# Cheap DIY Bio-Media?



## Philip.Chan.92

Any ideas? I heard someone used Lego lolz, thinking about it, it has quite a bit of surface area


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## BillD

Plastic pot scrubbers.; 6 for $1 at the dollar store. Very high surface area relative to cost. http://www.wernersponds.com/biofiltermedia.htm has a list and relative surface areas. Legos aren't cheap and for the space they take up don't offer much surface area.


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## Philip.Chan.92

Well i have lego available. atm I just filled my media baskets with gravel, that will suffice until I get my hands on something better.


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## Zebrapl3co

You are better off with volcanic rocks instead. $5 for a bag at Canadian tires.

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## PACMAN

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> Any ideas? I heard someone used Lego lolz, thinking about it, it has quite a bit of surface area


wouldnt the fact that it is a shiny flat surface come into play? If, lets say, the legos were lightly sanded, I think they would be more effective at housing bacteria. Correct me if im wrong!


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## Philip.Chan.92

Zebrapl3co said:


> You are better off with volcanic rocks instead. $5 for a bag at Canadian tires.


gonna get pot scrubbers soon, when i find them lol. Usually at dollar stores i hear?


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## BillD

Bio Balls are also shiny and not a problem. They just use up to much space for the surface area they contain.


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## BettaBeats

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> gonna get pot scrubbers soon, when i find them lol. Usually at dollar stores i hear?


dollar store products and legos can leach chemicals into the water.

walka round your neighborhood, find someone with lava rocks, and boil a few.
or go to a pet shop and get bio balls for cheap.


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## Philip.Chan.92

pot scrubbers are made to be in contact with food and things we use for food, they won't have chemicals in them.


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## Fish_Man

so which is better or does it make a difference?

Sponge, Bio ball, ceramic ring?

sorry for hijacking your thread


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## BettaBeats

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> pot scrubbers are made to be in contact with food and things we use for food, they won't have chemicals in them.


I threw out my $1 dollar store strainer because the coating on the metal came off. I don't want to be poisoned.


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## BillD

Fish_Man said:


> so which is better or does it make a difference?
> 
> Sponge, Bio ball, ceramic ring?
> 
> sorry for hijacking your thread


Go to the Werners link and see for your self. http://www.wernersponds.com/biofiltermedia.htm


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## Zebrapl3co

BillD said:


> Go to the Werners link and see for your self. http://www.wernersponds.com/biofiltermedia.htm [/qoute]
> 
> Heh, this is the arcticle that got me into changing from lava rocks to nylon scrubbies. I have to say that while it looks good on paper, it's not practical in use. I tried laval rocks, bio media, nylon scrubbies, plastic bioballs (coral life bio balls). The best out of all these I find is the plastic bioballs.
> Here's the problem with the others:
> Lava rocks: very good and porous, lots of surface area, cheap. But the problem with this media is that it requires high maintenance. Purely a water filter, traps very little bio crap. So all the crap get's sent back throught the pump. Can't work by itself, you either have to clean your media regularly or you need additional filtering media (something like filter floss). If you don't have a filter media, it clogs up your pump sponge very quickly resulting it over heating the pump.
> Nylon scrubbies has lots of surface area. They are great when you first started. Overfiltering is a great thing. 4 months down the road, you'll be strugling with this montrous nitrate factory. The problem here is that it traps all the crap between those cracks. Unfortunately, there's very little current going through those cracks. This leaves it to slowly festering and decay. So months down the road, it will start dumping nitrate (the final product of your bacteria bio cycle) into your tank. The problem here is that even if you rinse frequently, there is always some kind of crap still trap in the scrubbies. You can't really get them one unless you clean each one individually. And it takes hours to clean those 36 or 48 scrubbies. That's when I say screw it.
> Then there is the nagging feeling that lead might be leeching from these plastic. Sorry, but I don't trust plastics made in China that is sold through the dollar store.
> In the end, I fork up the money to get the coral life bio balls. It sits some where between the lava rocks and the scrubbies. Traping some crap but not all and doesn't dump as much nitrate if you clean them often. Cleaning is easy, just shake the hell out of them and all the craps comes loose.
> Well, that's my experience anyway.
> 
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## Fish_Man

guess I'll be getting some bio balls / ceramic rings then... also with a few scrubbers just to test out


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## BillD

Scrubbies are very easy to clean. You just unroll them rinse and roll them back up. Every filter that is working correctly is a nitrate factory. Bioballs are not meant to trap any crap. All the solids are supposed to be removed before they get to the balls. They are really only useful in a large wet dry where you have lots of room for lots of balls, and a prefilter to remove the solids before they get to the balls.


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## waj8

I use pot scrubbers. I don't see any issue. I clean my prefilter once a week when I change the water. I never clean the pot scrubbers.


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## BillD

If you are using the scrubbies as a strictly bio media, with adequate prefiltering, you shouldn't need to clean them. The thing is they are much easier to clean than lavarock if they do get dirty. I have used them as the only source of media in Whisper HOB filters and fluval internal filters. Works well in both cases.


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## Fish_Man

BillD said:


> If you are using the scrubbies as a strictly bio media, with adequate prefiltering, you shouldn't need to clean them. The thing is they are much easier to clean than lavarock if they do get dirty. I have used them as the only source of media in Whisper HOB filters and fluval internal filters. Works well in both cases.


Guess I'll goto the dollar store tomorrow and get myself some scrubbies then

Thanks


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## BillD

I also use them to scrub down the glass.


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## dl88dl

IMO you should not try and save money on the filter media as these media are the key factor in cleaning your water. If you look at all different types of filters they are basically all the same with very little differences. The water goes in the filter and exit back into the aquarium. So if you use media that have the largest surface areas then those filers will be much more efficient in keeping good water quality. The most important factor in keeping our fishy friends healthy is by making sure we keep the water at an optimal for them. In this fish hobby if you master the art of keeping good water quality then this water will keep your fishy friends healthy for a long time. So why spent all the money on the filters and fishy etc and try and save money on the media. The media makes the filter period. 

BTW, try this media from Evolution Aqua Kaldnes K1 media it has a total surface area of 800m2 and one of the lightest media too. 
Also, one of the favorite is the Eheim Ehfisubstrat has a total surface area of 450m2.


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## Philip.Chan.92

dl88dl said:


> IMO you should not try and save money on the filter media as these media are the key factor in cleaning your water. If you look at all different types of filters they are basically all the same with very little differences. The water goes in the filter and exit back into the aquarium. So if you use media that have the largest surface areas then those filers will be much more efficient in keeping good water quality. The most important factor in keeping our fishy friends healthy is by making sure we keep the water at an optimal for them. In this fish hobby if you master the art of keeping good water quality then this water will keep your fishy friends healthy for a long time. So why spent all the money on the filters and fishy etc and try and save money on the media. The media makes the filter period.
> 
> BTW, try this media from Evolution Aqua Kaldnes K1 media it has a total surface area of 800m2 and one of the lightest media too.
> Also, one of the favorite is the Eheim Ehfisubstrat has a total surface area of 450m2.


Pot scrubbers are cheap yet efficient, there are some media out there for ridiculously high prices, they may do the same amount of bio filtration as something half the cost or even less. DIY is made for the same efficiency for cheaper cost, just like buying a big sheet of filter floss costs less than filter cartridges and usually just as efficient. Just sayin


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## dl88dl

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> Pot scrubbers are cheap yet efficient, there are some media out there for ridiculously high prices, they may do the same amount of bio filtration as something half the cost or even less. DIY is made for the same efficiency for cheaper cost, just like buying a big sheet of filter floss costs less than filter cartridges and usually just as efficient. Just sayin


Don't get me wrong I was not talking about the pot scrubbers. I have some filters with these media in it but not too crazy about the lava rocks especially the legos


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## Philip.Chan.92

ahahaha legos made me laugh as well. Pot scrubbers are the best bang for the buck though.


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## gucci17

I use pot scrubbers for some of my filters and they have been fine so far....

Just be careful not to use ones with the metal clip. As someone else mentioned, it will rust and who knows what it will release in the water.

Hopefully the nylon doesn't leach anything into the water as well. That's the main thing that worries me with using them.

I do use higher end media as well but it can get expensive when filling up those canisters.


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## Riceburner

I've used pot scrubbies for years. 

Philip, I'll trade ya some pot scrubbies for Lego! Yeah, I got kids....never too much Lego.


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## Philip.Chan.92

Lol lego is super expensive, my parents also want me to keep it, sentimental attachments when I loved it as a kid? Used to play with it for hours and hours so...ya XD


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## Russgro

damn guys, a litre of seachem matrix is 12 bucks and it will fill an xp3 full or you could split it and do 2.


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## BillD

How well does Seachem Matrix scrub glass?


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## Russgro

BillD said:


> How well does Seachem Matrix scrub glass?


you use the same thing to clean your glass as you use for bio media? If thats the case, no its multi purpose. How many chemicals leach in your tank from those scrubbies, most packages say they are not for aquarium use.

added * I take that back about the leaching if your using the plastic ones. I was referring to the yellow and green ones, more of a sponge.


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## gucci17

Russgro said:


> you use the same thing to clean your glass as you use for bio media? If thats the case, no its multi purpose. How many chemicals leach in your tank from those scrubbies, most packages say they are not for aquarium use.
> 
> added * I take that back about the leaching if your using the plastic ones. I was referring to the yellow and green ones, more of a sponge.


I have considered Seachem Matrix in the past due to the price point but opted not to based on the so-so reviews I've read online about them.

For more expensive setups, I go with eheim co co puffs and some SERA Siporax that I picked up from Ping Pong a few years ago. Seems like pretty good stuff.


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## Web Wheeler

I recently updated an old article I wrote which has some information about selecting bio-media:

Understanding the Modern Bio-Filter


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## Zebrapl3co

Web Wheeler said:


> I recently updated an old article I wrote which has some information about selecting bio-media:
> 
> Understanding the Modern Bio-Filter


Wow, that's a darn good arcticle. Hope more people read it. I see alot of people who can improve their filtration system from this article.

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## KhuliLoachFan

I am a firm believer in spending the money on Eheim EhfiPro. I will save money by buying sponge material in bulk instead of paying for one cut in the fancy shape already. But I will not compromise on the bio-stage. Nothing, and I mean nothing, comes close to a high quality sintered glass bead. EhfiPro is simply the best sintered glass bead you can buy. It's expensive, but they last forever. Think about it on a five year basis. $10 worth of scrubbies will save you from spending $30 on ehfipro substrat, and over 15 years, that's almost $0.50/year you saved. Seriously.


W


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