filter media...what do you use and why?

[kevan]

filter media...what do you use in the main stage and why?

myself i started with flocore...probably the most inefficiant media ever ,

next i tried the white coral stuff `merlin`, worked really well, but as i live in a hard water area i felt it could make things worse.

lastly was alpha grog, used this stuff for a few years now and it is great.

i know many will say bacteria house from Momotaro but isnt this just his modified version of alpha grog at an inflated price?

kevan.

[luke frisbee]

Lava Rock...cuz it works.......and it is "inexpensive"
What's merlin and the white coral stuff?

[kevan]

the white coral stuff was branded as `merlin` when i bought some,

i think its calcified coral or something like that,

is alpha grog and lava rock the same thing?

kevan.

[dick benbow]

I tried it all because I give seminars and wish to comment personally on my own experience. There are some pretty good media out there now and I hesitate to recommend one over another.

I latched on to blue j-matt years ago and refuse to let go. I may add k-1 or BH media in addition to test or anything new but I always maintain my j-mat for my own use.



Anymore I think with media that there's many roads to Rome. I think it has to do with filter design, attention to details, feeding and population densities.

[Valarc]

Aerated k1... well that's what WILL be in the main chamber when I build it in a few weeks

[kingkong]

Quote: Originally Posted by kevan the white coral stuff was branded as `merlin` when i bought some, i think its calcified coral or something like that, is alpha grog and lava rock the same thing? kevan.

Alphagrog is a highly porous man made ceramic aggregate I do believe Kevan.

[Regenmeneer]

I have two filters

One has two chambers of j-matt, and the last chamber is alfagrog.

The other has one big chamber of j-matt and matala matt alternated, and after that two chambers of heavily aerated fluid bed with a k-1 like medium called bioflow.

Regenmeneer

[kevan]

Hi King kong


thanks for the reply however heres what confused me...

http://www.boddingtonkoi.co.uk/acata...er_Medias.html

they also have something that resemble the coral media i mentioned...they call it bacta pur lithaqua?

personally im not convinced by the molded plastic media the surface area seems very limited compared to the more natural porus rock type materials.

kevan.

[Dwight]

I have a Nexus and the K1 works great. I think the plastics offer a better chance at areation and therefore more nitro-bacteria. I never have any readings on ammonia , nitrite or nitrate ( probably due to a 4' waterfall )

[kevan]

im sure K1 works i just dont think it would be as effective as the porus rock style of media in a heavily stocked pond with limited filter size, off course this is just my opinion but when i was raising fry and a little overcrowded i switched from flocore to a porus rock system and found i could feed 5 times the amount of food without any problems and perhaps even more if i had tried.

i imagine k1 would only be around 2-3 times more effective than flowcore given the surface area.

kevan.