. Those media been use close to3 years. Some powder has start come off from the marine pure balls. See photo 1
I am think of use bio-home ultimate ultra or Eheim Substrat Pro.
Anyone has experienced which one is work better ???
Thank so much

 

[Rocksor]

They are all fine, you won't see a difference for the nitrogen process. They all eventually crumble due to the force of the canister. I found dusting from all 3 media in the bottom of my canisters. The only difference is in weight, with the Marine Pure being the lightest.

 

[aykinhk]

They are all fine, you won't see a difference for the nitrogen process. They all eventually crumble due to the force of the canister. I found dusting from all 3 media in the bottom of my canisters. The only difference is in weight, with the Marine Pure being the lightest.

But people mention bio-home can reduce nitrate...is that real true?
Also, can eheim Substrat Pro can do they sane thing??

 

[duanes]

All bio-media is, is simply a surface for beneficial bacteria to live on.
In 60 years of fish keeping , I have never noticed one being better than the other.
And how would you know,? Count the bacteria?
As a former microbiologist I used to count and extrapolate bacterial colonies for my job, and tested my tanks on the side.
For me all type media held millions
And for the average aquarist, as long as ammonia and nitrite are gone, its working
Rings, ceramics, lava rock, fluidized media, even old toothbrushes, it doesn't matter.
I have made bbiotowers of lava rock and pot scrubbers that performed equally or better as well as commercially crafted type.


at the moment I am trying Porrett Foam (Matten)
I like that it catches particulate, along with doing bio-filtration, but after about 6 months, test numbers are no better or no worse than with other media.
The piece covers the entire width and height of a 125 gallon sump

 

[Rocksor]

But people mention bio-home can reduce nitrate...is that real true?
Also, can eheim Substrat Pro can do they sane thing??

I haven't noticed a reduction/slow down in nitrate using bio-home. The flow rate has to be just right in order to create an environment for denitrification to occur. You have to basically create an area within the canister where the water flow no longer goes through the media and creates an area that no longer receives oxygen.

 

[Oughtsix]

Hi all, a question here:
I am think to change some of my biological media of my 2 fx6.
At the moment I am just using only marine pure spheres balls fill up 2 tray of each fx6. Those media been use close to3 years. Some powder has start come off from the marine pure balls. See photo 1
I am think of use bio-home ultimate ultra or Eheim Substrat Pro.
Anyone has experienced which one is work better ???
Thank so much

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What are your water parameters? Do you have ammonia and nitrites in your tank water? If not your current biomedia is getting the job done so why change it?

Water changes reduce nitrates not biomedia. Plants, algae, Purigen, Activated carbon, well managed nitrate reactors will all remove Nitrates to some degree but water changes are really the best defense against nitrate build up. The bacteria living in the biomedia actually creates nitrates... Ammonia --> Nitrites --> Nitrates. Cleaning your mechanical filter media frequently will remove the debris before it has a chance to break down to nitrogen compounds reducing the nitrate production. But you will still have to do water changes.

 

[Rocksor]

I wouldn't say that Purigen removes nitrates. It just remove the organic material that would create additional nitrate, so it slows down nitrate increase with it in the tank. Seachem even states this for Purigen.

Purigen® controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste that would otherwise release these harmful compounds.

 

[duanes]

Unless the media that catches detritus (nitrate precursors) is cleaned regularly and often, that media produces nitrate.
Nitrate is a byproduct of filtration.