Ziss ZB-300 moving bed filter thread

[skillzizzo]

Hello every one i have decided to make a little thread about the Ziss ZB-300 moving bed filter. i will be showing the equipment, the tank there on, and the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate reading on water change day for this tank. This tank is a standard 29 Gallon Aqueon divided tank. With 2 polleni in it i got from rapps then end of october 2020 both fish are roughly 4.5 to 5" Has two Ziss ZB-300 filters on it with AP4 air pump which is running 2 on this tank and 2 on 20 gallon high below it. All so has a Aqua clear 70 on it but this plays no role in the bacteria colony for the tank. I run it after feedings to clean debree only with sponge only in it. This thread is intended to show how these work, if they work which i am bassed of numbers them self. Here is the first test for today sunday 4/18/2021 Ammonia 0 ppm, nitrite 0 ppm, nitrate 5.0 ppm it has been 2 weeks since i have done a water change.

Reason for the thread is when i was looking at these i found no good info on them only vids on you tube of people either raving the are amazing, or thrashing them for some reason or another. I wanted a little more info for them my self and this will be a good place for me to compile some data for my own records as well as maybe help some one else out. there are a ton of vids out in the world on how these operate, how to use them, showing them apart and so forth i will not be getting into that just showing the numbers and you guys make your own decisions.

Feel free to add any information on them you like, your own experiences, thoughts, concerns, ways to use better any thing really thanks for looking i hope this may help some one out.

 

[skillzizzo]

this thread is not designed to talk about these fish, my plans for them, next set up or any of that but i know it will be asked so i will say one of them has been in here solo since November to be separated from its crazy siblings the other was added with divider temporally while i took down his 75 gallon acrylic to add another tank to that system. they will be in this tank for no more then 2 months at max so i figured a good time to do these readings for this thread. after that they will be in one tank on that 2 tank system separated and that tank will be a 54L x 24W x 14 high tank

 

[twentyleagues]

I've got two of these on two different tanks. These work well for biofiltration. Obviously these are not intended for mechanical filtration. I currently have 1 running on a 75g tank with a decently sized bioload, there are plants also. I have never had issues with fish health or any form of ammonia or nitrite. These filters need very little air flow to get them working. Suction cups start to fail after about a year, replacement suction cups are definitely something to look for.

 

[heffesuita]

Thanks for the reply i over looked it due to having multiple threads going. Can u please add what size of fish any how many roughly on the 75 with one of these u say? And other filters on the tank for bio. Thanks tobme kind of one of the best parts of these is is youbhave a sump with k1 micro in it u can take a hand fullboff and throw it in one of these for any tank id a hospitalnor quarantine tanknis needed

 

[jake37]

I've read mixed comments on these filters over the past year or two. While MBR filters are extremely efficient bio fillters for the ZIss some people have problems with the k1 media clumping or getting locked (not spinning) which of course is what gives the MBR an edge in efficiency. To be honest a 29 is hard candidate to judge the effectiveness of these filters after all a mature sponge filter is frequently more than adequate and also provides some 'mechnical' filtration on the side.

 

[skillzizzo]

I would disagree and say is harder to keep a 29 gallon stable on the same maintenance schedule over say a 75. a small tank is all ways harder to keep stable. would you use these on a large tank? I purchased these to actually run 4 on a 75 but was just to load on an open top tank so it did not last long. But at the same each one have more bio media then say a aqua clear 70, even a 110 in stock form. does less for mechanical but way more for bio. and better since it actually stays clean the media in those get ow so nasty for sure. That debate will come down to personal choose and preference. Media flows fine for me the two on this tank are stock media, the two on the 20 gallon under it were cycled K1 Micro I pulled out of my sump when I set it up. the stock media actually flows faster and better then the k1 micro they are about the same size. I can say for sure that the media they come with spins and works as should a lot faster then k1 micro does flowing right in a few days were as k1 micro takes at least a month in any filter. In these I am not sure I used cycled k1 Micro. Either way I think it is a pretty fair test There are 2 5 inch messy cichlids on a 2 week water chance schedule on what I would call a barely filtered tank. would not test it on a 75 with 10 to 20 of these fish simply because I would never have a tank like that set up. opinions very and I appreciate the input to ponder

 

[jake37]

I do think you are misusing the word stable as most people apply it to an aquarium when we talk about keeping water conditions stable. I would also say a small tank is easier to establish a cycle and maintain though the cycle can be broken easier in a small tank since the point of biological filtering is usually more centralized. Anyway i have nothing more to add here than what i already said.

 

[twentyleagues]

Thanks for the reply i over looked it due to having multiple threads going. Can u please add what size of fish any how many roughly on the 75 with one of these u say? And other filters on the tank for bio. Thanks tobme kind of one of the best parts of these is is youbhave a sump with k1 micro in it u can take a hand fullboff and throw it in one of these for any tank id a hospitalnor quarantine tanknis needed

Besides terrestrial plants and some aquatic plants zero other filtration. There are around 20 fish in the tank. It kind of became a holding tank for random fish when I moved, and I haven't corrected it yet. The fish range anywhere from 5" to 1". Like I said 0 ammonia 0 nitrite nitrate is around 20 when I do a biweekly water change. I have what I thought was a pothos plant but it doesn't grow like one it's bushy, it's about 2' tall. I'm pretty sure it does most of the nitrate handling. Other then a couple air stones that's it. I agree that whatever media is in these tumbles within two days. I haven't had any issues with it clumping going on 3 years now.

The other tank is a 65 grow out/qt tank that received fish but again they haven't been moved to permanent homes yet. I work two jobs regularly and have a third at an lfs that I work off and on at, and deal with depression (poorly....lol). My free time what little there is, is spent stuck to the couch or cleaning my house. I don't spend near enough time in my fish room. Basic maintenance and feeding is about it currently.

 

[skillzizzo]

Besides terrestrial plants and some aquatic plants zero other filtration. There are around 20 fish in the tank. It kind of became a holding tank for random fish when I moved, and I haven't corrected it yet. The fish range anywhere from 5" to 1". Like I said 0 ammonia 0 nitrite nitrate is around 20 when I do a biweekly water change. I have what I thought was a pothos plant but it doesn't grow like one it's bushy, it's about 2' tall. I'm pretty sure it does most of the nitrate handling. Other then a couple air stones that's it. I agree that whatever media is in these tumbles within two days. I haven't had any issues with it clumping going on 3 years now
The other tank is a 65 grow out/qt tank that received fish but again they haven't been moved to permanent homes yet. I work two jobs regularly and have a third at an lfs that I work off and on at, and deal with depression (poorly....lol). My free time what little there is, is spent stuck to the couch or cleaning my house. I don't spend near enough time in my fish room. Basic maintenance and feeding is about it currently.

these are at least good examples of how well the little filter do thanks for the input. And another thing to mention is that these is no maintenace to speak of i have cleaned the sponges twice in these in 6 months just because they do not get clogged up effecting the flow or any thing like that. is not real pressure being forced through them so not much gets sucked up. again strictly bio here i would say 100 percent no mechanical is only there to keep out debris from inside. If some one needs a good bio filter with not much time for up keep. same as a sponge filter i do prefer these sponge filters are just such nasty little things. I am not one on here to bash people for what they have in what tank like others. Im sure the fish are well kept and will be moved to more suited homes thanks for the comments.