Do ceramic rings work ? Or is it just marketing?
- Thread starter raja
- Start date
Correct, and on that note there are scores of different brands of ceramic bio media on the market, including many forms of rings, and some have far more surface area than others.
Not necessarily - see comment above. Yours appear to be quite solid, what brand are they? My ceramic rings are quite porous compared to yours. Most of mine are Hagen Bio-Max, and were purchased dirt cheap from a LFS sell out auction 20+ years ago, and at that time this product was marketed as having 7.2 square meters of surface area per ring. But even this brand Hagen/Fluval has changed a lot over the years. Mine look the ones shown in the pic below, which as I said appear to be a lot more porous, with a lot more surface area than the ones that you are using.
I would also like to know the units of the chart. I assume its in feet ^2 but am not sure . When I found this chart there was a mulitpage long debate on its credibility. This chart dosnt seemd to be sourced well but there are some other studies that I assume where put together to make the chart. This other post seems to confirm pot scubbies as a pretty successful bio media. I can get 4 per pack at the dollar tree so i can fill a decent size sump with 20 bucks so it remains my favorite.
And in terms of cleaning them i keep them all in a mesh bag in my sump, When its time for cleaning i just shake the bag while blasting with garden hose. Im sure it kills some of the bacteria colonies but like mentioned earlier its best to have only the strong ones left.
Also they are often called nylon mesh scour pads. Pot scrubbies is more of a slang term.
If I remember, next time I am cleaning media I will do that. My main point is that there are a LOT of different brand/styles of ceramic/sintered glass rings on the market, and their surface area is going to vary a LOT. Due to that reason and others I find it difficult to place much merit in supposed data gleaned from a supposed study.mine are some generic rings i bought from ebay, so like you said,maybe the branded stuff are better . ( we can know for sure if everyone could take a ceramic ring out of their sump/filter break it and post here
Every system can vary, but the ceramic rings that I use are part of a dedicated bio bed, that I maintain for very specific reasons. Do they work? Absolutely!
In case you haven't already,check the dishwasing section in the supermarkets....as someone pointed out already, they are plastic scouring pads and "pot scrubbies" are pretty much a slang term.
I don't know about all the brands, but the smooth surface rings get gunked up quicker it seems. The 'rough' ones stay pretty clean under flowing water...I use a combination of bio bale and rings, the rings on top to hold the bale in place. Nothing sticks to bio bale, its plastic ribbon with huge surface area. Plus its lightweight.
Pot scrubbies are a bit overrated, imo...they have lesser area compared to some media. Usually you need boo coo of 'em (fortunately they're cheap).
Pot scrubbies are a bit overrated, imo...they have lesser area compared to some media. Usually you need boo coo of 'em (fortunately they're cheap).
