Using a microscope to take a look at the internal structure of some common types of filter media. Please click 'show more' for all information on media, time stamps and worldwide links (where available). Microscope used: geni.us/IyFI0m4 Good biological filter media needs to be receptive to bacteria, have a varied internal structure and last for a very long time if it is to support aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and have a chance of providing full cycle filtration (reduction in nitrate). It generally falls into 4 categories (for static filters): 1 - PLASTIC- avoid for a static filter as the surface area is so low. Poor receptiveness to bacteria. 2 - NATURAL ROCK - can vary wildly in usefulness and may raise pH (white pumice). Varied receptiveness to bacteria but generally good. 3 - CERAMIC - made from clay dust. Quality of structure and hardness can be very varied depending on type. Relatively receptive to bacteria even on/in poor quality media. 4 - SINTERED GLASS - made from sand and powdered glass. Generally very hard but quality of internal structure can vary depending on mix used. Very receptive to bacteria. Filter media in order of appearance: SCORIA (lava rock): geni.us/daKf8n1 Scoria is commonly known as lava rock since it is an inert, natural volcanic rock. It is relatively heavy and although the outside may look extremely porous and good for bacteria to colonise the internal structure is largely inaccessible so as a filter media it is not ideal but it is cheap. WHITE PUMICE: www.filterpro.co.uk Volcanic rock which generally has good hardness, accessible internal structure but quality can vary. Drinking water quality pumice has best structure and quality but all white pumice has a high pH (generally around 8.0) making it really only suitable for marine, koi, goldfish, livebearers and Malawi / Tanganyikan cichlids. Varied quality white pumice is commonly sold under different names by some manufacturers with no warning about pH. Avoid if it is poor quality pumice which contains a large amount of grey / black stones as it will generally be micro porous and will quickly clog up. ALFAGROG: geni.us/Il899 Very hard, rough ceramic media which has good external surface area but poor porosity. Works well even in dirty filters as it does not clog easily (due to poor porosity). Very cheap = good budget choice for pond filters. CHINESE CERAMIC - really poor quality media which is brittle, has poor internal structure, poor accessibility and will break down quickly in any sort of water flow. Unfortunately this is for sale all over the internet - avoid. BIOHOME: www.filterpro.co.uk An inert, sintered glass media which is made in various sizes and has varied pore structure and accessibility for use in different types of filters. Some types have added trace elements fused into the structure which are specific to the needs of bacteria and that allows the media to work even harder to provide full cycle filtration (reduction in nitrate) as long as plenty is used. Marine version also available which has added effect of boosting coral health (due to trace elements / bacterial activity?). GROWSTONES: geni.us/BBHT0Li As far as I know it is made by using a fine sintered glass mix with added bicarbonate of soda which causes mix to fluff up and be very light prior to firing in kiln. pH (8.0+) is definitely an issue as is the brittleness of the media but the internal structure is very good. TIME STAMPS: 00:00 Intro and explanation of what makes a good filter media + showing microscope used for video 03:30 Types of filter media to be examined 05:43 Looking inside media with microscope (300x) 09:45 How hard / long lasting is media? 12:35 Damn, I wasted how much on this muck from China? 16:35 Notes on surface area 17:43 Outro USEFUL VIDEOS: Aquarium and Filtration Playlist: goo.gl/yg174k Pond Construction Playlist: goo.gl/TwVzNM FILMING EQUIPMENT: Panasonic HC-VX870 HD camcorder geni.us/3UwE +Rode stereo microphone: geni.us/4OL +Rode 'deadcat' mic cover: geni.us/1pmn JVC Everio quad proof HD camcorder: geni.us/e09e +Rode 'deadcat' mic cover (opened up and held between tripod and camera base) geni.us/deAR LINKS:e24 Zomei Z666 tripod: geni.us/1a1af3 Manfrotto MTPIXI-B PIXI mini tripod: geni.us/87f7 RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS ON AMAZON: goo.gl/jMaBWy INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/pondguru_outdoors/ If you've enjoyed this video please check out the playlists on my channel for hundreds more - on a variety of subjects. Feel free to share or link any of my videos on facebook, twitter, forums etc. for the benefit of anyone you think may also enjoy watching. See you next time. Pondguru
Glad you enjoyed it and to be honest I have been waiting for this video to come from other channels as words mean nothing without pictures. I may have missed similar videos but I'm glad I made this one as it came out OK. Thanks for watching.
great video! would love to see a reboot with some comparison of the other popular medias. curious about your thoughts for Brightwell, Ehiem, Fluval, Aquaneat, aquatic arts, etc
Another great video!! I have been using bio home ultimate for about a year now after following you and taking your advice. Best thing I have ever done for my aquariums. Ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0 and the nitrates are near 0. The media started controlling the nitrates after 6-7 months. Just as you stated previously. Thank you for being a stand up guy, taking the time to respond and helping the hobby. Keep doing what you do..
What other channel can I watch on youtube that has flyfishing, and extremely useful aquarium info, from a dude that doesn't make videos for any other reason than to help others. Thank you for being genuine throughout the years.
That is no worries - Unlike many other channels I have never been concerned about getting millions of views or earnings so I see each video as a stand alone thing. If it does well, it does well and if it sinks without a trace then so be it - any which get a lot of views and have some educational content which helps viewers are definitely my favorites as it is a great feeling to help.
No worries, the extra media is a first try of the new shower media which is formulated for koi shower filters. First batch came out too small but the 'proper' stuff is much bigger - I thought you may as well have some of the smaller stuff since I had a 25kg sample bag and could make your order up to just under 3kg and still send out with same service.
It is a very consistent media and that is probably its main strength since we know each piece has a great internal structure - glad it is going well and it feels great to be part of something which is improving the lives of fish and shrimps all over the world.
OK, I know this is going to sound stupid. But, if you are breaking the rocks to view past the exterior, water does not flow in to the interior of the rock generally, it seems to me as long as the exterior is porous you have a good start. Even in something with a more cavernous structure bacteria as I understand it (and that understanding is admittedly limited) prefers to live near or at the surface. At some point you have to be looking at diminishing returns, I would have to imagine. I saw the wicking of the biohome and you can't argue with that, but it just seems bang for the buck, lava rock seems the better way to go for the average person (especially with a tight wallet). Thanks for your responses on the other videos, it is rare and appreciated to get such feedback! I get what you have been saying and why you directed me here, thanks for dedicating so much time to teaching us! Just ordered a 304b without the media and trying to learn everything I can before it gets here, your videos have gone a long, long way!!!
Having a rough exterior does not mean a media is porous, just that it has a fairly large exterior surface area and the passage of water through a media is so important if it is to support anaerobic bacteria, not just the aerobic bacteria supported by most types of media. A rough lava rock with a relatively impenetrable interior will be good to support aerobic bacteria so you will get a decent result with reduction of ammonia and nitrite but nitrate will be sky high (hence canister filters being regarded as 'nitrate factories') - only when a media has a suitable internal structure will the nitrate be processed (by anaerobic bacteria) for a full cycle. Obviously cost comes into it but to have a full cycle happening in a filter is possible with the right media - it all depends what you want to do with a filter - half a cycle or the full cycle (and less maintenance).
Lava rock has a porous exterior, and my point was to be porous does not mean it has to go through every level of the strata, either. Don't get me wrong, I am not arguing that biohome does not provide infinitely more surface area and is a superior product, but at some point on the investment / benefit curve, more is not going to be measurably better. I am not pretending to know where that curve flattens out. When you are talking 4 trays, and $16 per pound vs $4 for 20 pounds, it just makes me question the benefit of going 100% biohome. That is where I can see mixing media, using the biohome to seed and replenish the exterior of the cheaper lava rock. JNot in any way questioning the product or your insane level of knowledge, thanks again man, you are one of the top tier.
I think I'm getting hung up on the word 'porous' here as it is very different from 'external surface area'. As you can see from this video the lava rock looks really good and has visible holes through it but due to the lack of porosity (variable passages in huge numbers through the media) it is only really capable of supporting aerobic bacteria (for the reduction of ammonia and nitrite) - It is a great media for that so as a DIY media I'd rate it highly, however that is only half the cycle. When nitrate is produced by the aerobic bacteria that is when 99.9% of people think the cycle is complete but that is the end of the aerobic part. Most types of media are incapable of completing the anaerobic part which would see the reduction of nitrate too - a full cycle so the question becomes what are you looking to achieve from the filtration? If it is just to do the commonly accepted cycle (aerobic) which results in high nitrates and increased maintenance using any type of media then the lava rock is a very good choice since it is cheap and more effective than most of the more expensive media. BUT If you're looking to achieve a full cycle (nitrate reduction) for lower maintenance and more stable conditions then there are very few types of media which can achieve that, biohome being one of the obvious ones due to the ability to support a great balance of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in any flow but if you used lava rock in a reactor where flow was very slow (and reduced oxygen levels) then it could be possible to achieve the full cycle with that too. It's really down to budget and expectation with the level of investment being ultimately linked to the expectation (performance) from the filter - a low investment on normal / DIY media in a normal filter flow will achieve half a cycle and high nitrates whereas a higher investment on better media should achieve a full cycle and low nitrates. Hope that makes sense - there isn't really a 'bad' type of media (except maybe plastic balls) but there are huge differences in structure and performance. As far as media which does half a job goes I'd rate lava rock right at the top, especially when crushed but it does have limitations.
Thanks! And I hope I don't come across as arguing, I am sold on the media itself, just wondering how much is "as much as I need" when comparing dollars to bacterial colonies as it were. But something had to work before biohome came along.... Just ordered 2 lbs of biohome, actually, for the SunSun 304b I have coming, will likely go with k1 kaldness in the bottom (have a bunch I never used, and I have no ceramic rings). I will have a sponge pre-filter on the intake (baby shrimp protection) so I would likely only need some medium and fine foam in tray 1. Then my plan is biohome in tray 2, lava rock in tray 3, then plastic scrubbies in tray 4. I think I can get away with scrubbies short term since I only plan to run UV when algae starts. But I will likely start slowly swapping the cheap media for more biohome when I can better afford it ;-) You are so helpful, and one of the only folks doing this that answer questions. Thanks again, you rock!
It sounds like you have a plan formulated there for the upgrading of the filters so it's all good and if you have crappy media it's definitely worth getting it in the bottom of the filter as even though biological action will be limited down there it will definitely help catch and settle heavy muck out to save the foams a bit.
It’s a very informative video on media and it’s made a impact on what to include in a filter. I still haven’t set up my aquarium but as they say patience is a virtue. I keep changing my mind on a shower filter or setting up two canister filters with a filter booster on each canister. I’ve had in the past sumps which are loud as hell to canisters which are a pain to clean but I like the idea and never heard of these filter boosters before. It would be a lot easier to clean those out.
I have to set my 120 gallons with two FX6 from scratch, I could use my biohome media that has been working for 4 years, and two months ago I washed and dried it, I am witness that it is the best media because in my tank with 7 frontosas of 9 Inches I got to have nitrates in 5 and changed water once a month only, thanks very good video
I have Biohome Ultimate in the sump of my 720l Discus set up (sump 190l so 910l in total). Only other media is a filter sock stuffed with filter wool for mechanical filtration and a bag of activated carbon to help keep tannin stain down as I have a lot of botanicals. Water parameters are always spot on. Great to see this video and the reasoning behind why BU is doing such a great job for me.
Hi I'd just like to say that I have no knowledge whatsoever about filter media n all the rest of it nor do I have an interest in fish tanks or anything like that...BUT I still watch and enjoy every single video you upload .for some reason Im still drawn in to watching these that's got to be credit to the quality of the video and your obviously very knowledgeable in that area ...a big thumbs up from me....
I'm trying to concentrate but all I can think is what an amazing view behind you! I'd love to have a house directly plotted on green land for ages! Great info also though! thank you!
finally dumped my HOB filters and setup two canisters. i was thrilled when i learned i could use lava rock because its so cheap and seemingly porous,but seeing this ill definitely be upgrading to BioHome
HI Richard.. this really shocked me.. It was very interesting seeing the inside. I'm going to have a closer look at the media I am using but I'm quite happy to say I have the better media similar to what you showed. Excellent information.. something I wouldn't be privy to without you =D ♥♥
It baffles me how none of the big aquarium channels have done a similar video as this stuff really helps people see the difference between media types and there is a real difference in structure and performance which ultimately results in better water quality and healthier fish.
It's surprises me too but I've been thinking more about it.. I was wondering. If the media holds it's shape the beneficial bacteria can only colonize in the open areas right? It can't work it's way through the solid material acting like a sponge right? IF that's true then the more pource the exterior is the more area open for colonization. I'm trying to understand - when you break a piece to see inside.. the beneficial bacteria need the micro grooves and tunnels giving the bacteria the access they need to penetrate the media right? =D
Yes the usefulness of a filter media is dictated by not only the size and porosity but also the variability of structure. Most ceramic media has very standard size tunnels and cheaper types have bubbles in the structure as opposed to tunnels making it of little use. Better internal structure would be found in good quality white pumice and good sintered glass media as they have long tunnels, short tunnels, ones which travel all the way through the media and others which have dead ends or are almost like an ants nest of tunnels. That allows them to support little pockets of anaerobic activity where the water flow is greatly reduced and conditions are favorable. Also the sintered glass is a very receptive material for bacteria so you don't get a bacterial slime building up which clogs the media (as it does on plastic media or smooth ceramic which are quite hostile environments for bacteria to colonise)
Richard you need to know how much I appreciate you. Your explanations are wonderful and easily understood. Thanks for taking the time to do that.. I like the white pumice but can you buy it to use as medio.. I have never seen it.. would Amazon be the best place to look? Thanks again! ♥♥
In the grade I showed here I'm not sure where you would get it in Canada but I'm sure it will be available since seachem sell a poor (dense) grade of white pumice as 'matrix' and it is very popular in US and CA - also much cheaper there than it is here. To find a good grade you may have to do some online searching.
I don't know if it's late to comment, but using that microscope and used different filter media from your aquariums or bond, will you be able to show bacteria?
Ive been really really studying media lately and i think your biohome is good stuff but why is it so much more expensive? Eheim Substrat Pro seems to have just as much internal and external surface area, just as mechanically strong and wont affect the water perimeters that ive seen. but biohome is significantly more expensive. i think it would be on board if it would not cost me over a hundred dollars to fill my canister. i think you are being honest. and i think biohome would perform very well but the eheim media seems like it performs just as well for quite a lot less. if you can find a way to bring the cost down id be all over it.
No worries and I can't believe that one of the big aquatic channels has not done this before - to be fair they would probably have made a more eye-catching watchable video than me as mine tend to be very functional, lol
been using biohome now for over 2 years never looked back. but also worth saying the media on its own is good. but with the advice of the guru it changes it to amazing. once every 2 weeks i do gravel clean and thats all i need to do to me tank. water is so clear and fish are healthy. this guy saved me ££££ all from him taken time out to share is views anyone with a fish tank would be crazy to look at anything else on the net. great advice great media great ideas.
Glad you appreciated the video and the biohome as it really is good stuff - it's a great feeling being involved with something which really improves the lives of fish all over the world.
How do you equate “easy crushability in your hand” to “its going to dissolve in water over time” styrofoam for example is easy to crush into powder form....
If a media is too brittle water flow will wear it very quickly and any movement while maintaining filters will also wear it. There has to be a good balance between strength and porosity of a media will not long enough to be of much use.
I've used the same biohome ultimate for 4 years. I'm wondering if you can do a internal check up video of bio media that's been running for a while. I don't use filter floss a whole lot because I use internal sumps and canister filters, I've found it too much of a pain to change, or it clogs too fast. But at the same time, I wonder if I should change it by now. Thoughts?
that orange-red porous thing is called lava rings here in the philippines. its not that soft in here. i even have to strike em a few times with a hammer to break em. maybe they improved it? idk. well, just saying.
Hydroton can be a good media but the quality has become very variable in the last few years - the knobbly version is better than most types of 'proper' filter media types but the smooth version isn't as useful.
I use biohome in all my filters but it has one problem, it leaves deposits whenever you clean it. Also it can get crushed easily if one tries to stuff a lot into a filter. Mind you it's extremely difficult to buy it in India barely available!
Great video my friend. Love your new studio. Very swanky. Just got 160 kg of SuperGravel. That's what I plan to call the new shower media. I hope to get that into my showers as soon as possible to see if it will perform better than the Ultimate I'm currently using. The BioGravel I'm using in my Endless River filters is working great and I thought it was only a substrate for the longest time. I wished you can shown a piece of it. Looking forward to your new filter video. Happy Fish Keeping!
The shower media has the potential to be something really special since so much can be put into a small footprint and I have been talking to a guy over here who is making incredible filters which have taken into consideration the mechanical, aerobic biological and anaerobic biological so I'll be getting one of his filters to take a look at and make a video or two about. It's not often I get excited about filters since there are so many out there which are nice to look at but don't do a good job as far as the full cycle goes (e.g. Nexus moving bed filters) but this design has me very excited and has the potential to make other filters here obsolete. The big problem is getting koi keepers to fully understand the stages of filtration which should occur in a filter as only then will they understand the nee for a proper filter.
So Lightly cemented sandstone is normally the most porous rock you are likely to find and granite' are likely to be the least porous. And rocks like pumice may be loaded with gas bubbles, but if the bubbles are not connected the stones are relatively impermeable and do not really count as porous in the geological sense of the word. Seems to me spending a little more cash for natural lava rock is the winner due to it being longer lasting.
The problem is that the darker forms of pumice / lava rock have way more sealed bubbles than the white pumice. The dark rock is much heavier so even with all those bubbles it seldom floats but as a media with good external surface area for supporting aerobic bacteria it is definitely a good one. In the UK alfagrog is cheaper, very hard and has more surface area so if you were looking for something to complete half of the cycle (aerobic stage) then alfagrog would definitely be the one I'd recommend for that. Only problem there is that I would question why we would only want to complete half the cycle and end up with high nitrates which would have to be reduced through large, frequent water changes?
growstones went out of business, I was trying to get people to use it as a reef tank media in the end, it had a small amount of calcium that would impact PH in grow environments when it was new That's what killed them, bad reviews about PH spikes in people's hydroponic grows. Fantastic product that I really miss.
(my other channel) That's a bummer as it looked like promising stuff, especially for marine and African cichlids. Most hydroponics systems need to be lower in pH so having a media which raised the pH was a bad move - if they'd skewed their marketing toward aquariums and koi ponds they probably would have done OK since their media was unlike anything else available from most fish stores.
Are there any of yours (or anyone's) videos showing/prooving that this media (once set up) an aquarium showing 0/0/0 Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate levels over days and weeks/months?
The problem is there's only about 0.1% of fish keepers make videos but if you scroll down comments on biohome related videos you will find reports from people who have achieved full cycles in a variety of situations. Alternately the US distributor site has loads of reviews on it www.greatwaveeng.com - unfortunately most people post 'reviews' after a very short time so there isn't much detail in them. This copied email is typical of the ones I get through daily (and typical of the reports about which get deleted from 'sponsored' forums or facebook groups who would rather not have you hearing about the media....): I just wanted to give you some feedback on my filters and the Biohome media ... I have a 72-gallon stock tank with four large fancy goldfish in it. I've been keeping fish for over a decade and long before I found your RU-vid channel, I was looking for, and experimenting with ways to reduce Nitrates. The ultimate goal was to get this tank to require only a weekly water change on the weekends. I work for the U.S. Navy in oceanography so I go to sea a lot (I was recently in Cornwall sailing out of Falmouth). Anyway - when I'm away my wife has to do all the fish maintenance and she's got a shit-ton of other things to do than change water - and the Goldfish would build up to over 20ppm Nitrate in a few days, or even up to 40 ppm. Once they're in - a 50 percent water change won't even get rid of but ... maybe ... half of them. I tried a lot of setups ... mostly centered around POND MATRIX ... and they did work to a certain extent - but they were unreliable. Some week's I'd have 0 in between weekly water changes ... and sometimes that would even stay true for several weeks ... then everything would go out of whack and start wildly building up nitrates again. So I came across your RU-vid videos and here's what I've done ... On this tank ... First Filter: Is a Cascade 1500 completely full of Biohome Ultimate (all five trays) and nothing else. This filter is run at the normal output capacity and on the input I have an EF-2 filter booster which does all the mechanical filtration. Second Filter: Is an Eheim 2215 completely full of Biohome Ultimate media and nothing else. This filter is run "at a crawl". I have a little "whirly" flow indicator on the output and I set it for about 2 rotations per minute. I set it this way for two reasons ... first, this is the setup I had some success with when I used POND MATRIX ... slower flow for anaerobic bacteria. Second, the OUTPUT of the filter goes to a 57 watt U/V before it goes back into the tank and the slower the flow on U/V, the better. I also have an EF-2 Filter Booster on the input of this canister to do mechanical filtration. Third Filter: Is an AquaClear "HOB". It's still full of POND MATRIX because I haven't converted it over to Biohome yet. Not only is all this keeping me at 0 Nitrates ... but my wife only has to clean the HOB and the two filter boosters when I'm at sea - and the filter booster are WAY easier to clean than the canisters were. I also think that maybe opening the canisters often to clean them kills off some of the anaerobic bacteria - so opening the canisters less for cleaning helps keep the bacterial colonies established and more robust - so that they survive better when you do have to clean the canisters. The last key to the puzzle to get consistently 0 Nitrates was when I saw you mention not to use products like PRIME. I used to use PRIME all the time. Now, it's just there for emergencies (which I never really have now) and if I get an ammonia spike I'm more likely to just change the water than I am to throw in PRIME to lock up the ammonia and ride it out. Why did I change from POND MATRIX to BIOHOME? Because BIOHOME is A LOT more consistent media than Pond Matrix is. Some of the Matrix floats, some doesn't, Some of it seems really porous and some of it looks like marble. The Biohome ... every piece is the same. You may think my setup is overkill ... but you'd also need to know that I drive an 8-cylinder Mustang GT that's heavily modified - nothing I do is really "measured" ... HAHAHAHA!!! I figured that if you said 6 KG of Biohome was good enough for my tank ... then 12 (OR MORE) would be even better!!! LOL Anyway ... this is just my feedback on your product. I have two other tanks ... one a 36 gallon cory catfish tank ... it's all Biohome too but no special boosters yet or anything. It's usually 0 Nitrate also. I also have a 10 gallon cory fry tank that I use to hatch and grow out corys - and I do a 50 percent water change daily in that. THAT IS THE ONE TANK that I have that builds up nitrate because I only have two sponge filters on it. It makes about 3 ppm of nitrate per day which is not a problem since I'm knocking it back with 50 percent changes every day.
Sorry, I scrolled back up my emails and found one with more numbers in it which was a bit shorter: Hi Richard, we spoke about 2 months ago when you sent my order to someone else and then you gave me advice not to use prime but to use API Stress Coat. I've used 3 Kg of your Bio Home in my Oase 340T filter. I want to share the success I have had. The tank is an Evolution Aqua eafreshwater 900mm 249 litre. It comes with two lights but I need more. On the 5 July I started the fishless cycle I put a good few plants in it, but its not fully planted. 6th July tested it for the first time. Temp was 26.6, PH 6.6, ammonia .5, didn't read nitrite or nitrate.I added 9ml of pure ammonia to bring the reading up to 4. On the 7th temp the same ph the same ammonia 3.5 didn't read the others. Did this daily until the 17th temp and ph same ammonia .5 nitrite 3.0, added 4 ml of ammonia then halved the ammount of ammonia to max of 2. 21 July ammonia .1 nitrite 2.0 nitrate 80. 22nd July temp and ph same ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 80. I did a 50% water change added Stress Coat and added the fish. 8 neons 6 dwarf cory a lot of shrimp and 5 assassin snails then bought 5 rummynose and 6 blue tetras. Today 3 Aug checked the tank temp turned down to 25 degrees,ph 6.8, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrates 10 can't believe it so I checked it again same result. First time I have cycled a tank. I'm so glad |I bought the bio home, but thought it would take longer. Cheers
@@MikeC-mf7dv No worries, I really should put out a video specifically asking people for reports back in the comment section and I'll make a point of doing that somewhere down the line....I'm not very good at marketing and more focused on getting the information about how filtration works out there which will hopefully create a better understanding of why some products work and why some don't as that information is severely lacking online. It doesn't help that several high profile youtube channels actively cuss the biohome or myself, stating flat out that a full cycle cannot be achieved in filter type X, Y or Z then make a point of removing and blocking anyone commenting on their videos who post positive reports about biohome....that goes on waaaaay more than you'd think...lol
It would be a good one to take a look at but unfortunately it costs a horrendous amount in the UK so I wasn't prepared to buy something like that for one video. As I progress with the studio for making more in-depth videos I may ask viewers to send me bits of media for a long video since there are so many types and for every type there is a fanboy, lol I simply want to find what is best and have been really surprised (in a bad way) with some of the super expensive media out there. The cermedia however does look like a decent one.
Bought some biohome for my eheim wet/dry filter, wish I got the smaller version, but it still works perfectly, I'll probably get some biohome ultra for my next filter.
It's great stuff and I wouldn't be happy selling anything which couldn't do a job - that's why I'm so disappointed with the Chinese media I got as samples (and cost me £126 shipping...) since it is total crap and tens of thousands of people will have that muck in their filters due to it being all over Amazon and Ebay.
Hi, thanks for the video. I'm in the process of making 3 drum filters 240l each, to filter my 40,000l pond. I'll be stocking australian native River Murray rainbow fish max growth about 5 inches and Shubunkin gold fish. I was planning for the last drum to contain K1 Micro with air as a moving bed. Drum 1 and 2 would contain standard K1 and be static. What are you thoughts on the K1 media, can it do all the requirements in regards to nitates ,nitrites and ammonia etc. Thanks in advance Cheers.
I would never accept that crown as it is much better to simply stand back and drop knowledge when it is needed - sorry it took so long to get this video out.
The matrix is basically a lower grade (less useful) pumice and I'll be buggered if I'm paying top dollar for that but I am building up quite a nice collection of other media from the 'pimp my filter' series of videos I'm working on now as people often send their filters up full of old media so I will probably do an updated version of this video. Probably the best media other than biohome I've seen so far has been from Aqua One as their ceramic rings and sintered glass media is actually quite good. Filters are good too, especially the Aquis range which I am very impressed with. I'm glad you enjoyed the video - thanks for watching.
Pondguru that was really quick response. LoL thank you. I bought a gallon Matrix 2 months ago. I was never really satisfied and have been regretting the purchase after seeing a smooth surface on the stones. It claims to require only 250mg for 20 gallons and that’s why I bought it. After more research, I’m ready for biohome.
@@rathman4601 Thanks fr the link - the comment was held for review as it had a link so just found it. Yes I watched that a while back and to judge a media purely on claimed surface area is like judging the health of a man based on how fat he is. The claimed surface area of a natural stone (pumice which is 'matrix') is impossible as each piece can be very different therefore it is impossible to work out how much is needed to achieve a specific goal (e.g. reducing nitrate). As the biohome is a manufactured media each piece is as close to identical as you will get so (from customer feedback going back many years) we have been able to give accurate guidelines to how much is needed for a full cycle in a wide range of stocking scenarios, not just guessed to make something sound impressive like other manufactures seem to do, lol I really need to do a video specifically on surface area, how it is calculated, what is optimal, accessibility, suitability etc. etc. as there is a great gap in available information out there (and I really need to call some of the manufacturers out on their nonsense, lol).
@@pondguru Thank you. I look forward to this surface are calculations video. I do have both Matrix and Biohome but as far as vendor recommendations, it's easier with Matrix .e.g. for a 5 gallon tank with a 5-10 gallon, hang on the back, filter, .8 lbs of biohome is needed. That's impossible to fit nearly 1 lb. of biohome media in the filter whereas only .2 lbs of Matrix needed and will fit.
The biohome ultimate is most efficient for freshwater and the marine version is most efficient for saltwater so I would go with either of them. I'd be sure to go for a canister larger than manufacturer recommended too as that way I could get plenty of media in to ensure 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and very low nitrate with minimal maintenance. For example a tank of 100 litres would have a filter rated for 200 or even 300 litres depending on stock.
Have put a link to your bio home ultimate and this video on a facebook fish keeping page. Hope you don't mind. Bio home ultimate to me is by far the best media on the market for my needs thanks.
It is great to hear that you use it and are very pleased with the performance - thanks for sharing too. I generally never know what is shared (or where) but I always like it when anyone who thinks the video may be useful to others shares it elsewhere on the internet. Groovy.
I’m using polymer api bio chem stars. I think they will last forever. We don’t have Chinese media in the store, how does the sera, eheim, Fluval looks under microscope?
when u say the chinese media isnt strong/wont last, what do you mean? ive had mine over 5 years and rinse it sometimes in a spaghetti strainer, id say 90-95% are still intact, and even if they break in half it just gives acess to internal structure, the hole in the center also allows weaker bacteria or junk to get flushed through, and like you said ye its crushable/weak, but thats because its soo porous? so i dont get it
Would love to test the biohome and test what you say as no one i speak to on forums/groups dont believe anaerobic cycle will ever happen with any media. however for the cost ill just continue with alfagrog. nice video and pond :)
@Pondguru Could you please recommend a good cheap media ( i know those two words don't go together ) but for those of us that can not afford the kind of prices bio home , matrix , sub strat commands please ?
I'm wondering if you have a rebuttal to Evolution Aquas claim that Kaldness media can and does work in static filters becuase it's more than aerobic and anaerobic bacterial that break down waste. Jeremy Gay claims there are higher organisms that live in the biofilm that only exist in angles and corners of the kaldness that will not live in ceramics or sintered glass that do a better job in breaking down waste.
I can see where he is coming from with regard to the support of higher organisms and there is definitely something to be said for supporting invertebrates in a filter as they can do a great job of consuming algae and organic waste. However the filter falls down when it only uses plastic media since it really only supports aerobic activity for reducing ammonia and nitrite - I don't know of one person who has only kaldness in their filter who hasn't got sky high nitrates and the huge problem with the K1 used in a nexus is that the static part is aerated to clean it which minces up any really useful creatures like shrimps and water lice. For supporting them good old fashioned flocor does the job admirably. I can't believe that EA doesn't ship their filters with a proper mechanical side to it and still uses standard K1 in them when they themselves supply K1 micro which has 40% more surface area per litre and would dramatically increase the aerobic biological performance of the moving bed part of the filter. The Nexus is a beautifully designed filter (possibly the best looking filter ever in my view) but the lack of proper mechanical and anaerobic stage of filtration really cripple its performance as the things it does can be replicated in a cheap DIY filter built from a 45 gallon plastic drum. In a few weeks I will be making a video which will show a new filter which is properly designed and solves ALL the problems associated with Nexus filters with no need to spend extra on sieve / drum for clearer water or a shower after it to control nitrates - that may sound too good to be true but I am very impressed with what I have seen so far. It offers proper mechanical filtration which is adaptable plus moving bed(s) and an integrated shower so you get Mechanical, Aerobic Biological AND Anaerobic Biological in one unit - it is modular so can be tailored to suit different situations and takes about 90 seconds to clean. Watch out for that video as it will probably generate a huge backlash from many people who currently run a Nexus and are familiar with the associated problems, lol
Roger Dedham Bio film is a fancy term for slime....slime needs to be produced by the bacteria to gain hold on the artificial plastic surface of kaldness and other plastic media that have no natural attraction to bacteria. A media formed from natural materials " I.e. Found in nature" will allow the bacteria to attach without the creation of a slime layer, Bio film or whatever anyone wishes to call it. The process involved is best demonstrated by the time taken by the media to cycle, kaldness is around 12 weeks and Biohome 21-42 days ! This is a excellent demonstration of bacterias inability to read and go along with what actually gives it the surface to best work on.....
I can't argue with that as plastic is a hostile environment for bacteria - I forgot to mention that as I just dismiss it as a static media without remembering all the reasons I do that. I reckon you're being generous with 12 weeks for K1 to mature as its generally nearer 6 months (for aerobic bacteria, never for anaerobic). Thanks Michael.
Pondguru here is the link if your interested. I use both bio home and kaldness, I just found what he said strange about the static use of k1. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UEQhUrwakGU.html
Thanks for the link - I have just sworn multiple times and very loudly at my computer. I don't know how I can say this in a polite way but the two guys are for the most part talking absolute bollocks. As soon as the guy from EA said that the nitrogen cycle was ammonia to nitrite then nitrite to nitrate I started with the fury as that is only the aerobic stage - no wonder everyone using K1 has sky high nitrates. It is only one part of the biological process. With regard to tracking in a shower filter all you need is a grid or piece of jap matting every so often to spread the flow and the tracking is not an issue. One thing I do agree with is that a moving bed will likely do the quickest job at removing ammonia and nitrite but that is all the EA guy is interested in - it is very unfortunate that a large company which used to be well respected is not considering good mechanical filtration of the anaerobic stage of biological filtration as they already have a great looking aerobic biological filter but the refusal to address the mechanical and anaerobic shortfalls will come back to bite them if they don't address the problems as other companies are addressing those issues. When fishkeepers understand and are able to see the bigger filtration picture EA could be in trouble and as they are a UK based company I wouldn't want to see that happen - surely they can employ someone in R&D who researches filtration and how it relates to water quality / fish health and growth? High nitrates is never the way forward.
Is scoria any good for anaerobic? I’m going to fill a large sunsun with it and use a sunsun sponge booster before it for mechanical. Perhaps you can do some dry and wet before and after weight tests on the media to test for porosity. Higher percentage increase may indicate higher porosity.
Do any of the pieces you tested match what you'd get if you bought Seachem Matrix? I've read that it's a form of pumice stone from what others have said. Looking at it, the pits and holes are unexpectedly small compared to other media, but I don't know if that's good or bad.
It is a dense form of white pumice which unfortunately can contain lots of junk rock due to the grade they use. If you look at a typical piece of dense pumice there isn't much to look at with regard to available pores so that's why I picked a particularly good example of a higher grade piece (drinking water quality pumice as used in areas of UK with low pH, e.g. upland areas of Scotland). Notes in video description / pinned comment mention problem with micro porous grades clogging quickly and with regard to published photos taken with an electron microscope when you zoom in that far anything looks like an awesome surface for bacteria so it is not only misleading but it is also pointless. That's why I went with only 300x even though my other microscope does 1000x as it better illustrates the variability in pore size which is so important for bacterial colonisation and the ability to support aerobic and anaerobic bacteria without clogging quickly. Thanks for watching and appreciating the video.
Awesome, thanks for your feedback. If it wasn't the best I wouldn't sell it. When I had the shop (Tyne Valley Aquatics) I became totally disillusioned with the array of products available for aquariums when really the most important one was the filter and what went into it.
BTW we like lava rock, scoria, etc, because in the west it is readily available and cheap. Can buy 25lbs for 5$ US. So ya it isn't THEBEST but damn its cheap.
The thing I'm wondering is what is the upper bound for surface area when it start to clog up and be inefficient at holding bacterial colonies inside? Take activated carbon for example. Enormous surface area. That is why it can soak up tannins and medications but it clog up fast and as my understanding goes it will only have working bacteria on the outside. Wrote that comment too soon, but the question still stands.
Yes for filter media there is certainly an upper limit as to what is useful and that makes the race for manufacturers to claim constantly increasing surface areas a total nonsense. Too much and the media simply clogs up - variable structure is so important but the most important thing is probably the accessibility and it must be balanced with lots of other factors. We could make the biohome read twice the surface area by making it from tiny soft particles but it would either be extremely hard with poor accessibility or totally crumbly (like the Chinese media) with a short life. I even saw an advert for a new type of ceramic media recently which claimed one piece about the size of a house brick could filter a tank of 2500 gallons based solely on the claimed surface area - one word sprung to mind....'bollocks'. Problem is the fanboys believe than nonsense and base their whole view of media on the claimed surface area so that's why I am going to do a video just on that issue to clear up some of the nonsense. Thanks for watching.
Wear can occur with handling / cleaning / water flowing over it so a strong media is essential. I saw some atrocious media at a recent show which literally falls apart when handled and is lucky to last 2 months in a filter according to reviews of it - that makes it of no use whatsoever as a biological media and although it was brick shaped I definitely wouldn't be building with that one, lol
Media breaks down over time, I made the mistake of putting biohome in a fast flowing wet-dry filter and it broke down pretty quick. Replaced it with alfagrog and moved the biohome to a slower flow canister filter.
I'm glad you liked the video as although I believe it to be among the most important videos on filter media it hasn't had many views compared to other less useful videos.
I'm building up a good selection of different types of filter media due to the 'pimp my filter' series of videos so I will definitely do a more comprehensive version of this video since it is so important. Although I don't know how much substrat pro is needed for a full cycle I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be possible since it is a good media - certainly better than 90% of other types out there. All too often there is way too little media used in filters so there is never any information via feedback on how much / if the media achieves full cycle.
@@272roby If you're in Italy you should easily be able to source pumice since Vesuvius is made of it. When I walked up there I was constantly picking up great pieces of pumice and thinking it would be great for filtration. Sometimes the red version of lava rock is available in garden centres and DIY stores but online you should be able to find anything you want.
I'm curious about the nature of anaerobic action on nitrates, how does this affect plant growth? Do the plants uptake the NO3 faster than the filter can act on it, or will the plants be starved for nutrients, i shoot to keep my water right around 5-10 ppm. Do I have this back to front, instead of leaving an amount available to plants at less than toxic levels for fish, should I shoot for clear of nitrates and let the plants scavenge what they can?
If you have 5ppm-10ppm as a stable level of nitrate I wouldn't be worrying about it as that is great but even at a zero reading for nitrate there will still be some available in the water for plants, plus they use a wide range of other nutrients to grow so it doesn't seem to affect plant growth at all when a full cycle is achieved in a filter system.
Hi I know very much late to this but just seen the video now. What are you thoughts on Eheim substrate pro? Biohome our of stock everywhere here in South Africa and have no clue when more is coming in.
Yes there is a chemist / biologist (who specialises in bacteria) who helps the manufacturer with regard to trace element choice as its not a simple matter of banging some sulphur in there and a bit of manganese - it all needs to be in usable forms which will not react with each other and will bond into the structure properly. One form of media took 6 months to get the trace element mix right - glad it wasn't left up to me as it would probably end up exploding, lol
What are your thoughts on using hydroton (expanded clay pellets) as a filter media? It doesn't affect pH (frequently used as a grow media for plants in aquaponics).
I would have liked to use that here but it was too expensive to buy just for a video - I would like to do another video like this one with other media for sure.
Very nice video thank you for the great explanation i use biohome about 2 years is till woking super great biohome is the best nice job from orange county new york
Just started using Alfagrog (E5 & E25 sizes) in 4 of the trays of my APS 500 HOB. Based mainly on cost savings due to the fact I can pick it up extremely cheap as I live within a few miles of their Staffordshire production site. Having researched it I was hoping it was a good choice. Have I made a wise decision? Some of it does appear porous when I have tested it.
Dear Pondguru, you woke up my interest so I bought 3 kg of Biohome Ultimate from Biohome the Netherlands. As I can understand is that this media also will proces nitrate (NO3). I am not going to use plants because I want to copy the american cichlid biotope. That means I won't have plants to use nitrate (NO3). Nitrate will increase in time then. But may I conclude that the Biohome is going to reduce the NO3 however, because of the anaerobic bacterias that will take place in the Biohome Ultimate? And if yes, should I avoid Nitrate removers? Because if I use Nitrate removers, the anaerobic bacterias won't have their resource no more to grow, right? Thanks for your videos and help!
Yes, any chemical media which removes / binds / detoxifies ammonia, nitrite and nitrate seems to have a starving effect on the bacteria which restricts the level of active bacteria operating in the filter so are best avoided if you want to achieve a full natural cycle using any suitable media.
I have 2 tanks, one 4ft x 15" x 12", and the other 3ft x 18 x 12", I run a classic Eheim 600 external filter on each tank and have just fitted home made over-tank filters to each using window boxes , one 80cm, one 100cm (thank you King of DIY guy). I really like the Biohome media and its in both canisters, but have so far only managed to fill the flower boxes with biohome to about 60%. I've had to temporarily use Alfagrog to make up the void, but as soon as my purse allows it, I will replace it with Bioholme. I was wondering what the best type would be, the smaller or the larger ?. PS, Thanks for all your advice over the years. ;-)
I'm glad the videos have helped and I am in the process of building a proper studio so I can film at any time of day or night to resume making videos which can help people with filtration again since the videos I see cropping up on RU-vid now are mostly of people cramming huge fish into their tanks, pointless vlogs, scrounging money from viewers or about anything other than sharing useful information because they know they get the most views (and therefore most earnings). I've never been concerned about views (or earnings) as RU-vid is still and always will be a hobby for me so it gives me real pleasure to know the videos help viewers. The more I can do that the more I'll enjoy making the videos as I'll know the viewers fish are happier in their tanks. The size of biohome used doesn't really matter but if you have an overhead sump you may be better going for the 'maxi ultimate' since it is much larger than the standard size - either size will work just the same to support aerobic and anaerobic bacteria for full cycle filtration.
I understand , I just want to keep my fish as healthy and happy as possible. I buy small and see how long I can keep them, some grow so large I pass them on for free to good homes with bigger tanks, better that than to watch them suffer. I will be replacing the Alfagrog ASAP, lol. xx
Feel free to send some information on tank size / stock and how much media you are using / how long it has been in as it does need certain amounts for different situations. There is further information on the Q&A page of my website www.filterpro.co.uk You can post information here or to my email sales@filterpro.co.uk no worries as the media should be doing the full job.
I would have liked to see the eheim substrat pro compared to biohome. I bought 3kg of biohome ultra but I got the other media when I received my eheim 2217 canister filter. I would like you to compare those two since I plan on setting up another tank.
The substrat pro is also sintered glass but it uses a very fine sand which creates a very hard media with a more dense structure. It is decent but lacks the variability of internal structure. The best way to test would be to set up a tank using biohome and another with substrat pro. You can find recommended amounts of biohome to use in different situations on the Q&A page of my website here: www.filterpro.co.uk and those figures relate to the full cycle being achieved (when nitrate is processed into soluble nitrogen by anaerobic bacteria). The ammonia and nitrite should be easy to control with most media types but it is the final (anaerobic) stage of the cycle which is most difficult as it relies on bacteria which need a very specific environment to live in. The figures given on the Q&A page are compiled from years of feedback from biohome users who have used different amounts in a range of different situations and while they will not apply to every tank they are quite accurate. As far as I know there are no other companies who publish figures like this since they consider the removal of ammonia and nitrite to be job done - that is only the aerobic stage of filtration and very easy to achieve. It is the anaerobic stage which is the difficult part to get, hence most filters being seen as 'nitrate factories' - it is not the filter which is a nitrate factory but the media used in it (e.g. ceramic rings and plastic bio balls) since they vastly favour aerobic bacteria. Eheim are a good company who size their filters very well (as long as you look at the 'for tanks around' figure) as that will allow you to get plenty of media in there. For example a filter for 'up to' 400 litres may be recorded on their website as also being for tanks 'around 180 litres' - that is about right for a general community tank to a medium/heavy stock and they trays should hold enough media for full cycle filtration.
I love Matrix. It's essentially just white pumice but it comes from the highest quality pumice mine in the world. I use it with American and African cichlids. Matrix can raise your pH slightly although in my experience it's negligible.
Your still lucky you have that in your country..... I hope we also have that here in philippines... Every product here for aquarium is made in china... 😕 That always got me electrified...
