EMP280 media: Lava Rock?

[GT3050]

In my Emp 280, I use filter floss in the grey media, and was wondering if it would be effective to fill the rest of the space after the floss with lava rock, if not, what should I add. Thanks for the help.

[ScottoMacD]

I have seen all sorts of weird things used as filter media over the years.

I know one guy who uses plastic army men in one filter and lego pieces in another. He swears by it.

I usually use the Ehiem substrate and ceramic rings in most of my filters. Aquaclears, 1 fluval and my Ehiems. I use it in them all.

The stuff with some filter floss works great

The new Eheim substrate that just came out looks even better at collecting the bacteria. I may be switching to that soon.

[blitzen25bm]

that efisubstrate its pretty expensive you can just use rings or doubleup on the sponges.

[BK]

cellpore cartridges if you can find a place that still has some, not that an emp doesn't already have enough bio-substrate in the biowheel

[JSchmidt]

Given the great biofiltration from the wheels, I think you'd better use that space for extra mechanical filtration. Get the crud out of the water BEFORE it has a chance to break down and add to the pollution.

Jim

[SayersWeb]

Originally posted by JSchmidt
Given the great biofiltration from the wheels, I think you'd better use that space for extra mechanical filtration. Get the crud out of the water BEFORE it has a chance to break down and add to the pollution.I agree! Lava rock tends to go bad after a while. It will clog up and do more harm than good.

[GT3050]

Ok, thanks for the help. I have one comment to make though. JSchmidt, mechanical filtration will not remove bio-waste from the system, just because you no longer see it in your tank does not mean that it is gone. The waste will still break down inside of the filter creating pollutants. Also, SayerWeb, what do you mean by lava rock will go bad?

[JSchmidt]

Originally posted by GT3050
Ok, thanks for the help. I have one comment to make though. JSchmidt, mechanical filtration will not remove bio-waste from the system, just because you no longer see it in your tank does not mean that it is gone. The waste will still break down inside of the filter creating pollutants. Also, SayerWeb, what do you mean by lava rock will go bad?

I think you misunderstood. My point is that organic solid wastes will be broken down by the tank's microfauna and will contribute in that way to the tank's pollution. Mechanical filtration doesn't remove those dissolved pollutants, but if you capture the solids BEFORE they break down and export them from the tank (by cleaning the mechanical media), you are keeping the water cleaner because you're removing the pollutants before they are broken down.

You are correct that if you had mechanical filtration and never cleaned it, that it would still contribute to the biowaste. That wouldn't be very smart, though. The whole purpose of mechanical filtration is to capture solids before they break down and export them from the tank.

Personally, I'd rather keep my tanks clean by removing wastes when they're solids, instead of allowing them to be turned into nitrates and other dissolved organic compounds and having to remove them via water changes.

Hope this clarifies,
Jim

[Captain Hook]

I have a Penguin 330 that has 2 media baskets. I bought large ammonia and phosphate removing pads from Big Al's for a few bucks each and cut them to fit in the baskets. Each pad was like $4 Canadian and should fill the baskets two or three times.