Lava Rock as bio filter media

Um yeah, talk about off topic!

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mott said:
Hmm your bio balls and ceramics get smelly? I haven't noticed that,
I never used bio balls but I've been using ceramic media for years.
People have been using lava rock with good results for years it's an excellent bio media.
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Seems like before all of the man-made stuff companies were touting lava rock as the "best media" -- breaking it up, putting in nifty packaging, marketing it, and marking it way up in fish stores. Some of them still sell small boxes of lava. I suppose it saved some time for folks who didn't want to hammer and clean....

.....but, point being as you said. People have been using lava rock with good results for a very long time. If it works well is there really any reason to spend 10 times as much on something else?
 
So what would be the best way to break it up for more surface area, yet avoid crushing it? Chisel and hammer?

At the end of the season, I got a few 6 lb bags of red lava rock (Charbroil brand) for 50 cents a bag, so I'm watching this thread closely :D
 
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Let me say that although I don't consider the lava rock I use (Walymart 9 Lb bag barbecue $3) very good compared to carbon which has the largest surface area bar none, I can report that my nitrates have fallen substantially in my 244 tank after replacing my sump bio-balls with lava rock. I did a long term test and without a doubt washed or unwashed bio-balls were keeping my nitrates high in my sump. However for some strange reason bio-balls do not have the same effect in a canister, probubly due to the water current and complete volume tern over forced in a confined canister, compared to a sump where there is inharent stagnant dead spots.

Why I can leave my lava rock bed in my sump now without cleaning it at all and no longer suffer from unusual high nitrates any longer is a complete mystery to me, but like I said I suspect some added organic interaction with the rock minerals and waste.
 
Like I said I already proved it for my situations. Nirates in my otherwise sparkling 244 tanks was running 30 PPM higher in nitrates compared to my other 4 tanks which had heavier bio-loads. When I washed the bio-balls nitrates fell but were still running 20 PPM higher, all of this testing in a span of 8 weeks. 1st 2 weeks noted rise and little chnage after 30% water chnage compared to other large tanks without sump bio-balls. 2nd week chnaged out sump blue bond media and 30% water change again with no change still running 40 PPM nitrates in 244 tank with sump compared to 10 PPM in 4 other tanks without. 3rd 2 weeks rinsed bio-balls thoroughly with aquarium water nitrates fall to 30 PPM while other tanks are 10 PPM, 4th 2 weeks removed bio balls and replaced with new lava rocks and 30% water change nitrates fall to 10 PPM like other 4 tanks.

244 tanks has been running lave rocks for 4 weeks now and nitrates now mimic other 4 tanks in nitrate levels between water changes. So there is absolutely no doubt in my mined that in my situation bio-balls in my 244 tank sump were accumulating nitrates and that removing them cured the problem, I thing this is why bio-ball manufacturers recommend bio-ball replacement rather then washing. Being plastic it would not surprise me if after a while they act like plastic zeolites become positively charged and start accumulating nitrates just waiting to partially discharged when salt is introduced to the tank in the form of meds or even water treatment salts such as used in Prime. This would also explain why rinsing does not work. The lave rocks are incapable of holding a charge and therefore do not accumulate nitrates. I may be wrong about my theory but one thing I know for a fact, removing the bio-balls fixed my high nitrate problem.:clap:
 
ianab said:
Should work OK. It's all about surface area. You can use normal gravel as filter media, thats how an undergravel filters works. But the rocks are generally round and smooth, not much surface area. You need to have a layer the size of your tank to be usefull.

Volcanic scoria has been formed with lots of bubbles, holes and cracks, so you get a bigger surface area, so it's a better media than normal gravel.

Ceramic biomedia has been specifically made with microscopic holes in it, so it's surface area is even higher. So even more bacteria can live on/in it.

So if you have a big enough filter you could stuff it with Scoria, but you probably need 10X as much volume as ceramic media.

Now if you have an empty tray in the filter, and dont need the maximum possible filtering, and dont want to shell out for expensive media, then drop some scoria in there. It will host a usefull amount of bacteria and be much more usefull than an empty space.

Ian
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+1
Surface area per volume on lava rock is very high. The only downside I found was that it's often relatively soft and when cleaned can crumble, so you get some loss of media when you clean it. Aside from that very small con, it's great for biomedia. A local koi breeder has it in all her 30Gal and 55gal filter barrels.

Mark
 
Actually, if your going au natural`, feather stone has more surface area than lava rock at about the same price (if you can find it). The trouble with these materials (carbon too) is while it does has great surface area, it tends to clog easier than bio-balls. Once the tiny pours become clogged, you start losing surface area. That is why when used in koi ponds, the rock is put i mesh bags so once a week or so you can give the material a good shake.
 
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