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Filter Media 3


catcher

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G'day all,

In the Eheim 2229 pro they have the "Ehime" special filter media. They expressly say that the wet/dry surge system of this filter will not operate correctly without using their stuff. Do they speak with fork tongue? Is there an alternative material, not as expensive that still allows the unit to work correctly?

Someone must have been down this track.

Cheers

glenn huh.gif

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hmmmm Efimech = nylon mesh media ? I think

try nylon scouring pads from local supermarket

coarse but not too coarse and you can open them out

of the compressed form as a pad

any form of nylon mesh like they pack oranges in

Bacteria like nylon, don't know why but they do tongue.gif

L2H

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Guest big bad burundi

Sorry Chris

efimech is the ceramic noodles

efifix is the stringy plastic green stuff

efisubstrate is kitty litter type stuff

efilav the volcanic type stones

efitorf is the peat substance

Dont seem to remember any others though im sure someone will.rolleyes.gif

Cheers

Darryl

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Thanks Daryl LOL.gif

try looking for ceramic electrical insulators for the noodles

Where did I put the supplier details that Limno sent me *scratches head, hmmm splinters LOL.gif *

I hate old age and alzheimers blush.gif

L2H

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Hey Big Bad,

The stuff I'm talking about is the white broken rubble (rock type stuff) Looks a bit like marble? The 2229 pro has this in all three baskets and no filter wool so it's reasonably expensive to get genuine material. Any thoughts on an alternative?

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efisubstrate is kitty litter type stuff

Sounds like the item

Bacteria hosting media similar to Seachem Matrix very porous, possibly fused silica product by the looks of it

Per the Eheim website

EHFISUBSTRAT

To create biologically sound water as found in nature, you need EHFISUBSTRAT. Biological filtering is based on a natural decomposition of harmful substances using helpful bacteria. They convert ammonia and nitrite into relatively non-toxic nitrate. The efficiency of biological filtration is limited by the media that bacteria are growing on. With over 450 ml per litre (22, 000sq. ft. per lmp. gal. / 18, 3000 sq. ft. per U.S. gal.) EHFISUBSTRAT is a specially designed sintered glass. Bacteria are able to stick better to a surface which has a complex pore system. EHFISUBSTRAT has been specially developed to offer optimum sites for bacteria colonization. The effectiveness of these bacteria is linked to how much oxygen and toxins can flow by. With faster decomposition of toxins compared to other media. Highly effective, economically priced, it is the best biological media available to aquarium hobbyists.

The reason they disclaim alternate media would be variences in the surface area compared to OEM media and that they want to market their own product

check the wesite Eheim.com

Maybe consider one tray of either Efisubstat or Matrix and the other trays with Ceramic noodles and nylon mesh

Or EHFILAV

A naturally occuring porous volcanic rock which is ideal for biological filtration where large debris is present such as ponds and highly stocked aquariums. This natural product is pre-tested for impurities before pachaging to ensure that it is free of toxins

Just like Scoria from a landscapers, NOTE Eheim claim to quality assure for removal of impurities ..... this is not possible in landscape grade Scoria

Being a wet/dry biological filter it would be a good move to fit a foam prefilter on the intake tube IMO

L2H

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Hi DD

Coral will chalk and breakdown as the calcium is leached out from buffing

Scoria won't deteriorate but landscape grade Scoria can contain impurities that may be detromental to fish if your unlucky

Bacteria need a stable surface so I would think Scoria is more bacteria friendly

but don't discount nylon mesh for a bacteria bed thats why the make bio balls from nylon

Just to consider the other side Arj tongue.giflaugh.gif

I suppose the reason they make stuff like Ehfisubstrat and Matrix from sintered glass is to have a high density, porous but stable media

L2H

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Once again thanks for everyones imput,

Big bad and Chilli you seem to have the mail on some good alternatives, whats the story? Zeolite ? also on the DIY page the bucket trickle filter uses scoria, can the landscaping type be cleaned or soaked to clear impurities?

Also If I have to use the Eheim products would the sintered glass or their scoria stuff be better?

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Zeolite is an ammonia absorbant and will saturate in time

NOTE that salt is used to recharge zeolite and will release trapped ammonia

after all what common house hold product do most people add when water changing or fish are sick ............ cooking salt

re what is better between the sintered glass or scoria, I suppose it's the application and in a wet/dry Eheim I would think for compaction in the trays I would lean to the sintered glass

Scoriawould suit a large bucket type filter better I think

Maybe soaking the scoria after cleaning it (LOTSSSSS of red dust) and

you would need to run a filter loaded with carbon on the soaking tub to remove the impurities for a few days at lest I would think

Any other ideas ?

L2H

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Guest big bad burundi

Hate to add to an argument but zeolite does far more than just absorb ammonia.

You may not think so but your fish will all tell you different in a very short time using the mineral as a filter media. rolleyes.gif

Cheers

Darryl

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Hate to add to an argument but zeolite does far more than just absorb ammonia.

You may not think so but your fish will all tell you different in a very short time using the mineral as a filter media.

More info on Zeolite please. Where is it available.

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Hey Big Bad,

Tell me more, what are the magical properties of zeolite that my fish may or may not be happy about. I googled and came up with a site that has interesting info for the fish keeper. I still want to hear what the magic is though !

http://www.zeoponix.com/zeolite.htm

Glenn

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It is really a matter of working out why efisubstate is recommended with the wet/dry. This starts with what advantage a wet/dry has. Its advantage is that it increases the limiting factor on bacterial growth inside a closed environment by pumping air past them. The advantage efisubstrate has is that is has a MASSIVE surface area, and in addition, when packed together, due to its size (not too big, not too small), there is little colonisation area lost due to large gaps between particles/bits.

To me what that implies is that if you want to find a substitute that will give you your money’s worth for purchasing this type of filter in the first place, you need to find one that has not only a similar surface area, but one that packs down with little to no gap, while still allowing plenty of unrestricted water movement when the chamber empties and fills

Matrix is a much larger size, and will allow too large a gap between pieces. Scoria will not have the same sort of surface area that efisubstate does, which is why people use it in tubs and such (to counter act the lesser surface area). Other biological media such as Kama harda bio mat (why do all these media have such screwy names?), would be a good alternate in regards to allowing free flowing water, but even though it has a good surface area, it will not compete with efisubstrate. Coral sand of similar size to the efisubstate is a thought, though I doubt you will find it will still compete with the surface area of efisubstate, and I’m sure you will find this difficult to source.

I personally know of no other media that will give you the same value/advantages that efisubstate does. As far as I know, there is no cheap “copy” on the market.

I have been down the path many times looking for an alternative to whatever “aquarium specific” made product at the time and it is truly a journey worth following. However, in the case of using efisubstrate substitute in a wet/dry, it will be a false economy if you use anything else. By not using efisubstrate, you will lose out by not utilising this filters main advantage.

Having said that, if you don’t have a large enough bio-load on the tank, then all the surface areas of the efisubstate will not be colonised anyway, so a lesser substitute may not “kill” your fish. I would try and source some coral rubble, similar size as efisubstrate, as it will give the added bonus of buffing your water (assuming you have Africans).

You can save by not replacing the efisubstate media as recommended by Ehime, as from my experience, it does not need replacement.

Link to Hell, you and I seem to have come from the same school, as I concur with what you have written.

Craig

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Thanks Craig,

As usual you all give great feedback, one thing you may be able to answer, why does the 2229 pro not have a mechanical pad on entry to filter canister. Is it something to do with the wet/dry system?

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These suggestions are only for non active media without 'magical' properties.

If you want an inhert media like scoria in terms of porosity and physical size you may wish to try 'hydroton'. It is high temperature expanded clay aggregate balls. It's cheap and very clean. All you have to do is give it a good rinse. It's much cleaner to use than garden scoria. There is a little red dust but it rinses off very quickly. I have some bioreactors full of this stuff.

If you want to try a material with more 'magical' properties you might want to try 'diatomite'. (You can get it in 40 lite bags at Cumberland Produce for about 14 bucks last time I got some). It's a similar size to scoria. It's treated at high temperature to stabilise it. It's primarily stable silicon (SiO2) so it's not really magic. The chemists can check the details as follows:

diatomite 1

proper technical info

This stuff is massively porus. It's as light as styrofoam when dry. (Maybe lighter, I use this as an media for my orchids and people are stunned when they pick it up).

It's much lighter than scoria, any noodles I have (3 sizes) or hydroton.

In my experimental tank I get an interesting thing happening My pleco and BN pretty well constantly suck from the little blocks of diatomite. I assume this is because it's like a massive block of algae. It has no green on the outside yet I think it's totally colonised on the inside. I have noticed no harm to any fishes after 4 months.

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Now that's interesting.

I'd be very interested in hearing further (practical usage) in regards to the diatomite. I had a friend use it in his tank a couple of years ago (chunks left over from being used as building material), but I was unable to source it for myself. Please give me more feedback in regards to your experience for its suitability for bacteria, particularly in reference to how it compares with some of the commercially available ones, if possible.

Craig

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The diatomite I have from the Maidenwell mine is much more colourfull. I will get some shots of it tonight so you can see the relative size. The 5-10mm stuff seems an ideal size for biomedia as it packs a little but not too much.

I have not made a full bioreactor with diatomite yet as I wanted to test some in the bottom of a tank for a few months to make sure it does not kill anything by contact, it does not leech anything that kills everything, the structure does not break down by chemical decomposition and it does not form a massive slime. I have a guppy tank specially for these experiments (it's also got some BN and a plec fingerling). So far it's passed.

I have about 2 litres of this stuff on the bottom of the tank to culture the bacteria at the moment.

How does one know what works better? For my hydroton reactor my test was to breed up 100 apple snails, 200 guppies and a pile of BNs and massively overfeed in a clean bottomed tank (my bathtub :-). So far I have never measured any ammonia at all with my test kit yet the fish grow like wildfire in that tank (way better than any of my proper tanks sad.gif The only work is siphoning off the waste of the bottom and changing the floss above the bioreactor. I reckon the next thing do to would be to get some more sensitive fish but I'm not game.

bioreactor

edit: added photo

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