Hi Everyone.
I know you guys specialise in planted tanks but i have some questions in regards to media in a non planted tank.
I need some help in regards to Biological Media choices. You guys have probably answered these kind of questions a 1000 times over but your be helping out someone who just wants to make sure they getting things right. Plus your all generally very helpful when it comes to things like this so i'm sure you won't mind helping me!
So here goes!
I have 2 Fluval FX6'S that i'm going to be running on an ND 5ft tank and need some advice on the best biological media to use inside it.
The top chamber will be mechanical and the bottom will have Purigen. so
Filter 1...... top - mechanical - middle - a form of biological - bottom -100ml bagged purigen
Filter 2....top - mechanical - middle a form of biological - bottom - 100ml bagged purigen
My FX6's came with cermaic tubes - which i have never used and just sitting the in the bags. What's your thoughts on using these? Someone told me they still have an impressive surface area of 6600 square feet! I just feel i could maybe be buying something better to colonise bacteria than the stock ceramic rings?
I have looked at Seachem Matrix and always thought it to be good stuff. However..reports circulating the internet and you tube is that Matrix is just pumice stone. Here is a video of what i mean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7d3aK_tX34
I have contacted seachem on this and they haven't seemed to reply, so maybe they have been exposed as selling something at a super price for something that a pumice stone can do for dirt cheap. I don't for one moment deny Matrix works, but on the other hand i don't want someone like Seachem trying to pull my pants down and ripping me off.
The next biological media i have heard good things about is Biohome Ultra mini.
Something that Richard aka Pond Guru from Tynevalley aquatics has marketed as being the very best media.
He does a wick test at 6.10 on the second link and you can see how quickly it absorbs!
The last link shows Matrix on a wick test and it does a very poor job! it's £20 for 1kg - 1.40litres though and each fx6 chamber is 2L in capacity. So we are looking at over £40 here! plus it does clog up over time and needs replacing every 3-4 years.
http://www.tynevalleyaquatics.co.uk/#/b ... 4573388508
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFXJaRDfR1w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RBnw8Hqy7E
the next media i have looked at is Sera Siporax which apparently does not clog and does not need replacing and is a bit cheaper than the bio home boasting a surface area of 270m2 per litres.
It apparently has certain unique properties that make it one of the best bio-medias available. Here is what a friend sent me
"Unlike every other type of sintered glass media, it never clogs. This means it can maintain a high rate of gas exchange which is very important for the nitrification process. Similarly to Matrix, it can house anaerobic bacteria as well as aerobic. You'd need a much lower flow than is practical in a canister in order to successfully house a meaningful amount of said bacteria, but still, it's capable of housing them in the right set-up. various tests I performed on this media, one of them was using it as the sole filter media on a tank full of adult Mbuna. I employed no mechanical filtration whatsoever and the Siporax not only kept the water how it should be, it refused to clog"
Seems interesting and another option!
Apart from these top 3 then other one i'm looking at is good old Alphagrog, which i have used in the past but again like the rings i'm sure i could be getting better?
So what do you all suggest? I would love to hear your thoughts on all this. is there anything i have over looked? Should i pay out the higher prices?
thanks guys.
I know you guys specialise in planted tanks but i have some questions in regards to media in a non planted tank.
I need some help in regards to Biological Media choices. You guys have probably answered these kind of questions a 1000 times over but your be helping out someone who just wants to make sure they getting things right. Plus your all generally very helpful when it comes to things like this so i'm sure you won't mind helping me!
So here goes!
I have 2 Fluval FX6'S that i'm going to be running on an ND 5ft tank and need some advice on the best biological media to use inside it.
The top chamber will be mechanical and the bottom will have Purigen. so
Filter 1...... top - mechanical - middle - a form of biological - bottom -100ml bagged purigen
Filter 2....top - mechanical - middle a form of biological - bottom - 100ml bagged purigen
My FX6's came with cermaic tubes - which i have never used and just sitting the in the bags. What's your thoughts on using these? Someone told me they still have an impressive surface area of 6600 square feet! I just feel i could maybe be buying something better to colonise bacteria than the stock ceramic rings?
I have looked at Seachem Matrix and always thought it to be good stuff. However..reports circulating the internet and you tube is that Matrix is just pumice stone. Here is a video of what i mean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7d3aK_tX34
I have contacted seachem on this and they haven't seemed to reply, so maybe they have been exposed as selling something at a super price for something that a pumice stone can do for dirt cheap. I don't for one moment deny Matrix works, but on the other hand i don't want someone like Seachem trying to pull my pants down and ripping me off.
The next biological media i have heard good things about is Biohome Ultra mini.
Something that Richard aka Pond Guru from Tynevalley aquatics has marketed as being the very best media.
He does a wick test at 6.10 on the second link and you can see how quickly it absorbs!
The last link shows Matrix on a wick test and it does a very poor job! it's £20 for 1kg - 1.40litres though and each fx6 chamber is 2L in capacity. So we are looking at over £40 here! plus it does clog up over time and needs replacing every 3-4 years.
http://www.tynevalleyaquatics.co.uk/#/b ... 4573388508
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFXJaRDfR1w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RBnw8Hqy7E
the next media i have looked at is Sera Siporax which apparently does not clog and does not need replacing and is a bit cheaper than the bio home boasting a surface area of 270m2 per litres.
It apparently has certain unique properties that make it one of the best bio-medias available. Here is what a friend sent me
"Unlike every other type of sintered glass media, it never clogs. This means it can maintain a high rate of gas exchange which is very important for the nitrification process. Similarly to Matrix, it can house anaerobic bacteria as well as aerobic. You'd need a much lower flow than is practical in a canister in order to successfully house a meaningful amount of said bacteria, but still, it's capable of housing them in the right set-up. various tests I performed on this media, one of them was using it as the sole filter media on a tank full of adult Mbuna. I employed no mechanical filtration whatsoever and the Siporax not only kept the water how it should be, it refused to clog"
Seems interesting and another option!
Apart from these top 3 then other one i'm looking at is good old Alphagrog, which i have used in the past but again like the rings i'm sure i could be getting better?
So what do you all suggest? I would love to hear your thoughts on all this. is there anything i have over looked? Should i pay out the higher prices?
thanks guys.