TT Media types

[Bill Putnam]

Looking for input about best media to use in shower trays or TT's....

LAVA ROCK:
So many things have been said about Lava rock going bad in a submerged environment, yet what about in a shower tray.. Does it too go bad in five to ten years because of the plugged pores?

GRAVEL:
While this is OK, it lacks void space, is heavy and does not offer the maximum surface area.

PLASTIC MEDIA:
AKA, BioBalls, MATALA, Etc.
The only downside I know of is that it is slow to get beneficial to start up and adhere too...

BACTERIA MEDIA HOUSE:
No real reason to talk much about this... Already known to work and its high price tag.

So what other media is worth putting in a shower tray setup and why....

[Rich L]

Hi Bill,

Have you considered installing a plastic media filter in your own pond and using some of the media in the new ponds so there's at least a percentage of active media in the new pond?

I've never heard of lava rock lasting all that long but,if it does, it would be a minor maintenance issue to have to change out the media every 5 years or so.

Rich

[MCA]

wonder how well feather rock would hold up? sure would be lighter and it could inexpensively replaced every spring.

[Billy]

I bought 4 cf of bio barrels-ballast on ebay for $5 a cf to use in mine.

[Bill Putnam]

How long have you had the bio- barrels in your showers and how do you feel it is doing???

[MCA]

I finished one of our two BSs. Each has 50kg of BH media and a flow rate of 3000gph.. ORP seems to have gone up from 325 (which has been our avaerage reading for more than a year) to over 340. I hope to have the second one connected before 4th of July. If they raise the ORP to the 350 range, me and the koi would be happy campers.

Will advise in July when both are up and running.

[Bill Putnam]

We just loaded up feather rock or pumas into three trays. With in hours, the ponds floating bits of algae have been reduced to almost nothing...

It seems that the pitted feather rock is trapping the floating algae bits. The algae bits are most likely from the fish tearing it off the sides of the pond....

Time will tell now if the bits trapped on the feather rock will either pile up or get reduced by beneficial bacteria...

[koiczar]

Bill

Please keep us posted. I have the exact same issues going on currently with the "algae pellets" as the fish tear it off and either spit/s#$t it out. I was interested in getting feedback about the use of lava rock vs feather rock (pumice stone) for showers. I want to add one with a 4500-5000gph running through it. So, I will be VERY INTERESTED to learn how yours is doing with collecting the algae pellets.

Mike

[CarolinaGirl]

I just loaded up two trays on my ring tank with lava rock and oyster shells. Algae has always been a problem in this tank (no UV) and already the water is beginning to clear. The oyster shells is to correct my very low pH....5.5 out of the tap. The oyster shells should fix that problem nicely.

[koiczar]

Cindy

I know you've been running showers for a while now. What's your opinion on the lava rock in showers?

Mike