Sorry, this is a long one... Maxspect Nano Tech Plates (Amazon): geni.us/N0ABQHw Continuum / Brightwell Brick (Amazon): geni.us/HZ7HF Biohome Sump Brick (FilterPro): bit.ly/33rDF37 Biohome Sump Brick (Amazon): geni.us/Jicl Damn.....getting the materials for this test video cost me almost £90 so I hope you appreciate the effort - share this video with anyone you think may find something useful in it. Thanks for watching. I mention and show the results of the wear test in a specific video I did on sump set ups here: ua-cam.com/video/Wqt9zA6mqao/v-deo.html Basically there was no wear on the Biohome Brick or Maxpect plate and the Brightwell brick started to fall apart and release some suspicious looking chemical residue........that is shown around 16 minutes into that video. TIME STAMPS: 00:00 Intro and Continuum / Brightwell Brick 05:47 Maxspect Nano Tech Plates 08:57 Biohome Sump Brick 13:54 Continuum / Brightwell Brick microscopic view 15:06 Maxspect Nano Tech Plates microscopic view 16:25 Biohome Sump Brick microscopic view 18:19 Receptiveness / porosity tests 27:07 Summary and introduction to next test 28:46 Explaining the accelerated wear test 31:04 Outro MAXPECT NANO TECH PLATES are very well made, extremely strong and have a very open structure. However, the feel of the plate is very 'waxy' and the material (resin?) used to stick the small ceramic beads together doesn't look or feel like something which would be good for bacteria to colonize. As you can see in the video the material used for the construction actively repels water but the structure will allow water to penetrate the plate when it is submerged in water so it should support bacteria to some degree. I genuinely like what Maxspect have tried to do with this type of filter media but have serious reservations about how suitable it is for bacteria and unfortunately the 'for aquariums up to' figure quoted on the packaging is highly likely to be fantasy (that is a very common problem for filter media and filters). CONTINUUM / BRIGHTWELL SUMP BRICKS are extremely light and have a very porous structure although as you can see from the video that does not seem to be very receptive to water. The internal structure seems to have trapped bubbles inside it as it took ages to sink (I had to weigh it down under water) but that is common for filtration products made from a ceramic 'slurry' dust. I have serious doubts about the structure of this material lasting a long time although it is described as being able to last for '50 years' and being suitable for aquariums 'up to 1000 US gallons'. At the same time warnings are given against touching the brick once it has been in the sump for a while (as the brick goes soft) and breaks up if moved. Hmmmmm. Online reports from users of this product seem to yield initial good results regarding a reduction in nitrate followed by reports of the brick falling apart after a few months - that could be due to the dosed sulphur and aragonite being used up and weakening the structure? If so then this is a short term (expensive) chemical treatment and not a viable biological media for long term bacteria support......time will tell as I have all the test subjects in an aquarium to test the natural wear on them myself. BIOHOME SUMP BRICKS are made from the same material as Biohome Ultra which has been used for approx. 20 years in sumps, shower filters and large aquarium filters. As you can see from the video it is extremely receptive to water and if it is receptive to water that directly indicates receptiveness to bacterial colonization. The Biohome Sump Bricks are made from sand and powdered glass (which binds the particles of sand together). It is an extremely natural surface for bacterial colonization. They aren't pretty since each one is hand made and they do not come in a fancy box but the amount of water they will filter (for a full cycle) is realistic, usable surface area is excellent (receptive and accessible) and they will last as long as you have your aquarium sump. Part 2 with results of 'Wear Test' and a summary of all 3 types of media will be linked to here when the video is done. That could be a few months... RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS ON AMAZON: goo.gl/jMaBWy INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/pondguru_outdoors/ FILMING EQUIPMENT: Panasonic HC-VX870 HD camcorder geni.us/3UwE +Rode stereo microphone: geni.us/4OL +Rode 'deadcat' mic cover: geni.us/1pmn JVC Everio quad proof HD camcorder: geni.us/e09e +Rode 'deadcat' mic cover (opened up and held between tripod and camera base) geni.us/dee24 Zomei Z666 tripod: geni.us/1a1af3 Manfrotto MTPIXI-B PIXI mini tripod: geni.us/87f7 If you've enjoyed this video please check out the playlists on my channel for hundreds more - on a variety of subjects. Feel free to share or link any of my videos on facebook, twitter, forums etc. for the benefit of anyone you think may also enjoy watching. See you next time. Pondguru
Pondguru ,If frag plugs are too fiddly to make out of sintered glass how about artificial reef rock? The ceramic artifical rock is just as heavy and expensive but less effective. Good coral growth combined with filtration, until its overgrown.,I've always wonder if live rock filtration would decrease as organisms encrust it. P.S, Great series of videos.
@@davidabbott1015 many countries are restricting reef/live rock export, you can also introduce pest organisms to your aquarium hence many companies have already introduced artificial reef rock. Biohome seems to be an exceptional medium for coral growth, even without trace element infusions which also have a positive effect, so a biohome based reef rock could provide a very promising surface for flourishing reef builds.
How about setting up 3 smallish tanks each with the different bricks and adding a measured amount of fish food each day testing the resulting cycle process to see which would obtain a full nitrogen cycle first? Once a full cycle was achieved you could then see which media could handle the most food input. A pain to do and may take a couple months but the results would be very interesting. What do you think?
Random thought for @10:48 frag plugs made of the biohome media would be fiddly as you say, but a solution might be flat round discs that could be glued on top of conventional frag plugs.
This is why I use biohome. Ever since I started fish keeping and found your video on modding the APS EF-1000 Filter. I'm looking forward to seeing more test videos like this, especially a water flow one.
I have the bright well bricks and plates. The bricks have gone soft. The anti nitrate one got MUCH softer. I could squeeze it to mush if I tried with little effort. However the plates are like new after 2 years or more. I can definitely support the claims of fantastic biological colony capacity. I don't want to tell you for fear of flaming but I have a 220 gallon tank drastically overstocked with no ill effects as long as I do decent water changes with this media
I can honestly say (after 6 months use) I use the maxspect bio spheres on my reef tank, but have also used on freshwater cichlid tanks. I’ve used marine pure and it disintegrates over time. Turns to rubble. I have also used eheim substrat pro and biohome ultimate (freshwater). My top 3 are no1 maxspect bio spheres no2 biohome ultimate no3 substrat pro. I don’t know what the scientists say but I’m going by results over a prolonged period. Would love to do a review of the new biohome 😉
What fishkeepers say is always the most important thing as scientists get paid to say whatever the people paying them want them to 'endorse' or say. Unfortunately many UA-camrs are also getting paid to tell people what the companies 'sponsoring' them want them to say too - that's why I turn down all sponsors. You'd be amazed what some are willing to pay to buy your soul.... We have quite a few bricks from the first firing which are not the correct colour - they are still perfectly structured but just not able to be sold so I will be giving them away for people to test in their sumps. I'll announce that in a future video (soon). How much ultimate are you currently using and what size / stock is the tank? Feel free to phone me on 07772848730 as I often miss comments.
@@ThousandYardStare Just realize you were using a different account to make that comments, i intrigue by this comments, loved it ;). I'm interested on the substrat pro. Ive seen bag of different media in China, but i don't know what they are made of. There so many variety and so cheap also.
Thousand Yard Stare thanks mate. I’m using 20kg (less now I sold a couple of filters that had some inside) inside various filters, mainly all external filters, I’ve reviewed quite a few, and now trying my first h.o.b (tidal 110) and quite impressed. Nearly all 4x2x2 tanks , single species, mainly breeding pairs of rare new world cichlids. My favourite way to fill an external is pour in the ultimate followed by pouring substrat pro into all the nooks and crannies. I bought the entire 20kg from someone who had ordered it on eBay for his fish room and got out of the hobby. I gave him a pair of bedside lamps for the whole lot lol. But yeah I honestly do rate the ultimate. I also rate the biogravel, the only reason I choose substrat pro is I can get it for peanuts (all the eheim media that normally would come in the bag with the filters) so it’s silly not to buy it. It’s your marine media I may buy for my sump for my marine tank. Never used your marine media. Marine pure disintegrated real fast even when I had it within a reactor. Maxspect is super tough in comparison (only used spheres though) but I have moray eels, grouper, lion fish etc plus anenomes that all eat loads of meaty foods twice a day and I have the spheres in a big reactor run off the pump of my chiller/heater, and even with the 80+kg of live rock/sand I still noticed my nitrates hit 60ppm within 5 days, I was using siporax in a reactor which had hardly any noticeable affect on nitrates. When I took some maxspect from my sps frag tanks sump I noticed a difference on my nitrates (was already 6 months mature). I’m almost at the point now of hardly using any no-pox. Thanks for the response
What a great video. Your experiments did an amazing job of showing what the true effective porosity of each product is. It was very interesting to see how a much more angular grain size created a better effective porosity. As a geologist and fish nerd, this content spoke to me on so many levels. Can't wait to see how the cement components effect the structural integrity of the product.
Ahhhhhh yes, It's my favorite filtration professor. Those things are a trip, I'm assuming they must take the place of several smaller pcs. of media. My guess is they provide more surface area? I guess maybe I should wait to comment until after watching the remainder of the video...I always learn something when I do. Good to see you Richard!
I respect your videos and analysis of the products. I have been in the hobby for over 50 years. The more I've watched the latest "Bio" products over the last decade (of which I have tried many), the more I am convinced that a sand product is the best. I also believe that a person can create a bio filter medium by using a medium grade aragonite sand (help with PH stability) in either a container/basket or a bag. The bag creates convenience for rinsing. I currently use Marine Pure Spheres (got them before I found out about bio-home) that are holding up well. Based on my tank's African Cichlids overstocking (120 us gal) running two Fluval FX6s, the tank is very stable and healthy with breeding constantly going on. However I plan on using Hawaiian Black Gravel in one of the baskets ( have an extra 20lb bag) as both a bio and filter element similar to an undergraval filter. Protecting the filter motor with filter pads before and after the sand tray. Thoughts?
Ciao, video molto interessante... mi stavo chiedendo se la stessa cosa è usando un mattone rosso forato da edilizia quello per capirci che si usa per le costruzioni delle case...? Che ne pensi?
Qualunque cosa funzionerà come mezzo biologico poiché i batteri cresceranno sulla maggior parte delle superfici. Un normale mattone da casa probabilmente non è abbastanza poroso da essere di grande utilità, ma è decisamente meglio di niente.
Great video Richard fine this stuff fascinating watch more about filtration then I do fish videos good to see you back and looking forward to the results especially as am setting up anther 500-litre tank soon
Hello Richard in this video you do the absorption tests on 3 different types of filter blocks we would normally use in a sump I know your always happy to test most things and give a honest opinion I’ve just come across some videos from discus specialists called OZ discus who are based in Australia they talk about mechanical , biological, and chemical filtration but they also use a marine pure block which doesn’t go into any sump or canister filter but simply sits in the tank , please can you tel your subscribers if you have herd of this filtration block and if you have done any tests on it Regards. Paul
Hi, pondgur i have your boihome in my tropical tank and its doinga good job. Will sintered glass Leach silicates into the water? It's one thing I dont want leaching in my marine tank! Many thanks.
Well, say what you see and if you've watched the video and think that the Maxpect media which is coated in a sort of resin and actively repels water is the best for bacteria to colonize then go for it, lol
Unless your "forcing" water through theses media types your only getting bacterial growth on the "outside" surface areas only. This bio film is only 100 microns deep. The rest of the media is simply wasted or becomes plugged with debris. These medias are "snake oil". Purchase bio balls at a fraction of the price with tons more surface area than ceramic medias can provide. Reefers often times say the "ceramic media blocks didn't work for me"....and this is why. Happy reefing!
tippin turtle I had written an entire paragraph when I got to the part where he said one brick can support up to a 150 liter (40g) tank. Then I laughed and deleted my post. It’s as good as a sponge filter (maybe)! Oh wait-nitrate reducer... I’ll put some kitchen sponges in a low flow area of the sump... or some gravel...
Are you able to look at marine pure and give it your thoughts? Ideally, I would want a sump full of biohome, but due to where I'm situated, marine pure is the only 'affordable' filter media. Biohome where I am would be considered a high premium, the Ferrari of filter media. I personally like my marine pure balls, but I don't have anything else to compare it to.
I got another one, called detox blox. Made in the US. I put them in my sump just a couple weeks before this video. They say the detox blox never melt, which I like. So far so good with them but it's still hard to tell after only 2 weeks what the difference has been.
Hold the MaxSpect under a running tap. Watch the how easily the water runs THROUGH the material. It flows through before it can pool and run off. The flow rate on this stuff in phenomenal. The other 2 are ABSORBING water like a sponge. THE WATER WON'T FLOW THROUGH. The media needs to have movement through it in order to access the bacteria. Soaking up and holding the water is of limited help. There needs to be flow.
@@migueleespinosa2632 Maxspect nano cubes arent supposed to be bio media though. They contain tourmaline which breaks down and increases ORP. thats why you should change them after 6-12 months
Any Black Friday deals or promo codes on the new bricks Richard? I need a few to add to my 20kg of Ultimate and 5kg of ultra that's no reducing my Nitrates as much as I'd like?
Give me a ring on 07772848730 any time from tomorrow as we have some bricks to give away to different people making videos - the first batch was meant to be coloured like ultimate but colour came out messed up - structure and strength is still perfect but colour makes them not salable.
Your bricks look impressive Richard. I'll feature on my channel if you're interested in having GreatWave send a few over. Glad to see your videos posting vid's! Brightwell does warn about avoiding high water flow / high pressure areas.
I'm sure if you contact Don from Greatwave he will send a couple your way no worries - he has another order on the way now. Apologies for not interacting much on youtube - it's been mad crazy. Turnover doubled this year and as much as I don't want it to do that next year it looks set to continue the trend. I may have to give up making videos all together, lol.
Man... This is something that is so important and a subject i want to touch later. I'm still curious to compare with different brand because each brand use a different technique and i find it very intriguing! But something I would like to see is you emphasis too much on sucking up water i think. I think the focus should be more toward how bacteria develop well on the surface and the longevity of the product. It's also very ... special to make the hole for frag plug on biohome, in February i will make a quick video on aquarium frag for saltwater and I was going to say instead of using pvc pipe on each corner, use Biomedia brick, since we don't care about aesthetic. I never heard of you Biohome, look interesting, my question mark is how your different component use will affect the water parameter (PH, KH, calcium, etc...). I live in Canada so I don't think I have access to your brick but it look promising. I'm curious about the Brightwell brick, long term(?), I feel this one feed the bacteria, idk, I never really believe in the max spec one, but i do like the surface area providing, perhaps my opinions is wrong on this one, The eheim Substrat Pro seem interesting, form factor. Media brick like this is actually the cause of my first crash in my Saltwater tank, i though it was cycle, probably was, but i took a old brick from someone and is disintegrated in my tank and got a ammoniac spike which killed couple of my fish. Lesson learned... (nano tank effect)
How quickly a media draws water into the structure is extremely important as it is an indicator to how receptive it is to bacteria too so that part of media test is very important. It's no surprise to hear that the brick you used caused problems as microporous structures can't 'breathe' properly, toxins can build up and be released when the structure breaks down - I've seen a few reports of bricks breaking down and producing a 'rotten egg' smell which isn't good at all. Give me a ring any time if you're interested in taking a look at the Biohome brick as we have a few which aren't he right colour to give away (UK only). The first run was an attempt at making a coloured brick using the same trace elements as biohome ultimate but not all the colour developed properly due to the size of the media piece.
I would second the comment about running these on three 10 gallon tanks and running through the full nitrogen cycle at two weeks, 1 month, 4 months, 6 and 1 year.
You don't have to explain to me how good biohome media works, I've been using it since I returned to the hobby after a 12yr absence and see no reason to change it up anytime soon. But my boss at the lfs I work at needed some convincing so I pretty much did the same demonstration you did in this great infomentary video and I chuckled when he said where can I get a shit ton of this biohome. That was 8 months ago and he doesn't know about the new biohome bricks so that's going to blow his mind again once I show him this video when I go back to work tomorrow. We are in the USA so we order it from GreatWave Engineering and today I see they have a few in stock.
I went over the state of the bricks in the sump video I did a couple of months ago. Not much to report other than the Brightwell brick was disintegrating and it grew an afro of 'stuff' coming out of the brick as the water in the tank evaporated..
Hi Richard, Whats the likelihood of availability in Singapore for the Biohome? We have Biohome ultimate and plus available, but unfortunately not biogravel. Cheers!
Hey buddy how you been. Long time. I'm still doing my aquarium and I still have the same Bio-Home Ultimate I purchased from you like 8yrs ago plus what I've bought from the distributor u hooked me up with in the US.Greatwave
@@pondguru Hey buddy yes I'm doing well. Because like u said we've gone bat shit crazy over here.. My aquariums keep me sane... I want your opinion on this. I'm running a 450 hydor on a 55g with 90% bio- home ultimate the other media is some BS that came with the hydor. I'm gonna take the BS media out and replace it with 2x of the nano- tech bio blocks in 2 trays.. I think I will have MAXIMUM filtration then 😆. What do u think...
I am going 2 be setting up my first saltwater tank soon after years of being fresh only... If you have any red bricks that u can't shift let me know as I would love 2 use one in my new setup 🔥😁
Could you do a Biohome Brick in the shape of river stones? Would be wonderfull for the now popular river or hillstream tanks. Lava rock is too sharp for many of the hillstream species. With the high flow in the tank the biological filtration would be taken care of.
@WoundrousMindTrick I don't know. They are all expensive. They serve a purpose though and it would be easy for a lot of people to incorporate something like that in the hardscape to create a more complete nitrogen cycle. Try some oddballs when you have some batter left!
Si it’s the difference between the porosity, the permeability and the absorption characteristics. Add that the the surface area of the product. I am not sure this is a valid test for both aerobic and anaerobic bacterial colonization. I would guess that the better absorption would have slower water flow and would be better for anaerobic bacterial growth. Since the two competing products are mostly marketed towards the reef tank community where refugiums and carbon dosing are more common, I would say that the anaerobic bacteria are less of a factor. That being said I would think your Biohome product would perform much better in the denitrifying bacteria end of things. The brightwell will stop floating and moving. I would like to see the water flow test and also would like to see the marine pure .. lastly I would like to see a triton test done on water that each soak in for a month or two.
I have never commented on any UA-cam video before, but this video doesn't prove anything except that the biohome has better capillary action. Seeing as how these products would be fully submerged this makes no difference at all. What matters is how much beneficial bacteria they can hold.
Hi Richard, I think you need to ask the manufacture about the technical spect and the method of calculation surface area before adding your video, maybe they are right since any production need to be test and approved by the related authorities, I believe it is not easy by a company to say such inaccurate information therefore it is better to communicate with the company directly and get the information and make sure that the information inaccurate before publish such video
It is entirely natural as a growing surface so that's great to hear that you have noticed the difference. As the material is so receptive to water and all forms of beneficial bacteria the creators of Biohome are currently working on a form of growing media for hydroponic systems as that form of farming will be very popular in years to come both industrial and domestic situations. Early tests are phenomenal but the testing will take lots more tests with plants of many types before any viable product comes to market.
Richard, Great test. It will be very interesting to see how your wear test goes. I'm testing as well and thought I might have a video out before you, but should have known better. I was also surprised to see how poorly the Brightwell wicked. I used a bit more water in the tub. It took about 20 minutes for the Biohome Brick to wick completely to the top, which also surprised me. I wasn't sure it would make it that far. I got about 3" with the Brightwell. I soaked both of them and found the Birghtwell gained 680 grams and the Biohome gained 230 grams. Based on the capillary rise I estimated the average cavity size. Since the Biohome has dramatically better wicking it indicates the cavity sizes are considerably smaller. For what it's worth I estimated the Birghtwell has about twice the internal surface area as the Biohome, but this may plug quickly with biofilm which is much less pronounced in Biohome. It will be interesting to see how these sell. Gotta get busy tomorrow and get them up on my site. Happy holidays, and Happy Fish Keeping!
Good to hear that the results were comparable between the two bricks and I too was very surprised that the brightwell brick would not draw the liquid up considering the claims that the manufacturers make about it and considering how porous it 'feels'. Basically if a material is not receptive to water it is not receptive to bacteria but the maxspect plate probably shocked me the most as it actively repelled the water. I'm sure they will all hold water and bacteria to some degree but the success of the 3 types here will be very different for sure. I don't know why companies insist on using materials for manufacturing filter media which is not present in that form in Nature - if we look to Nature and learn from that then we are on the right track. It seems that whenever a company tries to blow nature away with 'science' it always ends in disappointment since Nature doesn't understand what science is trying to claim or improve.
Not sure I can see what an absorbency test proves (the media is permanently submerged). I personally wouldn't use any sintered glass media in a marine environment. It's a silica based media and will very slowly degrade releasing silicates, the higher the surface area the more to degrade.
@@Venomynous Well I have learnt something, I was puzzled with your accent as I never heard it before. Your business venture is interesting. I would think I could use cement and rock salt to get the same effect. I've built a 3d background for freshwater using cement and styrofoam and it turned out well. I'm wondering if there would be a business in saltwater cement decor that looks like live rock.
Nice video Richard and if it was me I would go for the third media brick as the first one just repelled liquid and the second was slow to absorb. Great video none the less for those users out there that need or use these bricks ATB GL & HH LittleJohn_MD 🇬🇧
Like all these much vaunted media products, basically pointless and just a way to empty peoples wallets. Even if by some magic your nitrates are at 0 you should still be doing water changes to add minerals back to the water.
I'm not sure what the point of testing the ability to pull water in is for..that doesn't demonstrate the block's ability to take on water or not..these media are all going to provide bacterial colonization. Any of the blocks can culture anaerobic bacteria as well but you would need a sump with a very low flow areas...it doesn't matter if your housing biohome ultimate or one of these blocks... without an extremely low flow area in a sump where the media has a chance to have a low oxygen environment, you'll never see any nitrate removal...these are just facts You could easily house aerobic nitrifying bacteria AND anaerobic denitrifying bacteria but your never going to achieve it in a canister filter...a decently large sump with 3-4 separate sections where water is moving very slowly through is what you need. There is no point in buying expensive media and then putting it in a canister where you have a constant blast of highly oxygenated water going through it.
![Sump Filter 6 Month Follow-Up [Plus *DETAILED* Breakdown]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vOHZhLw5sAs/mqdefault.jpg)
Sorry, this is a long one...
Maxspect Nano Tech Plates (Amazon): geni.us/N0ABQHw
Continuum / Brightwell Brick (Amazon): geni.us/HZ7HF
Biohome Sump Brick (FilterPro): bit.ly/33rDF37
Biohome Sump Brick (Amazon): geni.us/Jicl
Damn.....getting the materials for this test video cost me almost £90 so I hope you appreciate the effort - share this video with anyone you think may find something useful in it. Thanks for watching.
I mention and show the results of the wear test in a specific video I did on sump set ups here: ua-cam.com/video/Wqt9zA6mqao/v-deo.html
Basically there was no wear on the Biohome Brick or Maxpect plate and the Brightwell brick started to fall apart and release some suspicious looking chemical residue........that is shown around 16 minutes into that video.
TIME STAMPS:
00:00 Intro and Continuum / Brightwell Brick
05:47 Maxspect Nano Tech Plates
08:57 Biohome Sump Brick
13:54 Continuum / Brightwell Brick microscopic view
15:06 Maxspect Nano Tech Plates microscopic view
16:25 Biohome Sump Brick microscopic view
18:19 Receptiveness / porosity tests
27:07 Summary and introduction to next test
28:46 Explaining the accelerated wear test
31:04 Outro
MAXPECT NANO TECH PLATES are very well made, extremely strong and have a very open structure. However, the feel of the plate is very 'waxy' and the material (resin?) used to stick the small ceramic beads together doesn't look or feel like something which would be good for bacteria to colonize.
As you can see in the video the material used for the construction actively repels water but the structure will allow water to penetrate the plate when it is submerged in water so it should support bacteria to some degree.
I genuinely like what Maxspect have tried to do with this type of filter media but have serious reservations about how suitable it is for bacteria and unfortunately the 'for aquariums up to' figure quoted on the packaging is highly likely to be fantasy (that is a very common problem for filter media and filters).
CONTINUUM / BRIGHTWELL SUMP BRICKS are extremely light and have a very porous structure although as you can see from the video that does not seem to be very receptive to water.
The internal structure seems to have trapped bubbles inside it as it took ages to sink (I had to weigh it down under water) but that is common for filtration products made from a ceramic 'slurry' dust.
I have serious doubts about the structure of this material lasting a long time although it is described as being able to last for '50 years' and being suitable for aquariums 'up to 1000 US gallons'.
At the same time warnings are given against touching the brick once it has been in the sump for a while (as the brick goes soft) and breaks up if moved. Hmmmmm.
Online reports from users of this product seem to yield initial good results regarding a reduction in nitrate followed by reports of the brick falling apart after a few months - that could be due to the dosed sulphur and aragonite being used up and weakening the structure? If so then this is a short term (expensive) chemical treatment and not a viable biological media for long term bacteria support......time will tell as I have all the test subjects in an aquarium to test the natural wear on them myself.
BIOHOME SUMP BRICKS are made from the same material as Biohome Ultra which has been used for approx. 20 years in sumps, shower filters and large aquarium filters.
As you can see from the video it is extremely receptive to water and if it is receptive to water that directly indicates receptiveness to bacterial colonization.
The Biohome Sump Bricks are made from sand and powdered glass (which binds the particles of sand together). It is an extremely natural surface for bacterial colonization.
They aren't pretty since each one is hand made and they do not come in a fancy box but the amount of water they will filter (for a full cycle) is realistic, usable surface area is excellent (receptive and accessible) and they will last as long as you have your aquarium sump.
Part 2 with results of 'Wear Test' and a summary of all 3 types of media will be linked to here when the video is done. That could be a few months...
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS ON AMAZON: goo.gl/jMaBWy
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/pondguru_outdoors/
FILMING EQUIPMENT:
Panasonic HC-VX870 HD camcorder geni.us/3UwE
+Rode stereo microphone: geni.us/4OL
+Rode 'deadcat' mic cover: geni.us/1pmn
JVC Everio quad proof HD camcorder: geni.us/e09e
+Rode 'deadcat' mic cover (opened up and held between tripod and camera base) geni.us/dee24
Zomei Z666 tripod: geni.us/1a1af3
Manfrotto MTPIXI-B PIXI mini tripod: geni.us/87f7
If you've enjoyed this video please check out the playlists on my channel for hundreds more - on a variety of subjects.
Feel free to share or link any of my videos on facebook, twitter, forums etc. for the benefit of anyone you think may also enjoy watching.
See you next time.
Pondguru
Pondguru ,If frag plugs are too fiddly to make out of sintered glass how about artificial reef rock? The ceramic artifical rock is just as heavy and expensive but less effective.
Good coral growth combined with filtration, until its overgrown.,I've always wonder if live rock filtration would decrease as organisms encrust it.
P.S, Great series of videos.
I love Biohome Ultra. I use it in my canister filter. My guess is the Biohome brick is a winner. Appreciate you doing this test!
Why can't I use regular reef rock???. It's been around for a very long time
@@davidabbott1015 many countries are restricting reef/live rock export, you can also introduce pest organisms to your aquarium hence many companies have already introduced artificial reef rock. Biohome seems to be an exceptional medium for coral growth, even without trace element infusions which also have a positive effect, so a biohome based reef rock could provide a very promising surface for flourishing reef builds.
Pondguru biohome product from where ?
How about setting up 3 smallish tanks each with the different bricks and adding a measured amount of fish food each day testing the resulting cycle process to see which would obtain a full nitrogen cycle first? Once a full cycle was achieved you could then see which media could handle the most food input.
A pain to do and may take a couple months but the results would be very interesting. What do you think?
Random thought for @10:48 frag plugs made of the biohome media would be fiddly as you say, but a solution might be flat round discs that could be glued on top of conventional frag plugs.
Would have liked to see the marine pure brick in there.
Yup me too. I have 2 of the biggest ones they manufacture now in my system for many years
....and relax. Pondguru is back.
This is why I use biohome. Ever since I started fish keeping and found your video on modding the APS EF-1000 Filter. I'm looking forward to seeing more test videos like this, especially a water flow one.
I have the bright well bricks and plates. The bricks have gone soft. The anti nitrate one got MUCH softer. I could squeeze it to mush if I tried with little effort. However the plates are like new after 2 years or more. I can definitely support the claims of fantastic biological colony capacity. I don't want to tell you for fear of flaming but I have a 220 gallon tank drastically overstocked with no ill effects as long as I do decent water changes with this media
Great video Richard,
Favourite part - surface area "people just pull them out of their arse!"
I cried 😂😂😂😂😂
You could make cintered glass disks and epoxy them to the ceramic frag plugs. Thanks for another cool video!
After using 4 kilos of ultimate bio-media for 9 months on a 180L with goldfish my nitrates is reading 0 with JBL test. Impressive stuff
Good stuff. Please add a final test, putting them into a sump/filter/etc to see how fast the bacteria colonize them.
I can honestly say (after 6 months use) I use the maxspect bio spheres on my reef tank, but have also used on freshwater cichlid tanks. I’ve used marine pure and it disintegrates over time. Turns to rubble. I have also used eheim substrat pro and biohome ultimate (freshwater). My top 3 are no1 maxspect bio spheres no2 biohome ultimate no3 substrat pro. I don’t know what the scientists say but I’m going by results over a prolonged period. Would love to do a review of the new biohome 😉
have you tried poret filter foam?
What fishkeepers say is always the most important thing as scientists get paid to say whatever the people paying them want them to 'endorse' or say. Unfortunately many UA-camrs are also getting paid to tell people what the companies 'sponsoring' them want them to say too - that's why I turn down all sponsors. You'd be amazed what some are willing to pay to buy your soul....
We have quite a few bricks from the first firing which are not the correct colour - they are still perfectly structured but just not able to be sold so I will be giving them away for people to test in their sumps. I'll announce that in a future video (soon).
How much ultimate are you currently using and what size / stock is the tank?
Feel free to phone me on 07772848730 as I often miss comments.
@@ThousandYardStare Just realize you were using a different account to make that comments, i intrigue by this comments, loved it ;).
I'm interested on the substrat pro. Ive seen bag of different media in China, but i don't know what they are made of. There so many variety and so cheap also.
Thousand Yard Stare thanks mate. I’m using 20kg (less now I sold a couple of filters that had some inside) inside various filters, mainly all external filters, I’ve reviewed quite a few, and now trying my first h.o.b (tidal 110) and quite impressed. Nearly all 4x2x2 tanks , single species, mainly breeding pairs of rare new world cichlids. My favourite way to fill an external is pour in the ultimate followed by pouring substrat pro into all the nooks and crannies. I bought the entire 20kg from someone who had ordered it on eBay for his fish room and got out of the hobby. I gave him a pair of bedside lamps for the whole lot lol. But yeah I honestly do rate the ultimate. I also rate the biogravel, the only reason I choose substrat pro is I can get it for peanuts (all the eheim media that normally would come in the bag with the filters) so it’s silly not to buy it. It’s your marine media I may buy for my sump for my marine tank. Never used your marine media. Marine pure disintegrated real fast even when I had it within a reactor. Maxspect is super tough in comparison (only used spheres though) but I have moray eels, grouper, lion fish etc plus anenomes that all eat loads of meaty foods twice a day and I have the spheres in a big reactor run off the pump of my chiller/heater, and even with the 80+kg of live rock/sand I still noticed my nitrates hit 60ppm within 5 days, I was using siporax in a reactor which had hardly any noticeable affect on nitrates. When I took some maxspect from my sps frag tanks sump I noticed a difference on my nitrates (was already 6 months mature). I’m almost at the point now of hardly using any no-pox. Thanks for the response
Thousand Yard Stare I’ve got too many tanks to list in a comment. I have a good few on here though...
Biohome is still the king of filter media.
What a great video. Your experiments did an amazing job of showing what the true effective porosity of each product is. It was very interesting to see how a much more angular grain size created a better effective porosity. As a geologist and fish nerd, this content spoke to me on so many levels. Can't wait to see how the cement components effect the structural integrity of the product.
Richard can make me laugh at a video review of bricks, Nice to see new videos coming up.
Regards from Brazil.
Ahhhhhh yes, It's my favorite filtration professor. Those things are a trip, I'm assuming they must take the place of several smaller pcs. of media. My guess is they provide more surface area?
I guess maybe I should wait to comment until after watching the remainder of the video...I always learn something when I do.
Good to see you Richard!
honestly for me i like the idea of using them because they are just ... massive and easy to move if i ever need to,
I respect your videos and analysis of the products. I have been in the hobby for over 50 years. The more I've watched the latest "Bio" products over the last decade (of which I have tried many), the more I am convinced that a sand product is the best. I also believe that a person can create a bio filter medium by using a medium grade aragonite sand (help with PH stability) in either a container/basket or a bag. The bag creates convenience for rinsing. I currently use Marine Pure Spheres (got them before I found out about bio-home) that are holding up well. Based on my tank's African Cichlids overstocking (120 us gal) running two Fluval FX6s, the tank is very stable and healthy with breeding constantly going on. However I plan on using Hawaiian Black Gravel in one of the baskets ( have an extra 20lb bag) as both a bio and filter element similar to an undergraval filter. Protecting the filter motor with filter pads before and after the sand tray. Thoughts?
Hi Richard, any update on the big pond and filter?
That’s super interesting. I’m gradually swapping out my sump bio media. I’m excited to see how biohome does.
Ciao, video molto interessante... mi stavo chiedendo se la stessa cosa è usando un mattone rosso forato da edilizia quello per capirci che si usa per le costruzioni delle case...? Che ne pensi?
Qualunque cosa funzionerà come mezzo biologico poiché i batteri cresceranno sulla maggior parte delle superfici. Un normale mattone da casa probabilmente non è abbastanza poroso da essere di grande utilità, ma è decisamente meglio di niente.
@@pondguru grazie 😊🙏👋
Great video as always
Nice to see you here again Richard.
Regards and a hug from Germany
Great video Richard fine this stuff fascinating watch more about filtration then I do fish videos good to see you back and looking forward to the results especially as am setting up anther 500-litre tank soon
A new pondguru aquarium video, the hype is real
Hello Richard in this video you do the absorption tests on 3 different types of filter blocks we would normally use in a sump I know your always happy to test most things and give a honest opinion I’ve just come across some videos from discus specialists called OZ discus who are based in Australia they talk about mechanical , biological, and chemical filtration but they also use a marine pure block which doesn’t go into any sump or canister filter but simply sits in the tank , please can you tel your subscribers if you have herd of this filtration block and if you have done any tests on it
Regards. Paul
Would have been interesting if you could have also done Marinepure as well.
Looking forward to trying one of these new bricks.
Hi, pondgur i have your boihome in my tropical tank and its doinga good job.
Will sintered glass Leach silicates into the water? It's one thing I dont want leaching in my marine tank! Many thanks.
max pec all the way it looks like....the best fish expert i know highly recommends max spec as well.
Well, say what you see and if you've watched the video and think that the Maxpect media which is coated in a sort of resin and actively repels water is the best for bacteria to colonize then go for it, lol
Unless your "forcing" water through theses media types your only getting bacterial growth on the "outside" surface areas only. This bio film is only 100 microns deep. The rest of the media is simply wasted or becomes plugged with debris. These medias are "snake oil". Purchase bio balls at a fraction of the price with tons more surface area than ceramic medias can provide. Reefers often times say the "ceramic media blocks didn't work for me"....and this is why. Happy reefing!
tippin turtle I had written an entire paragraph when I got to the part where he said one brick can support up to a 150 liter (40g) tank. Then I laughed and deleted my post. It’s as good as a sponge filter (maybe)! Oh wait-nitrate reducer... I’ll put some kitchen sponges in a low flow area of the sump... or some gravel...
Great range of tests Richard, looking forward to the end results. many thanks
I've been looking for content comparing these things, nice video. Though I'm likley just to stick to my sump with a deep sand bed
Nice to see you back.
Are you able to look at marine pure and give it your thoughts?
Ideally, I would want a sump full of biohome, but due to where I'm situated, marine pure is the only 'affordable' filter media. Biohome where I am would be considered a high premium, the Ferrari of filter media.
I personally like my marine pure balls, but I don't have anything else to compare it to.
I got another one, called detox blox. Made in the US. I put them in my sump just a couple weeks before this video. They say the detox blox never melt, which I like. So far so good with them but it's still hard to tell after only 2 weeks what the difference has been.
I can’t find the bio home brick on Amazon following the link that you provided :(
Great video Richard
Richard. How about looking at the best way to set up a fluval tank as the filter is in the tank can you pimp one...?
He already did: ua-cam.com/video/aFXsFNApU-U/v-deo.html
Great experiment. I can't wait to get the sample to Germany.
Can any of these be used in a waterfall bed for a koi pond and will it help?
Hey ....... you're back!!!!!! Freaking awesome, Pondmeister!
Maybe you should ask them to think about using biohome material to make live rocks.
Hold the MaxSpect under a running tap. Watch the how easily the water runs THROUGH the material. It flows through before it can pool and run off. The flow rate on this stuff in phenomenal. The other 2 are ABSORBING water like a sponge. THE WATER WON'T FLOW THROUGH. The media needs to have movement through it in order to access the bacteria. Soaking up and holding the water is of limited help. There needs to be flow.
Absorption helps with nitrate reduction.
@@migueleespinosa2632
Maxspect nano cubes arent supposed to be bio media though. They contain tourmaline which breaks down and increases ORP. thats why you should change them after 6-12 months
@@Bullshitvol2 That's a different product. Same company. Different product. They have at least three different bricks. Plus other media.
Hi Richard do you have the results video for the durability test?
Any Black Friday deals or promo codes on the new bricks Richard? I need a few to add to my 20kg of Ultimate and 5kg of ultra that's no reducing my Nitrates as much as I'd like?
Give me a ring on 07772848730 any time from tomorrow as we have some bricks to give away to different people making videos - the first batch was meant to be coloured like ultimate but colour came out messed up - structure and strength is still perfect but colour makes them not salable.
@@pondguru Thanks for the Reply Richard I'll call you tomorrow.
hello so what is the best filter media ???????
Your bricks look impressive Richard. I'll feature on my channel if you're interested in having GreatWave send a few over. Glad to see your videos posting vid's! Brightwell does warn about avoiding high water flow / high pressure areas.
I'm sure if you contact Don from Greatwave he will send a couple your way no worries - he has another order on the way now.
Apologies for not interacting much on youtube - it's been mad crazy. Turnover doubled this year and as much as I don't want it to do that next year it looks set to continue the trend. I may have to give up making videos all together, lol.
What’s the difference between these bricks and Bakki house media you get in bakki shower koi filters?
Maxspect now do Nano-Tech Bio Frag Plugs
Man... This is something that is so important and a subject i want to touch later. I'm still curious to compare with different brand because each brand use a different technique and i find it very intriguing! But something I would like to see is you emphasis too much on sucking up water i think. I think the focus should be more toward how bacteria develop well on the surface and the longevity of the product. It's also very ... special to make the hole for frag plug on biohome, in February i will make a quick video on aquarium frag for saltwater and I was going to say instead of using pvc pipe on each corner, use Biomedia brick, since we don't care about aesthetic.
I never heard of you Biohome, look interesting, my question mark is how your different component use will affect the water parameter (PH, KH, calcium, etc...).
I live in Canada so I don't think I have access to your brick but it look promising.
I'm curious about the Brightwell brick, long term(?), I feel this one feed the bacteria, idk, I never really believe in the max spec one, but i do like the surface area providing, perhaps my opinions is wrong on this one, The eheim Substrat Pro seem interesting, form factor.
Media brick like this is actually the cause of my first crash in my Saltwater tank, i though it was cycle, probably was, but i took a old brick from someone and is disintegrated in my tank and got a ammoniac spike which killed couple of my fish. Lesson learned... (nano tank effect)
How quickly a media draws water into the structure is extremely important as it is an indicator to how receptive it is to bacteria too so that part of media test is very important.
It's no surprise to hear that the brick you used caused problems as microporous structures can't 'breathe' properly, toxins can build up and be released when the structure breaks down - I've seen a few reports of bricks breaking down and producing a 'rotten egg' smell which isn't good at all.
Give me a ring any time if you're interested in taking a look at the Biohome brick as we have a few which aren't he right colour to give away (UK only). The first run was an attempt at making a coloured brick using the same trace elements as biohome ultimate but not all the colour developed properly due to the size of the media piece.
Very good video...
Keep up the god work
First to watch... 👍
Excellent this helped me make an informed choice in buying a bio brick (and also biohome ultimate) for my sump for my new south American cichlid tank.
I would second the comment about running these on three 10 gallon tanks and running through the full nitrogen cycle at two weeks, 1 month, 4 months, 6 and 1 year.
Hey, pondguru is back!!👍
So where is part 2? Did the manufacturers call you not to publish part 2?
I had a brief round up in the 'Sump' video which was pit out a couple of months ago.
You don't have to explain to me how good biohome media works, I've been using it since I returned to the hobby after a 12yr absence and see no reason to change it up anytime soon. But my boss at the lfs I work at needed some convincing so I pretty much did the same demonstration you did in this great infomentary video and I chuckled when he said where can I get a shit ton of this biohome. That was 8 months ago and he doesn't know about the new biohome bricks so that's going to blow his mind again once I show him this video when I go back to work tomorrow. We are in the USA so we order it from GreatWave Engineering and today I see they have a few in stock.
Did part 2 results video ever get made as would love to see it. Great video Richard
I went over the state of the bricks in the sump video I did a couple of months ago. Not much to report other than the Brightwell brick was disintegrating and it grew an afro of 'stuff' coming out of the brick as the water in the tank evaporated..
@@pondguru ok mate thanks
@pondguru when do you think these brick will make it to the US? I am not seeing them on Amazon or Great Engineering yet.
Tom McManus currently being shipped...
Hi Richard, Whats the likelihood of availability in Singapore for the Biohome? We have Biohome ultimate and plus available, but unfortunately not biogravel. Cheers!
Have you made the part 2 yet
Pondy is back in town !!
Do they say it processes nitrates? because there claims could be correct if it's only for Ammonia and Nitrite.
Brilliant video I've subscribed 👍
I believe the maxspect are supposed to be laid vertically
How does your media compares to Sera Siporax?
Wish u would of tested marine pure too
Hey buddy how you been. Long time. I'm still doing my aquarium and I still have the same Bio-Home Ultimate I purchased from you like 8yrs ago plus what I've bought from the distributor u hooked me up with in the US.Greatwave
Nice one, man - I hope you're doing well as much of the US seems to have gone crazy in the last 2 years.
@@pondguru Hey buddy yes I'm doing well. Because like u said we've gone bat shit crazy over here.. My aquariums keep me sane... I want your opinion on this. I'm running a 450 hydor on a 55g with 90% bio- home ultimate the other media is some BS that came with the hydor. I'm gonna take the BS media out and replace it with 2x of the nano- tech bio blocks in 2 trays.. I think I will have MAXIMUM filtration then 😆. What do u think...
I am going 2 be setting up my first saltwater tank soon after years of being fresh only... If you have any red bricks that u can't shift let me know as I would love 2 use one in my new setup 🔥😁
Could you do a Biohome Brick in the shape of river stones? Would be wonderfull for the now popular river or hillstream tanks. Lava rock is too sharp for many of the hillstream species. With the high flow in the tank the biological filtration would be taken care of.
@WoundrousMindTrick I don't know. They are all expensive. They serve a purpose though and it would be easy for a lot of people to incorporate something like that in the hardscape to create a more complete nitrogen cycle. Try some oddballs when you have some batter left!
How can they say it works for 50 years when it's not been on the market that long?
Si it’s the difference between the porosity, the permeability and the absorption characteristics. Add that the the surface area of the product. I am not sure this is a valid test for both aerobic and anaerobic bacterial colonization. I would guess that the better absorption would have slower water flow and would be better for anaerobic bacterial growth. Since the two competing products are mostly marketed towards the reef tank community where refugiums and carbon dosing are more common, I would say that the anaerobic bacteria are less of a factor. That being said I would think your Biohome product would perform much better in the denitrifying bacteria end of things. The brightwell will stop floating and moving. I would like to see the water flow test and also would like to see the marine pure .. lastly I would like to see a triton test done on water that each soak in for a month or two.
Should seal a funnel on it, with 1 liter in it and see which one slow the water the less
I had the old and new continuum bricks both fell apart.
Hi, was it placed in high flow water?
C DC yes
Can you test against marine pure block please.
Any news yet on the wear of these?
As ever spot on mate.
No marine pure block?
Hahaha looks like you’ve just got some cinder blocks and put the biohome name to it 😂 I’m only joking I know biohome is the nuts! 💯👍
Whats price of Biohome Sump Brick? On the internet its 29.99 not 13 14 pounds mentioned in the clip.
He doesny say 13 14 pounds he says about 30 English pounds
I have never commented on any UA-cam video before, but this video doesn't prove anything except that the biohome has better capillary action. Seeing as how these products would be fully submerged this makes no difference at all. What matters is how much beneficial bacteria they can hold.
hi Richard where have you gone?
Hi Richard, I think you need to ask the manufacture about the technical spect and the method of calculation surface area before adding your video, maybe they are right since any production need to be test and approved by the related authorities, I believe it is not easy by a company to say such inaccurate information therefore it is better to communicate with the company directly and get the information and make sure that the information inaccurate before publish such video
i know what you mean about biohome growing stuff better. i have biohome in my sump and it grow sponges like you would not believe.
It is entirely natural as a growing surface so that's great to hear that you have noticed the difference.
As the material is so receptive to water and all forms of beneficial bacteria the creators of Biohome are currently working on a form of growing media for hydroponic systems as that form of farming will be very popular in years to come both industrial and domestic situations. Early tests are phenomenal but the testing will take lots more tests with plants of many types before any viable product comes to market.
Water molecules are not bacteria, what looks shiny to you is, to a bacterium, rough. Food for thought.
You’re a mad scientist lol
Where would one get the biohome brick I am in Canada
Amazon UK.
Richard, Great test. It will be very interesting to see how your wear test goes. I'm testing as well and thought I might have a video out before you, but should have known better. I was also surprised to see how poorly the Brightwell wicked. I used a bit more water in the tub. It took about 20 minutes for the Biohome Brick to wick completely to the top, which also surprised me. I wasn't sure it would make it that far. I got about 3" with the Brightwell. I soaked both of them and found the Birghtwell gained 680 grams and the Biohome gained 230 grams. Based on the capillary rise I estimated the average cavity size. Since the Biohome has dramatically better wicking it indicates the cavity sizes are considerably smaller. For what it's worth I estimated the Birghtwell has about twice the internal surface area as the Biohome, but this may plug quickly with biofilm which is much less pronounced in Biohome. It will be interesting to see how these sell. Gotta get busy tomorrow and get them up on my site. Happy holidays, and Happy Fish Keeping!
Good to hear that the results were comparable between the two bricks and I too was very surprised that the brightwell brick would not draw the liquid up considering the claims that the manufacturers make about it and considering how porous it 'feels'.
Basically if a material is not receptive to water it is not receptive to bacteria but the maxspect plate probably shocked me the most as it actively repelled the water. I'm sure they will all hold water and bacteria to some degree but the success of the 3 types here will be very different for sure.
I don't know why companies insist on using materials for manufacturing filter media which is not present in that form in Nature - if we look to Nature and learn from that then we are on the right track. It seems that whenever a company tries to blow nature away with 'science' it always ends in disappointment since Nature doesn't understand what science is trying to claim or improve.
Any update on this test
Not sure I can see what an absorbency test proves (the media is permanently submerged).
I personally wouldn't use any sintered glass media in a marine environment. It's a silica based media and will very slowly degrade releasing silicates, the higher the surface area the more to degrade.
actually think the one repelling water might be a good idea since the bacteria would have to hold on and the water will easily pass through the media
I wish there was a brick made of siporax.
Where is biohome from ?
Hi fella liked your video fella cloud I just use breeze block
Let's get a cross section going
Hi, I would like to know where are you in the UK? You sound Irish. Also, how is business doing for you?
LOL that is no Irish accent it's north-east Geordie accent.
@@Venomynous Well I have learnt something, I was puzzled with your accent as I never heard it before. Your business venture is interesting. I would think I could use cement and rock salt to get the same effect. I've built a 3d background for freshwater using cement and styrofoam and it turned out well. I'm wondering if there would be a business in saltwater cement decor that looks like live rock.
Marinepure should of been in the test
I purchased 3 similar bricks from a big name company for £6
Nice video Richard and if it was me I would go for the third media brick as the first one just repelled liquid and the second was slow to absorb. Great video none the less for those users out there that need or use these bricks
ATB GL & HH
LittleJohn_MD 🇬🇧
Less chat, more hat
😀
Snake oil
Like all these much vaunted media products, basically pointless and just a way to empty peoples wallets. Even if by some magic your nitrates are at 0 you should still be doing water changes to add minerals back to the water.
I'm not sure what the point of testing the ability to pull water in is for..that doesn't demonstrate the block's ability to take on water or not..these media are all going to provide bacterial colonization. Any of the blocks can culture anaerobic bacteria as well but you would need a sump with a very low flow areas...it doesn't matter if your housing biohome ultimate or one of these blocks... without an extremely low flow area in a sump where the media has a chance to have a low oxygen environment, you'll never see any nitrate removal...these are just facts
You could easily house aerobic nitrifying bacteria AND anaerobic denitrifying bacteria but your never going to achieve it in a canister filter...a decently large sump with 3-4 separate sections where water is moving very slowly through is what you need. There is no point in buying expensive media and then putting it in a canister where you have a constant blast of highly oxygenated water going through it.