Is biomedia useful or is it a nutrient trap?

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

So, I've got siporax and matrix in my sump. Lately, I've been wondering how much good it's doing. I wonder if it's really helping, or is it just a place for detritus to gather. Thoughts?

 

[old salt reefer]

Depends on how you use it. I use it after filter socks, it's in bags that I rise now and then(at least once a month) to keep detritus off.

 

[Neros503]

I use live bio media spheres in my aio tank and I think it actually really helps my tank out. From my experience I believe that bio media is beneficial as long as you rinse it in tank water every so often to prevent build up of detritus.

 

[DaddyFish]

I use massive amounts of Matrix in place of live rock. It's always in mesh bags or mesh trays that are easily removed and rinsed in tank water. Once well established (3-4 months average) my tanks will support massive swings in bioload with zero ammonia problems. I love Matrix!

Now that's not to say that all that ammonia doesn't eventually wind up as all that nitrate, because it does. But I have separate and some different system features for processing nitrates.

 

[Reab]

I think it’s a wonderful addition to systems that do not have much area for bacteria to live on. The issue is, some of the media’s are breaking down and polluting the aquariums, namely marine pure and brightwell. As long as you keep an eye on them and dont let them waste away into nothing, they are a wonderful addition

 

[The Farmer]

Is it common for marine pure bio media to disintegrate?

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Is it common for marine pure bio media to disintegrate?

Common problem yea but the spheres are harder then the plates

 

[Reef.]

I removed my Siporax, nitrates were very constant, after removal nitrates double in less than 2 weeks, I’m presently replacing it, hopefully the nitrates will go back to their previous level.

I think people forget that the rock we use today which tends to be near enough solid, not as porous as sea rock, we also tend to use less of it, which really reduces the surface area the bacteria have to live.

 

[saltybees]

I had matrix in my aio in a mesh bag but found it just got covered in **** and slowed the flow through the chambers, took it out and won’t be putting it back in. If you have a sand bed and a decent amount of rock in the tank you should have plenty of real estate for bacteria to get established.

 

[Reef.]

I had matrix in my aio in a mesh bag but found it just got covered in **** and slowed the flow through the chambers, took it out and won’t be putting it back in. If you have a sand bed and a decent amount of rock in the tank you should have plenty of real estate for bacteria to get established.

so you let it get covered in detritus, not really fair to then say it’s no use, maybe try using a different method to contain it, if you have good porous rock you may not need it, if it’s anywhere as solid as my RRR then not as that much surface area available as you may think.

 

[Jgardiner1981]

Anyone running a k1 style media.. Like a bashsea bio reactor.

 

[Ludders]

I have just bought some Marine Pure Bio Sphere's about 1.5" in diameter each, so am interested in people's experience

 

[Brady4000]

I keep a few bags of biomedia in my sump, for an instant cycle on a QT tank. Works great!

After QT I trash the media.

I do have a lot of rock in both my tanks. So I haven’t seen a need for them “yet”.

I use Matrix, also I don’t really see a difference when I remove them from the sump. But I do replace immediately and only have two bags.

 

[Ravsta]

I use Maxspect Bio balls in a mesh bag which have proven to be fantastic. They took a few months to build the necessary bacteria, but once established, they knocked my nitrates from 15/20ppm to <2.5ppm and that's with 10 fish and feeding at least 4 times per day with frozen mysis, flake and reef roids. Defo worth it. I've always had minimal rockscape in the display tank so bio-media has always been a significant part of my setup. I often hear stories about people using media and it doing nothing after a month so they chuck it in the trash. Media takes time to establish, there's no instant gratification.

 

[chris_pull]

I think it really helps. I have 4kg of sintered glass media in a canister filter on my 20 gallon mixed reef. This kind of media is so porous it can support both aerobic and anaerobic breakdown of nitrogenous products. You can literally barely touch a piece to water and it’ll suck it up almost instantly and be saturated. I started with dry rock and within a very short period my nitrates were down to about 5ppm and have stayed there ever since. I recently installed an algae reactor, more to stabilise nighttime pH and phosphates, and now my nitrates are 0-2ppm. I have sponges and filter floss on a prefilter so no gunk enters the canister and so the biomedia is very clean. If you just chuck them in without mechanical filtration then they will just get clogged up and won’t work efficiency.

 

[chris_pull]

I think it really helps. I have 4kg of sintered glass media in a canister filter on my 20 gallon mixed reef. This kind of media is so porous it can support both aerobic and anaerobic breakdown of nitrogenous products. You can literally barely touch a piece to water and it’ll suck it up almost instantly and be saturated. I started with dry rock and within a very short period my nitrates were down to about 5ppm and have stayed there ever since. I recently installed an algae reactor, more to stabilise nighttime pH and phosphates, and now my nitrates are 0-2ppm. I have sponges and filter floss on a prefilter so no gunk enters the canister and so the biomedia is very clean. If you just chuck them in without mechanical filtration then they will just get clogged up and won’t work efficiency.

Oh and I forgot to say I have quite high bioload, I feed as often as I like (2-3 times a day) and I recently had a large watchman goby die somewhere in the rocks in the tank (it jumped out of tiny gap and I put it back in hoping it’d recover, but it disappeared after a day or so). However, I didn’t even see a blip in ammonia, which I measure with the seneye, staying at undetectable levels.

 

[homer1475]

I think biomedia can help, but it depends on the situation. If you have large non pourus boulders for rocks, it can certainly help establish bacteria cultures. Now if you have some porous actual reef rock, I don't think it's needed.

Now if you want to use it to reduce nitrates, it can work, but needs to be in a very low flow area of the sump so you can grow those anoxic bacteria.

I used to use the marine pure blocks, but found they were falling apart after a year or so of use. Switched to the marine pure balls, and have not had the issue of them falling apart, and my nitrates remain constant.

 

[HB AL]

Nothing beats a bunch of fiji and other love rock for a very high bioload reef tank but I do have matrix and a bunch of mine pure balls in the sump.

 

[saltybees]

so you let it get covered in detritus, not really fair to then say it’s no use, maybe try using a different method to contain it, if you have good porous rock you may not need it, if it’s anywhere as solid as my RRR then not as that much surface area available as you may think.

I never said it wasn’t any use, it was making more work for me when it came to maintenance so I decided to take it out and given my specific situation I deemed it unnecessary.
Thanks tho tips

 

[ReefBeta]

For me ceramic based bio media cause me more trouble than good. After found out from ICP test that my tank had very high aluminum, I removed them all. Then 3 months later the aluminum dropped from 386 back to 28. The tank didn't miss those bio media either and doing very well. I probably won't use any ceramic based bio media in a coral tank anymore.

I have the removed bio media in a bucket if water with a pump. Gonna let it run for more months, or a year, then ICP test that water to see if how much aluminum they will be leaking out there.