Bio Media

VirgoWolf

VirgoWolf

Superstar Fish
#1
Feb 16, 2006
1,933
4
0
Michigan
#1
What bio media do you prefer and why?

I am looking for the best bio media, specifically anything other than mats and flosses. With using canister filters now on 3 of my tanks (70, 75, and 220) and always beefing up my other filters however I can, I am looking for the most superior media.

All the medias out there appear to be quite similar if you are reading about them or looking at the package, but I am looking for personal experiances with specific media. Let me know what works for you, what doesn't, what you like about them, what you hate about them, which ones tend to clog more rapidly, etc...
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#3
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
0
47
Florida
#3
I really like the biomax stuff that Aquaclear offers for their HOB filters. It consists of a meshed bag (more like 'netting') that you can fill yourself and re-open, etc. It closes shut using a plastic fastener/clip of some sort that is easy to open and close.

The actual 'biomax' consists of hard, white half-inch long x 1/4 inch wide (diameter) cylindrical pieces of porrous material. At first there is a tendency for loose crumbs to come out of the plastic bag they've been housed in (i.e. their packaging), but pre-rinsing once you've got it into the mesh/netting bag takes care of the vast majority of it, and the filter quickly nabs up whatever happens to fall into the tank within the first day or so.

Big Vine
 

VirgoWolf

VirgoWolf

Superstar Fish
#4
Feb 16, 2006
1,933
4
0
Michigan
#4
Lotus, what type of ceramic rings? These seem to be the main source, but I am stuck on which brand name or whatever and why there is such a price differance between them.

Big V. Thanks for the input. I haven't had a problem with the efficency of the AC rings, but no matter how much pre rinsing I do, they always seem to cloud my water.
 

Lotus

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#5
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#5
To be honest, I'm not sure what brand I have (yikes!). I got them on sale at Petsmart a few years back. I have a feeling they're an old type of Eheim media. They're hexagonal cylinders. I looked around on Drs. Foster & Smith, but couldn't find the exact ones we have.
 

VirgoWolf

VirgoWolf

Superstar Fish
#9
Feb 16, 2006
1,933
4
0
Michigan
#9
Humm, maybe I just got a bad batch. Well I am going to order a couple different kinds and see how they do. My filters came with a whole crapload of everything from ceramic rings to those silly little blue fan looking ones that are supposidly pre-colonized (aqua chargers or something similar?) so my filters are just about packed already, but I convinced my mom to switch to an XP2 instead of her penguin bio wheel and we're going to get some filstar ceramic rings and I am going to go browse for another type to try as well. :)
 

VirgoWolf

VirgoWolf

Superstar Fish
#11
Feb 16, 2006
1,933
4
0
Michigan
#11
Meh, leave the bio wheel, extra filtration never hurts...

As far as the AC, maybe I just got a bad batch?

I am going to try the Azoo glass rings, they supposidly have alot more surface area than the ceramic rings. We'll see how they do.
 

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