Am I correct to assume the more aerated submerged ceramic rings are the better they are sustaining a thriving biological bacteria colony?
Ceramic rings and how they work
- Thread starter Nim Dibbley
- Start date
That's a theory kinda like the "Big Bang" is a theory. From my understanding the wet/dry system is the best for a given area. Obviously the ideal system is running the water through your system once. It goes in one end of your tank and out the other, never to return. That system is not financially feasible for most of us. The dry part of a wet dry system seems to handle most of the BB activity. Having media out of the water or heavily aerated is the optimal method. Adding media to the submerged portion of the filter seems to be an after thought, basically, it can't hurt. Why leave that area empty right?
The more media you have in the air (dry) the better
The more media you have in the air (dry) the better
I have always designed my systems with this assumption.... BUT... you have plenty of bacterial colony if you don't have significant Ammonia or Nitrite levels. Adding air under the media might concentrate the colony in the media instead of the rest of the tank because it has better resources and can out compete the bacteria without access the abundance of O2. So I assume you aren't going to change the total amount of bacteria in your system you are just going to change where it is concentrated.
In short I like air stones under my bio media because the media impedes and breaks up the air bubbles providing smaller bubbles and better oxygen exchange. And I assume that inducing an abundance of O2 at the place it is consumed (bio media) leaves more O2 in the water for the rest of the tank inhabitants (fish).
I will now hunker down and cover my head as my assumptions are hurled back into my face!
it seems like there should be some sort of formula to measure the load of BB on a given surface. When you look at wet/dry manufacturers, they rate their filters for a specific size aquarium. That rating might have more to do with the potential flood if your power goes out and the amount of room you have in the sump portion of the filter. Or maybe they are actually measuring the effectiveness of bio balls and how many can fit in a given filter.
I have seen on this site and others that you are recommended to have 1 gallon of bio balls for every 40 - 60 gallons of water in your tank.
my old tank used an aqua clear 70 which used the ceramic rings for BB. It was rated for 55 - 70 gallons.
So, if i take 1 gallon of bio balls in the dry part of my filter and one bag of the ceramic rings in the wet part would that be sufficient to cover 100 gallons of filtration?
I have seen on this site and others that you are recommended to have 1 gallon of bio balls for every 40 - 60 gallons of water in your tank.
my old tank used an aqua clear 70 which used the ceramic rings for BB. It was rated for 55 - 70 gallons.
So, if i take 1 gallon of bio balls in the dry part of my filter and one bag of the ceramic rings in the wet part would that be sufficient to cover 100 gallons of filtration?
I dont know how it would be possible to measure how much bb you actuall have in or on your media. The potential for bio media is measured by how much acutal surface area each kind of bio media has. Ceramic or glass rings are exstremely porriss and have more surface area then any other bio media so wheather used submerged or in a trickle, or wet dry filter they are the best option for generating the most surface area i know off. The amount of bb in or on your media will be determined by the bio load of your tank. If i have a hundred gallon tank with one large fish the bb amount will be less then if i have a 100 gallon tank with 10 large fish. Your bio media makes enough bb for the actuall bio load of the tank. So the amount of bio media you need is based on how many fish, size of fish and the bio load needs of the tank not the amount of water in the tank. I dont know if airating submerged media does any thing or not. The media gets plunty of airation through the water current and water movement over around, and through the media. The most bennefit to me would be to have a batterie back up air pump in the submerged part of the sump so if the power goes out your media still gets air. I have been meening to test the air pump theory in my media but havent got around to it. The way i am going to test it when i do. Is to run a specific tank for a month testing the water constantly. And run the tank for another month after doing the same thing but with the media airated. If the time between needed water changes is longer then you have your answer being airated media is more efficent. Maybe this thread will get me off my as- to put it to the test. So in short asking if the media amount you plan on using is enough can not be answered by simply knowing the tank size. We need to know what kind of fish, the size of the fish exct. If you have the money for ceramic it is the best route to go for sure. I have 3 five gallon buckets full of bio balls i no longer use. Allso it depends on if this is a fresh water or salt water set up. to determine what media to use. Bio balls in salt water are useless. Allso bio balls in a wet dry are more effective with a slower amount over them. I have personaully tested that theory on a 75 with different size pumps and flow rates. And the lower the water movement over them the longer in between water changes was needed. Wet drys are designed strictly for bio not mechanical. But alot of people on here have seem to correct that problem by a simple desing of a sump with three chamber first a filter sock for super water polishing = mechanical, secound chamber submerged ceramic = bio and third chamber for the return. I have yet to do this design the next sump i make is deffently going to be set up this way. Low maintence and cost effective only needing new filter socks and them to be cleaned. I think i confused my self. So i hope this makes sence to you
makes sense to me. I would like to see what results you have testing the aeration on the ceramic rings vs just sitting in the sump.
Why do you do water changes? I assume it is to remove the Nitrates? If you don't have enough beneficial bacteria you would have ammonia and Nitrites. If you don't have a problem with Ammonia or Nitrites I would conclude that you have enough beneficial bacteria in your system to handle the bio load of the system whether the bb is concentrated on ceramic rings or in the aquarium itself.
If your fish produce 1mg of Ammonia a day (just a WAG) and ammonia doesn't register in your water test I would conclude you have sufficient bb to process your bio load whether you have air stones under your ceramic rings or not. X amount of Ammonia is going to produce Y amount of Nitrates with or without air stones. I can not understand how air stones would alter this this ratio?
I like air stones for aeration!!!! I put air stones under my bio media to provide oxygen to the bacteria and other tank inhabitants. I believe better oxygenation equates to healthier fish! Fish that can better tolerate higher Nitrates levels... MAYBE????? (just another WAG)
Maybe better aeration might off gas some harmful chemicals from the aquarium water which in turn might lengthen water changing cycles? (here again another WAG) Maybe the huge Air/Water surface area achieved by dripping tank water over bio balls allows Ammonia to escape into the air before it is processed to Nitrates???? (WAG) extending water change intervals? Having a fresh supply of air in the bio ball chamber (via air stones) might replace the ammonia laden air with fresh air better able to absorb more ammonia from the water????
If your fish produce 1mg of Ammonia a day (just a WAG) and ammonia doesn't register in your water test I would conclude you have sufficient bb to process your bio load whether you have air stones under your ceramic rings or not. X amount of Ammonia is going to produce Y amount of Nitrates with or without air stones. I can not understand how air stones would alter this this ratio?
I like air stones for aeration!!!! I put air stones under my bio media to provide oxygen to the bacteria and other tank inhabitants. I believe better oxygenation equates to healthier fish! Fish that can better tolerate higher Nitrates levels... MAYBE????? (just another WAG)
Maybe better aeration might off gas some harmful chemicals from the aquarium water which in turn might lengthen water changing cycles? (here again another WAG) Maybe the huge Air/Water surface area achieved by dripping tank water over bio balls allows Ammonia to escape into the air before it is processed to Nitrates???? (WAG) extending water change intervals? Having a fresh supply of air in the bio ball chamber (via air stones) might replace the ammonia laden air with fresh air better able to absorb more ammonia from the water????
Ceramic "RINGS" are more associated with mechanical filtration.
At least according to the good folk at Eheim.
The spherical ceramic balls seem to be their choice for "Bio" media.
My guess is the water`s path through the rings would cause large particulate to drop out, much the same as when it goes through a media such as Matrix.
Then a sponge or pad to get out the last bit-o-gunk before it goes to the "bio" media.
Never used any ring style media so can`t speak from personal experience.
At least according to the good folk at Eheim.
The spherical ceramic balls seem to be their choice for "Bio" media.
My guess is the water`s path through the rings would cause large particulate to drop out, much the same as when it goes through a media such as Matrix.
Then a sponge or pad to get out the last bit-o-gunk before it goes to the "bio" media.
Never used any ring style media so can`t speak from personal experience.