# Sera Siporax Algovec



## Aqua sobriquet (13 Jun 2019)

Anyone tried this stuff?

https://www.sera.de/en/product/freshwater-aquarium/sera-siporax-algovec-professional/


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## Jayefc1 (13 Jun 2019)

No but it don't sound good to me the first few line says it all ( They remove algae nutrients - in particular phosphate - )

Don't we add po4 in out ferts to help plants grow 

Cheers 
Jay


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## dw1305 (13 Jun 2019)

Hi all,





Jayefc1 said:


> No but it don't sound good to me the first few line says it all ( They remove algae nutrients - in particular phosphate - )
> 
> Don't we add po4 in out ferts to help plants grow


Agree, if it worked it would be counter-productive. On the bright side my suspicion would be that it doesn't "work", which means you've just bought some expensive biological filter material. 

cheers Darrel


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## Aqua sobriquet (14 Jun 2019)

So would you get Hula Hoops.

https://www.sera.de/en/product/freshwater-aquarium/sera-siporax-professional-15-mm/

or Cat Poo?

https://filterpro.co.uk/biohome-plus-500g-171-p.asp



Edit: I discounted the Eheim Peas on the basis that they are rather expensive.

https://www.eheim.com/en_GB/products/filter-media/biological/substratpro


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## dw1305 (14 Jun 2019)

Hi all,





Aqua sobriquet said:


> I discounted the Eheim Peas on the basis that they are rather expensive.


I'll have <"coco-pops in some-one else is paying">.

cheers Darrel


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## cdelly (14 Jun 2019)

It gets used on marine tanks, to great effect.

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk


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## dw1305 (14 Jun 2019)

Hi all, 





dw1305 said:


> On the bright side my suspicion would be that it doesn't "work",





cdelly said:


> It gets used on marine tanks, to great effect.


OK. I'll revise my opinion it probably works. 

It is slightly different in marine tanks, mainly because you don't tend to have any higher plants to effectively deplete phosphorus, and the reef organisms are incredibly effective at scavenging any available phosphorus, mainly because they have evolved in an extremely phosphorus poor, oligotrophic habitat. 

I'm not a marine tank keeper, but if I was I would definitely go down the <"planted refugium route">, and I would ideally want <"higher plants, as well as algae">. 

Again not from personal experience this looks about right <"http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php"> 

cheers Darrel


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## alto (14 Jun 2019)

FWIW the Eheim Substrat Pro seems to work well - I often transfer some over from existing tanks to new setups and have never experienced any ammonia spikes in new or old tank (I just use Seachem Ammonium Alert so cant comment on any other nitrogen’s), closely observed fish behaviour shows no signs of any Ncylce disruption, nor does smell  (I’m one of those people that insists tanks smell different depending on water parameters ) 

BUT

I’ve also always just purchased Eheim filter kits which include the various media (Eheim is a rarity in local and not so local shops - they’ve had no North American representative for years) 


I’m much less impressed with the odd rectangular Substrat - though it’s shape works well in Eheim MiniUp filter 
(unlike the Substrat Pro it’s too large to slip into the hole (in the plate) between media chamber and impeller)

The MECHpro is just annoying 
(again it’s there as came with)


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