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Is expensive bio media worth it?

Is expensive bio media worth it?

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Jaceree said:
Could a heavily planted tank take the main role of biological filtration to the point any other filtration you have would end up becoming mechanical?
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Yes, I think so. Plants and the substrate. I can see that happen if you have lots of plants relative to livestock and excellent flow throughout the tank and substrate (that is essential) that it will provide far, far more bio filtration relative to the small volume of a bio media in a HOB/Canister filter - essentially only relying on the external filters for mechanical filtration and distribution of nutrients through circulation. I have recently deployed a couple of Pat minis in both my tanks to increase the flow towards the bottom for the same reason as I was starting to get some underserved areas where the plant mass is super dense.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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John q said:
Sorry to go off topic but... Nh4 toxicity to plants is something that plays a role. We should choose our words carefully when thinking ammonia/ammonium is some kind of plant god.
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I said this in the context of a planted tank with a normal fertilization regime. Most substances will become toxic to plants and/or animals at a given concentration level. This applies also to <NH3 and NH4> and <NH4 toxicity> is an issue in agriculture and to higher plants in general. But this should not be an issue in a planted tank unless there is an overdose of these elements. The same is claimed by Diana Walstadt ("<Aquatic Plants Prefer Ammonium Over Nitrates>").
 
MichaelJ said:
Yes, I think so. Plants and the substrate. I can see that happen if you have lots of plants relative to livestock and excellent flow throughout the tank and substrate (that is essential) that it will provide far, far more bio filtration relative to the small volume of a bio media in a HOB/Canister filter - essentially only relying on the external filters for mechanical filtration and distribution of nutrients through circulation. I have recently deployed a couple of Pat minis in both my tanks to increase the flow towards the bottom for the same reason as I was starting to get some underserved areas where the plant mass is super dense.

Cheers,
Michael
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DITTO

I never believe in the need for dedicated bio media in the filter as long as you provide oxygenated flow over substrate and surfaces where beneficial bacteria thrive. Dedicated bio media may even do harm if you allow it to clog up blocking oxygenated flow whereby anaerobic bacteria out number aerobic. This can happen inside a dirty canister filter in power outage. When power resumes, it can flush out toxic gases generated during power surge. You can enhance bio filtration more effectively by adding circulation than adding bio media.

The only scenario where dedicated bio media in a high power filter is helpful is if you keep fish as dense as in a bare bottom aquaculture tank.
 
Hi all,
Jaceree said:
Could a heavily planted tank take the main role of biological filtration to the point any other filtration you have would end up becoming mechanical?
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Yes, I think most of the nitrification will be carried out by the plant / microbe biofiltration. Because you are dealing with quite complicated processes you could only really quantify the fate of the ammonia by labelling it with nitrogen isotopes.

In: <"Hongfang , L. (2018) "Performance of integrated ecological treatment system for decentralized rural wastewater and significance of plant harvest management" Ecological Engineering, 124, pp 69-76">, it says:
............ A full-scale integrated ecological treatment system (IETS) comprising, in series from inlet to outlet: two biofilters, one surface flow wetland (SFW), and two stabilization ponds, was constructed to treat rural decentralized domestic sewage and swine wastewater. The results showed the IETS had high removal efficiencies for ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) with average values of 95.7%, 93.0%, 94.6%, and 82.0%, respectively. Incorporation in the IETS of the SFW, vegetated with Myriophyllum aquaticum, was found essential in enhancing the wastewater treatment. The abundances of the amoA gene of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) within the SFW sediment ranged from 1.69 × 10^8 to 2.46 × 10^9 copies g−1 and from 2.63 × 10^7 to 6.90 × 10^7 copies g−1 dry sediment, respectively............
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The other thing is that I don't think that "mechanical" filtration is ever really just mechanical filtration, as soon as that <"filter material is wet"> and has nutrients, <"and oxygen">, flowing into it it starts to develop a microbial assemblage and become biological filtration.

Personally I don't really care where nitrification occurs, I just want to have <"plenty of capacity"> to allow me some spare for unexpected events.

cheers Darrel
 
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Amongst other things I used Dupla Bio Balls in the 1980’s. They weren’t that cheap at the time either!
 

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I still use those bio balls and in fact I have lots of them in my shed!
I once built a koi pond with a large trickle tower, the pond was decommissioned years later and I retained the bio balls, probably got about 100 litres of them left.
 
I don't know if the original question was specifically related to everyday aquarist or planted tanks bit if you ever go into a lfs or wholesaler, have a look in their sumps and it will likely be full of non branded cheap media.
 
I believe they were originally manufactured for commercial use but were repackaged by Dupla for fish keepers. I never got round to using them in a trickle filter but I understand they worked quite well? You could probably sell some of those on if you wanted.
 
We had a little kid that used to stick his head in the sumps and build little "lego" like structures with those bio balls despite me asking him and his parents not to.
 
Hi all,
Aqua sobriquet said:
I never got round to using them in a trickle filter but I understand they worked quite well?
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I've still got some somewhere (left over from the waste water work).

I can't remember if we ever used them but if we did, other than the cost, they would have been fine. It looks quite a good design and realistically probably <"similar in performance"> to <"washing up scrunchies">.

cheers Darrel
 
MHO is that any media, what so ever works as well. As long as you enough flow.
What I don't like is to watch these youtube gurus throwing away sponges and replacing them with something "pro" with a fancy name on it.
Just pure alchemistry with no data. Sometimes this hobby feels like a religious sect
(The worst are these magical and costly substances that you add to your substrate, like bamboo charcoal ..., please it's just burned wood!)
 
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