Different Manufacturer: Different Media Format

[mishmash]

[font="Verdana]I have been looking at a myriad of different makes. AQ1, Sera, JBL, Tetratec, Eheim etc etc. All seem to have different media formats. Some are heavy on ceramic and light on sponge/ filter wool etc. Others the opposite.

In the AQ1 I have (which seems similar in theory to the JBL) I have ceramic noodles with sponge on top then ceramic chunks with sponge on top then a finer sponge (which i initially thought was carbon impregnated but now i think its just a finer sponge) with polishing wool on top of that. The Sera seems to be heavy on ceramics with almost no sponge or filter wool. [/font][/color]
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[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]It seems like some use the ceramic noodles as mechanical while others state they are bio. Its all very confusing. Does anyone have an opinion on "the right order" for the different media types within a filter ? I mean, I always thought it was mechanical first, then biological, then chemical stuff last. But where these manufacturers start saying "right we are gonna use the ceramic noodles for mechanical filtration and use a sponge for biological, it seems to make everything sound a bit daft.[/font]
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Is any type more favourable to another ?[/font][/color]
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[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]ALSO, I really like the look of the JBL Cristalprofi Greenline range which are in essence the same as the basic Cristalprofi but using about a third less power. Anyone using that make ?[/font]

 

[minnnt]

Tetra use the ceramic rings to disrupt the water rather than for bacteria to grow on/in them. They believe that the plastic bio-balls have a greater surface area for the bacteria to reproduce quicker. Also their ceramic is smooth so any bacteria/mulm that is on them just washes off, whereas the ceramic media from Fluval tends to hold onto the bacteria better as the surface is rougher and has less of a finish to it.

If adding stuff like carbon, zeo-lite, ammonia remover etc i tend to have them nearer to the end of the cycle through the filter and sponges tend to stay in the middle. No idea if it's right, but it is how it came from the manufacturers and i just gathered i would stick with it as they had done the research into it all and not me. lol.