Diy Ceramic Filter Media?

[henryfg]

There is a lot of ceramic filter media on the market, all with a pretty high price. Is this some sort of specialy manufactured ceramic, or would smashing up some unglazed untreated ceramic from another source have the same filtration and colonistion properies in a filter? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[kelly528]

I believed it is heated at a very high temperature so that microscopic cracks form in which bacteria can live. So unless you have one hell of an oven, probably cheaper to buy it from the LFS!

On the bright side if you are taking good 'care' of the media, ie stuffing some filter wool under it to prevent silt from plugging up the cracks and rinsing it regularly, you should need to replace it VERRRY infrequently; only every year at most.

 

[henryfg]

OK cool, just a thought! I have another question too. A friend of mine has a cardboard box of cermaic rings he got off ebay which he uses for filtration in hs tank. They aren't branded in any way though, it's literally just a plain box with a plastic bag in filled with ceramic rings. He uses them, but then he has a much bigger filter AND aquarium than I do, and so I am hesitant to use them if, as often happens on ebay, they are not up to the job. Is it heard of for people to sell ceramic rings which do not have any more microscopic space in them than any normally produced ceramic? Or is it that the chances are these will be fine and I can go ahead an add them in?

 

[waterdrop]

I believed it is heated at a very high temperature so that microscopic cracks form in which bacteria can live. So unless you have one hell of an oven, probably cheaper to buy it from the LFS!

On the bright side if you are taking good 'care' of the media, ie stuffing some filter wool under it to prevent silt from plugging up the cracks and rinsing it regularly, you should need to replace it VERRRY infrequently; only every year at most.

This is a very interesting thing you've brought up (to me at least) as I've been meaning to start a thread about it in either the hardware section or the scientific section. I've read many, many threads on TFF that seem to contradict what you're saying about replacing ceramic media as soon as a year. Many seemingly very experienced aquarists here have made statements that they plan on using their ceramic media "for a lifetime" and that that's the point of ceramice media, it lasts even longer than sponges (which eventually fray and tear after some years.)

Now I've wondered about exactly what you're talking about, whether the cracks become filled with biofilm that contains dead bacteria or debris and renders the media less effective than it was previously. What do you think? I think I really will try to persue this further!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[doresy]

I don't know whether or not you have a 'The Range' store near you but if you do it would be worth a look. Last time I was in our local one they hade a regular sized box of ceramic tubes for under £3!

 

[kelly528]

I believed it is heated at a very high temperature so that microscopic cracks form in which bacteria can live. So unless you have one hell of an oven, probably cheaper to buy it from the LFS!

On the bright side if you are taking good 'care' of the media, ie stuffing some filter wool under it to prevent silt from plugging up the cracks and rinsing it regularly, you should need to replace it VERRRY infrequently; only every year at most.

This is a very interesting thing you've brought up (to me at least) as I've been meaning to start a thread about it in either the hardware section or the scientific section. I've read many, many threads on TFF that seem to contradict what you're saying about replacing ceramic media as soon as a year. Many seemingly very experienced aquarists here have made statements that they plan on using their ceramic media "for a lifetime" and that that's the point of ceramice media, it lasts even longer than sponges (which eventually fray and tear after some years.)

Now I've wondered about exactly what you're talking about, whether the cracks become filled with biofilm that contains dead bacteria or debris and renders the media less effective than it was previously. What do you think? I think I really will try to persue this further!

~~waterdrop~~

I have read it in a few books and it makes enough sense to me-- I jam a wad of filter floss between the sponge and the biomedia on my AquaClear and it gets logged up with just 'silt' every 2 weeks! Not brown, gray like sediment. I'm sure only a very small percent of particles work themselves into the cracks but over time it adds up.

Furthermore if you grind the filter media together ie when cleaning it it would also make sense that you may interfere with the cracks.

I always thought that the reason people bought biomedia was for the high SA not necessarily the long live.

And remember anyone telling you that this stuff lasts a lifetime is probably the same manufacturer claiming that carbon only needs to be replaced monthly

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

And remember anyone telling you that this stuff lasts a lifetime is probably the same manufacturer claiming that carbon only needs to be replaced monthly

Except how many people would buy carbon if they realized how long it really lasted? Wouldn't the manufacturers make MORE money telling people to replace their media every year or so?

 

[kelly528]

And remember anyone telling you that this stuff lasts a lifetime is probably the same manufacturer claiming that carbon only needs to be replaced monthly

Except how many people would buy carbon if they realized how long it really lasted?

Exactly.

Wouldn't the manufacturers make MORE money telling people to replace their media every year or so?

Not for as long as sponges are a fraction of the price and only need to be replaced when they've fallen apart

 

[waterdrop]

No, I'm not mistaking a manufacturer claim of long life with a hobbyist comment. I believe there really are Mods and other experienced aquarists here on TFF who have said in both threads that I've participated in and in historical threads that they purposely use ceramic biomedia because it lasts a lifetime and because it is "tied for the top spot" with sponges for being the best high-surface-area media.

The part for which I feel "the jury is still out" (for me) is whether the surface cracks/spaces that form niches for the biofilms can really become permanently clogged thus possibly leading to a "best practice" of refreshing a fraction of that particular media type on a regular basis. This is the question I still hope to persue in the various subforums like the hardware one. I'm going to count you (kelly528) as my first data point of someone who is on the "yes, they should be refreshed" side, right?

Ceramic ring media have the added complication that they serve as a special type of mechanical media in addition to their biological media role. When the rings are poured into a media tray in a filter, they end up sitting with the pipe axis of each individual ring pointing in a different direction. This serves to "randomize" the water flow into small streams and slow it down, allowing larger debris particles to stop and collect. The fact that the ceramic is heavy assists in this function. So the ring shape is a double-win for the designer, it increases the bio surface area as well as randomizing the water flow.

Its easy to see how coarse sponges share many of the above qualities. You bring up a good point that sponges can be much cheaper than ceramics and if ceramics need to be regularly replaced, the long term maintenance advantage of ceramics over sponges is reduced. This has been a been a useful discussion. I've also heard bits about some new type of open-cell coarse sponge being touted as a newer better biological media. There was a guy giving a whole talk about it in my local aquarium society but I had to leave before he gave the speech, so I completely missed it.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OohFeeshy]

Personally, I like plastic pot scourers. Cheaper than sponge, probably better surface area, easy to get and clean.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, they get recommended a fair amount and obviously have a lot going for them. Your post also has caused me to realize that the very fact that you buy them in a typical size that's probably smaller than the media tray means it would be easy to do partial refreshes on them. (ie. if you had 4, you could replace one at a time and not be losing to many bacteria at once.)

As far as them being optimal, I've always wondered if the little rod shape and surface texture was too smooth to provide as many niches for the bacteria, but obviously the overall surface area is high since there are so many strands that make one up. I know OM47 and others have used and recommend them, so they are certainly among the good biomedia choices (beginners should be reminded to be on guard against them being packaged with soaps!)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[kelly528]

Yeah put me down on the 'relace a fraction' side.

I would also be interested to know which biomedia has the most surface area. I see some like Fluval which is very 'thick' and yet other biomedia which only form a thin ring, if that makes sense.