Should I Fill The Basket With Noodles/Balls?

[jarthel]

I noticed that the noodles/balls isn't enough to fill basket even with the sponge on top. What's the downside to filling the basket? more flow restrictions to flow I suppose. anything else?

Thank you

 

[mattlee]

the more media you have in the filter the bigger the bacteria colonies will be, the more sponges in there the cleaner the water should be. as you said though the more you put in the more the water has to pass through before its returned into the tank which will slow it down. if you dont need a very fast flow then fill the trays with whatever you have if you have a complete tray empty then fill it with floss for cleaner water if your water is clean then fill it with more sponges or media. i would rather have a full filter rather than a half empty one...

 

[bitteraspects]

the more media you have in the filter the bigger the bacteria colonies will be, the more sponges in there the cleaner the water should be. as you said though the more you put in the more the water has to pass through before its returned into the tank which will slow it down. if you dont need a very fast flow then fill the trays with whatever you have if you have a complete tray empty then fill it with floss for cleaner water if your water is clean then fill it with more sponges or media. i would rather have a full filter rather than a half empty one...

not true.
the bacteria colonies will only grow as large as needed to handle the bio-load. once the bacteria is set, and the bioload is equalized, any additional media is not actually being used. but if your bio-load increases (more fish added, larger feedings, etc) the bacteria colonies will need to grow to accommodate this change in bio-load.

 

[OldMan47]

As Bitteraspects said, the bacteria will only grow to match their supply of ammonia and nitrites. It is good to have room for them to expand their numbers if the bioload goes up though. As long as the added media is not restricting flow, more media makes thqt growth more likely to happen quickly. Packing media in tightly will restrict flow but loose fill of media that fills a basket most of the way will only mean a better distribution of the flow through all of the media. An unfilled basket can easily end up with bypass flow paths as the media in the basket shifts around.

 

[mattlee]

the more media you have in the filter the bigger the bacteria colonies will be, the more sponges in there the cleaner the water should be. as you said though the more you put in the more the water has to pass through before its returned into the tank which will slow it down. if you dont need a very fast flow then fill the trays with whatever you have if you have a complete tray empty then fill it with floss for cleaner water if your water is clean then fill it with more sponges or media. i would rather have a full filter rather than a half empty one...

not true.
the bacteria colonies will only grow as large as needed to handle the bio-load. once the bacteria is set, and the bioload is equalized, any additional media is not actually being used. but if your bio-load increases (more fish added, larger feedings, etc) the bacteria colonies will need to grow to accommodate this change in bio-load.

maybe i should have put - the more media you have in the filter the bigger the bacteria colonies CAN be - it was not false what i said, less media less room for bacteria, more media more room for bacteria.....

 

[bitteraspects]

the more media you have in the filter the bigger the bacteria colonies will be, the more sponges in there the cleaner the water should be. as you said though the more you put in the more the water has to pass through before its returned into the tank which will slow it down. if you dont need a very fast flow then fill the trays with whatever you have if you have a complete tray empty then fill it with floss for cleaner water if your water is clean then fill it with more sponges or media. i would rather have a full filter rather than a half empty one...

not true.
the bacteria colonies will only grow as large as needed to handle the bio-load. once the bacteria is set, and the bioload is equalized, any additional media is not actually being used. but if your bio-load increases (more fish added, larger feedings, etc) the bacteria colonies will need to grow to accommodate this change in bio-load.

maybe i should have put - the more media you have in the filter the bigger the bacteria colonies CAN be - it was not false what i said, less media less room for bacteria, more media more room for bacteria.....

Nope. Wrong again.
You are mistaking media volume with availible surface area. Not even close to the same thing.
While ceramic rings and bio-max pellets (best media on the market IME) do the same job of housing bacteria, the bio-max provides 6x the surface area in the same volume.
You could have a fraction of the "amount" of media if you use the right stuff. Subtrat pro, bio-max, matrix, etc, are all dense porous professional medias that provide much higher surface area in a much smaller space, which is why its used in canisters and quality HOB fikteres, where larger media such as bui-balls and scrubbies are used in sumps and wet/dry filters where there is a larger media container tht allows you to use these cheaper medias.

Thanks for plying.

 

[mattlee]

the more media you have in the filter the bigger the bacteria colonies will be, the more sponges in there the cleaner the water should be. as you said though the more you put in the more the water has to pass through before its returned into the tank which will slow it down. if you dont need a very fast flow then fill the trays with whatever you have if you have a complete tray empty then fill it with floss for cleaner water if your water is clean then fill it with more sponges or media. i would rather have a full filter rather than a half empty one...

not true.
the bacteria colonies will only grow as large as needed to handle the bio-load. once the bacteria is set, and the bioload is equalized, any additional media is not actually being used. but if your bio-load increases (more fish added, larger feedings, etc) the bacteria colonies will need to grow to accommodate this change in bio-load.

maybe i should have put - the more media you have in the filter the bigger the bacteria colonies CAN be - it was not false what i said, less media less room for bacteria, more media more room for bacteria.....

Nope. Wrong again.
You are mistaking media volume with availible surface area. Not even close to the same thing.
While ceramic rings and bio-max pellets (best media on the market IME) do the same job of housing bacteria, the bio-max provides 6x the surface area in the same volume.
You could have a fraction of the "amount" of media if you use the right stuff. Subtrat pro, bio-max, matrix, etc, are all dense porous professional medias that provide much higher surface area in a much smaller space, which is why its used in canisters and quality HOB fikteres, where larger media such as bui-balls and scrubbies are used in sumps and wet/dry filters where there is a larger media container tht allows you to use these cheaper medias.

Thanks for plying.

no no i was clearly saying that if you have a canister thats half full of media, and half empty, whether it be foam, ceramics, bio balls whatever then you have less room for bacteria to colonise than if you have the same filter full of media whether it be foam, ceramics, bio balls. i cant remember the topic mentioning type of media but as your on that subject i am fully aware that different types of media are made to give larger surface area to colonise more bacteria, so would you use 1 tray of amazing higher surface area media and leave the rest of the canister empty...? no i dont think so.....

 

[bitteraspects]

if twisting your words around helps you feel better about yourself, by all means, donlt let me stop you. however it is not fooling anyone.

your statement was very clear

the more media you have in the filter the bigger the bacteria colonies will be

more media = more bacteria. and no, that is absolutely wrong, as has been explained a few times now.

also, in your hypothetical canister scenario, obviously you would not leave the other two baskets empty. (though you rightfully could). if you have a high density professional media in one media basket, it leaves the other 2/3/4 for mechanical media, and polishing media. you could very well add more bio media, however it would be doing absolutely nothing besides taking up space.

your second attempt to save face was equally wrong

the more media you have in the filter the bigger the bacteria colonies CAN be - it was not false what i said, less media less room for bacteria, more media more room for bacteria.....

if you have your first tray full of (for example) eheim substrat pro, your tank already has more surface area than you could possibly need. adding more media DOES NOT mean your bacteria colonies will grow any larger. even if you were to overstock your tank, you would not make use of the additional media.

id definitely suggest doing a little reading. there is much to learn.

 

[mattlee]

ok lets go back to the op's question, it was asking whats the downside to filling the baskets if not completely full. my answer was filling the baskets would slow down water flow but the more media in the filter the bigger the colonies will be. which hands up i corrected after you put it right and i replied CAN be instead of will be.
the op also clearly states that he has bioballs not "ceramic rings and bio-max pellets (best media on the market IME)" so why you have started going on about these is beyond me
did i not also mention that floss or foams could be added....... oh yeah i did! doesnt bacteria colonise on the foams too, ooh yeah they do...! im sure we are all aware that colonies will only grow to the levels that feed them, more ammonia etc more bacteria is needed.
so you go and leave a filter half empty or as empty as you want i know i would rather use the space.
your last comment "my statement was very clear" did we not get over that one mmmmmm a couple of days ago
so "twisting words and fooling people" where has that come fom
eheim substrat pro when was that mentioned by the op....? bio balls is what i read, again
oh well as if by magic adding these substrates into the op's filter is a good way of trying to start an arguement
good luck BITTERaspects