Biological filter media..Whats the best out there?...

[el wadd]

What in your opinion is the best biological filter media? I have a filstar xp4 with rena stars and fluval glass tubes, but there is still loads of room to spare.

All the ads for media state they are hands down the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I want to hear from the man on the street. I'm piecing together my first tank in over 8 years, and would like to do it right his time.

any and all help is appreciated.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

pot scrubbers cheap and prob better then bio balls. i think floss has lots of area for bacteria also and polish the water at the same time.

 

[Weezer]

I prefer sponge type media, it's easily transferable to other setups......

 

[Rbishop]

floss and sponge....all that other media balls, tubes, rings, cylinders are just hype and sales pitches. Last redesign it, call it new and better...they'll buy it.

 

[legendaryfrog]

I have the xp4, and I wouldnt say that its exactly suitable for potscrubbers; there would be many gaps and water would go around the scrubbies.

As for best bio-media, I've read "ULTRA bio-media" is the best, as it has 4-5 times more surface area than the same volume of bio-balls.

heres a link to it: http://www.123ponds.com/a70011cf.html

 

[musho3210]

what about seachem matrix?

 

[TEL]

seachem matrix , sinted glass , ceramic noodles all good just depends on how much you want to spend.

 

[Rbishop]

And all that surface area does what? The only place you need to ensure water doesn't bypass, are the mechanical filters.

 

[*KrAmEr*]

And all that surface area does what? The only place you need to ensure water doesn't bypass, are the mechanical filters.

All that surface are is for is the Benificial bacteria....

 

[Rbishop]

All that surface are is for is the Benificial bacteria....

Which is limited to the size of your bio load. It doesn't matter if something has 10,000 sq cm of surface area or 12,000. For all those companies shoving high surface area products at us, have you ever seen one of them define how much surface area is required?