# A novel filter media: Broken earthen pot pieces



## dw1305 (23 May 2018)

Hi all,
While I was looking at the RAS and Archaea references I came upon this paper Khangembam _et al._ (2017) <"Diversity and Abundance of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea in a Freshwater Recirculating Aquaculture System"> HAYATI Journal of Biosciences 24:4  pp. 215-220.

It didn't add much new to the debate, but I thought this bit was quite interesting. 





> The selection of proper substrate for biofilter is the next critical step as it influences the efficiency of water treatment and operational cost (Summerfelt 2006). A perfect biofilter should be easily available, non-poisonous, non-reactive and cost-effective. It should remove all the nitrogenous metabolites from the effluent and support the growth of dense populations of nitrifying microbes. ........... The static bed filter has been used in the present study. A wide variety of substrates viz. rocks, shells, sand, corals, ceramic, expanded clay, plastic bio balls, etc. are commercially available as biofilter substrates (Malone and Pfeiffer, 2006). Replacement of such commercial products with traditional materials will significantly reduce the operational cost of the recirculating system. In the present study, broken earthen pot pieces (BEP) are used as filter bed material. The capability of these pieces to support the growth of ammonia-oxidizing microbes has been evaluated using _amoA_ gene as marker.......In the filtration unit, a 20-cm thick layer of BEP (7 × 3.5 cm) were used as substratum for the growth of microorganisms. These BEP are easily available, indigenous, cheaper and non-toxic to fish. These are porous in nature with large surface area which facilitates the growth of microbes.


cheers Darrel


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## mort (23 May 2018)

Interesting. We dug a load of broken terracotta roof tiles out of my brothers garden which were going to be several lifetimes worth of crocks but might repurpose some on the ponds filtration.


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## Petra R (23 May 2018)

dw1305 said:


> ... I came upon this paper ...



As you do ...

I guess ultimately it's "just" about providing a suitable home for as many happy little microbes as possible?


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## Angus (23 May 2018)

Surface area = win, i love ideas that save money though Darrel, they always fill me with joy...


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## dw1305 (23 May 2018)

Hi all, 





mort said:


> but might repurpose some on the ponds filtration


I've got a huge container full of terracotta pot crocks, I have a feeling that (following a <"PondGuru style"> youtube video) <"ebay riches may beckon">.

cheers Darrel


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## rebel (24 May 2018)

Lava rock also might be a good cheap option. Otherwise time to smash some pots....


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## Zeus. (24 May 2018)

Great find  esp for fish tanks. 
My only concern would be the reduction in flow with all those pieces of broken pots would make a reasonable flow reduction. Esp for high tech tanks. But if your going to put in ceramic media any way it’s a definite win


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