Thoughts on this Bio Media article?

[Something Fishy]

I’ve always used alfa and with plants and over sizing filters and flow, never seen a need to get the ‘best rated’ surface area products as always a trade off with less flow or just plainly having vastly too much bio media for the waste produced.

Interesting his points on pond guru and biohome - do you think that’s legit as he always bangs on about only selling what he believes is the best - but this article completes destroys the need to pay so much for anything like biohome when once again alfa for the price has very comparable effective surface area.

7.2.11. Ceramic Media in Aquarium Filters

Ceramic media are very ineffective in aquarium filters.

aquariumscience.org

Cheers all


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[Nick potts]

but this article completes destroys the need to pay so much for anything like biohome when once again alfa for the price has very comparable effective surface area.

Do you need expensive media? No. I don't even think it is something to put too much thought into.

Most media will work fine whether it be 99p sponges, expensive ADA sponge cubes or fancy named ceramics. I don't think I have ever had an experience where the bio media I am using is not working well enough, and that is usually only coarse sponge or the cheap rings that come with most filters.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
<"I like Alfagrog">. The <"best fish keeper"> I've ever met (or am ever likely to meet) used it.

......Interesting his points on pond guru and biohome - do you think that’s legit as he always bangs on about only selling what he believes is the best - but this article completes destroys the need to pay so much for anything like biohome when once again alfa for the price has very comparable effective surface area..........

7.2.11. Ceramic Media in Aquarium Filters

Ceramic media are very ineffective in aquarium filters.

aquariumscience.org

I think the author of Aquarium Science is right. If you <"talk the talk">, you need something to back it up with, and I've never seen any evidence for this.

Cheers Darrel

 

[Simon Cole]

I actually agree with the article when the author says that "This is VERY boring" in the introduction.
The science part of the article is somewhere between irrelevant and completely valueless to me as a hobbyist.

 

[Tropicaltanklover]

Since purchasing bio-home I can definitely say my fish are happier, more confident and colourful.
They also said when I dump my 2 cheap ass SunSun filters and buy Oase or Fluval, they will be happier still.
Ok ok... the second paragraph is not true.

 

[Something Fishy]

Thanks guys - I know we’ve already addressed this in various posts so apologies if I’m evoking repetition.

It’s hard to know what to believe online and who to trust, and I’ve found most of Pondguru’s opinions and experience to add up - just with the whole bio media thing like others have said he tends to overdo it for me.

As you’ve said [mention]dw1305 [/mention] , and especially in a planted tank, I’ve also never found I’ve had any issues with any bio media I’ve used. Flow rates and blockages yes - but spaced out porous alfa used 2/3 times what’s rated anyway + plants and rocks and wood is surely always going to be far more than enough.

I’ve got an ultra max 2000 aquael no foams just full of alfa on a 250l tank and I’ve done no water changes for about a year and never cleaned it - flow still strong, params on point and water crystal clear always.

If we look solely from a ‘pond’ point of view I can see the appeal in maxing bio media potential out for the space - but even then we’re going into moving bed media anyway and that makes biohome a little hard to defend again for me as you’d need to foam it to stop it blocking.

Thanks for the input


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[dw1305]

Hi all,

I’ve found most of Pondguru’s opinions and experience to add up - just with the whole bio media thing like others have said he tends to overdo it for me.

He may be fine on other things, but <"he still has">:

......... Do not worry about plant growth being affected in a tank which reads zero nitrates - the nitrate is processed into soluble nitrogen which is easily used by plants, boosting their growth......

written on the <"Biohome Media"> web page. Why would you buy a product from some-one who doesn't even understand the nitrogen cycle?

It is like having a "plumber" plumb in a shower and when you mentioned that the water was cold they said that they didn't realise that it was meant to be warm.

cheers Darrel

 

[Zeus.]

On the <"Biohome Media"> web page. Why would you buy a product from some-one who doesn't even understand the nitrogen cycle?

It is like having a "plumber" plumb in a shower and when you mentioned that the water was cold they said that they didn't realise that it was meant to be warm.

👍

 

[zozo]

what he believes is the best

That says it all... What is believed is all in the mind... Same as opinions based upon experience is subjective in relation to facts. And a fact is something objective, beyond any doubt, a fact is never an opinion and vice versa. An opinion that is true is a fact and thus no longer an opinion. You can experience a fact but still, since experiences are always personal it's not something universal. Personal experiences are observations interpreted with a given personal value and personal values are opinions (such as Good, Cute, beautiful, likeable etc.) An educated guess still is a guess and not a fact, it's an opinion based on assumption with probability you could believe and share because of the credits you give to the beholder or the theory.

The Truth is even more elusive... It comes from the Old English / West Saxon Germanic word "Treowð" and it literally means 'Faith(full)'. We the Dutch/Flemish still use the word "Trouw" which is "Treowð" which still means Faith(full) and also trust. As of today the literal West Germanic word for Truth is "Waerheit" it's a combination word from "Waer" = "Where" and also "Were" (to be or not to be and where is that) and "Heit" = 'The Current, Present, the Now, at the moment' Thus 'Waerheit' means "Where What Now Is' For the English, it is "Faithfull to what now is" Basically the same thing.

In ancient times it all was simpler less crowded less civilized, and fewer discussions and less to disagree the Truth simply was absolute, what you see is what you get. 'Where What Now is", "Beeing in the present", "Waerheit".

Today as civilized as we are discussing and disagreeing about the truth (The where what now is) it became a very complex concept... It can easily become something theoretical on which we collectively can agree upon. Something that is faithfull to something we believe and is presented as a fact, so that says the truth isn't always correct...

The best example happens in court under oath sworn on the bible "The truth and nothing but the truth so help me god" And still we have innocent people locked up for a long time, truthful but wrongly convicted on judicial errors.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

........ An opinion that is true is a fact and thus no longer an opinion............ .....Today as civilized as we are discussing and disagreeing about the truth (The where what now is) it became a very complex concept... It can easily become something theoretical on which we collectively can agree upon. Something that is faithful to something we believe and is presented as a fact, so that says the truth isn't always correct..

<"That is it">.

I'd ask the various protagonists <"to show me the money">, ideally using ammonia (NH3) with <"labelled nitrogen isotopes">.

All I would say is that if he really believed that his product is superior he could:

• Get an independent third party (University etc) to <"test his product"> using <"labelled nitrogen isotopes">, and / or
• Take some <"legal action"> against the owner of <"Aquarium Science"> for his comments.

cheers Darrel

 

[Andy Pierce]

Actually, I do have Biohome Biogravel in the Fireplace Aquarium and I like it - but not for the advertised 'remove nitrate' reason. In this setup the filtration is under-gravel and having some Biogravel on the floor is a neat look and adds some high-porosity matieral, much moreso than the ceramic rocks that originally came with the biOrb system. The claim about anaerobic bacteria removing nitrate in an oxygen rich environment like well-aerated aquarium water is, I suspect, nonsense and in any event, if I wanted low levels of nitrate I wouldn't be doing EI fertilisation where I deliberate add 15 ppm nitrate per week.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

and I like it - but not for the advertised 'remove nitrate' reason.

I've not tried <"Biohome Biogravel">, but <"I would guess that"> it is quite an <"effective biological filter medium">.

I'd have to say that the whole premise that <"anaerobic denitrification in a filter is a good thing">, is <"entirely wrong">, and if did occur? It would just indicate that you were <"teetering on the brink of disaster">.

cheers Darrel

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

hard to defend again for me as you’d need to foam it to stop it blocking.

This is anecdotal, but I would guess that having a prefilter sponge is much more important than nearly anything else.

I use <"really large sponges"> on External Filter intakes (and powerheads). I want to keep all debris out of the filter, I just <"want ions"> and <"dissolved gases entering the filter">.

Looking back, I can see that the <"pre-filters I've been using have got bigger and bigger">, although that probably reflects that I've got lazier and lazier as I've got older, rather than any inherent advantages in larger sponges, other than you can clean them less frequently, without any issue.

cheers Darrel

 

[ElleDee]

I haven't kept up with any recent revisions to the website, but in the past I have found Aquarium Science to be a weird mix of very reasonable fishkeeping practices and unsubstantiated ideas.

I can't get worked up about this particular topic because I feel like the discussion about maximizing filtration capacity is not particularly relevant to our corner of the hobby. The plants do so much work for us and our stocking levels are usually reasonable, so what is there to be gained by micromanaging what's in your filter? I bet a lot of us with mature tanks could ditch our filter media all together and just rely on the surface area in the tank if we really wanted to.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

.......... because I feel like the discussion about maximizing filtration capacity is not particularly relevant to our corner of the hobby. The plants do so much work for us and our stocking levels are usually reasonable so what is there to be gained by micromanaging what's in your filter? I bet a lot of us with mature tanks could ditch our filter media all together and just rely on the surface area in the tank if we really wanted to.......

That would certainly be <"my opinion">.

cheers Darrel