Aquarium Filter Media
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Carlrs
May 30, 2014, 4:10:08 PM5/30/14
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I have updated our article from "Aquarium Answers" that deals with the many types of Aquarium Filter media, how they work, & what is best.
What is the relevance to "fish dying"
A lot, as a healthy tank that is properly filtered can go a long ways in fish disease prevention and also make treatment more effective when fish do get sick.
Here is an outtake about volcanic rock as a filter medium:
*Volcanic rock; I already mentioned this above for mechanical filtration however I will mention it again as it is very porous and makes an excellent bio media for aerobic and anaerobic (de-nitrifying) bacteria for both fresh and saltwater. I have generally used smaller pieces (based on availability) of volcanic rock as compared to live rock crumbles; 1-3 cm.
Care is simple, just lightly rinse when any organic mulm/detritus builds up in the pores of the rock, but do not over rinse so as to destroy any anaerobic bacteria deep inside the volcanic rock. Very rarely does volcanic rock need replacement, usually I just add-to already established volcanic rock in any filter and at most replace 10-20% at a time if truly necessary due to non-rinsible mulm build-ups.
The advantage of Volcanic Rock is price as compared to other aerobic/anaerobic bio media of similar abilities.
The disadvantage is that Volcanic Rock is that Volcanic Rock is not as consistent in size both of the rock itself and in pores within the rock when compared to more premium products such as Matrix or Bio-Home which results in less bio filtration in a given volume of media.
Over all though, especially if you are on a budget or need large volumes of bio media that can perform both aerobic and anaerobic bio filtration, Aquarium/Pond Volcanic Rock is hard to beat.
With the exception of Matrix and BioHome, volcanic rock is vastly superior to bio balls and even superior to ceramic bio media in bio-bacteria capacity, often at a fraction of the cost!!
Product Source: Volcanic Rock from American Aquarium
Care is simple, just lightly rinse when any organic mulm/detritus builds up in the pores of the rock, but do not over rinse so as to destroy any anaerobic bacteria deep inside the volcanic rock. Very rarely does volcanic rock need replacement, usually I just add-to already established volcanic rock in any filter and at most replace 10-20% at a time if truly necessary due to non-rinsible mulm build-ups.
The advantage of Volcanic Rock is price as compared to other aerobic/anaerobic bio media of similar abilities.
The disadvantage is that Volcanic Rock is that Volcanic Rock is not as consistent in size both of the rock itself and in pores within the rock when compared to more premium products such as Matrix or Bio-Home which results in less bio filtration in a given volume of media.
Over all though, especially if you are on a budget or need large volumes of bio media that can perform both aerobic and anaerobic bio filtration, Aquarium/Pond Volcanic Rock is hard to beat.
With the exception of Matrix and BioHome, volcanic rock is vastly superior to bio balls and even superior to ceramic bio media in bio-bacteria capacity, often at a fraction of the cost!!
Product Source: Volcanic Rock from American Aquarium
Reference:
Carl
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