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Lava rock for filter media?

RD. said:
Eheim EHFISUBSTRAT with over 450 m2 per liter = 4842 sq. ft. of surface area per liter.

Seachem Matrix; provides over 160,000 cm2 per liter = 170 sq. ft. of surface area per liter.

Fluval Biomax; each ceramic ring contains at least 100 square feet of surface area x approx 66 rings per liter = 6600 sq. ft. of surface area per liter. Link c. Each 17.63 oz box contains approximately 100 ceramic cylinders - perfect for most mid-sized (approximately 1-1/2 L) media baskets.
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Just clarifying for myself: Seachem Matrix is 160,000 cm2 which = 1,600 m2 compared to 450 m2 for the Eheim media? That is to say four times more surface area? That is significant if true!

Just a correction, I think you mean 1700 sq.ft for the Matrix? Was thrown by that for a second. Had always assumed the Eheim had a lot of surface area because of the small size of the media.
 
I was in a hurry when I posted those numbers this morning. Ooops. I can't verify any of it, who can outside of the manufacturer - but suffice to say that they all provide a ton of surface area, and last for probably decades if one takes care of it.
 
160,000 cm sq /100 /100 = 16 m sq x 10.764 sq ft per sq meters = 172 sq ft.

450 x 10.764 = 4843.8

That's quite a disparity alright.

I wonder how they derive those areas?

BTW I didn't know that Eheim sells lava too. I didn't find any specs on surface area yet.
 
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i have seachem matrix in my canister i dont see any difference at all. when i first got them i thought i got scammed cause it look just like regular rocks to me. lol
 
Most of my bio media is Hagen Biomax that I picked up at a local auction almost 20 yrs ago when a LFS went out of business. Nobody was there for aquarium stuff, it sold for next to nothing. Back then, Hagen advertised; "Bio~Max has 7.2 square meters of surface area per ring. " How accurate that is I have no idea, but what I can say is that it has worked very well for me over the many years that I have been using it. I have a single jar of Seachem Matrix that I picked up years ago mixed in, but I agree, Matrix does look like pumice stone.
 
Galantspeedz said:

Believe what you want... but I read the reply in the difference as being specially selected pumice stones

I seriously doubt they test each and every matrix though so I just stick to the cheapo pumice stones
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Ah I spent $25-30 for a big bucket without moving out of a chair. I guess it's time vs money again

Richard203 said:
i have seachem matrix in my canister i dont see any difference at all. when i first got them i thought i got scammed cause it look just like regular rocks to me. lol
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What were you expecting lol? Dude I added matrix and my Oscar grew 2 inches in a week!!

It's just a good cost effective bio media (unless you're at pond status). It's cheap, light, & to clean it you take your mesh bag out then give it a few shakes. There's a point of diminishing returns lava rock is past that point.
 
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PYRU said:
Ah I spent $25-30 for a big bucket without moving out of a chair. I guess it's time vs money again
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You can't order pumice stone online?

$25-30 for how big a bucket, 4l?

Where I am at, a 4l bucket is about sgd80 or about usd59. While comparatively, 4kg pumice stone is about sdg$6 or usd 4.40
 
Galantspeedz said:
You can't order pumice stone online?

$25-30 for how big a bucket, 4l?

Where I am at, a 4l bucket is about sgd80 or about usd59. While comparatively, 4kg pumice stone is about sdg$6 or usd 4.40
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Ok question. What happens if your amazon pumice has trace metals etc and you have inverts/ corals etc?
 
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