Out-Compete Nuisance Algae & Reef Tank Uglies?
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Kick reef tank uglies out of your aquarium! Today, Matthew is talking about the various types of ceramic bio-media, and what they can do for you and your saltwater aquarium. Whether you just want to bolster your existing aquarium's biological filtration, or add more to make up for a minimalist aquascape, we've got you covered with great tips & tricks! Check it out here!
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Well done video Matthew regarding ceramic media and the importance of it
I use these in quarantine tanks. Make sure you have good flow to utilize the surface area
Excellent video
Some Ceramic media will and does reduce nitrates, put them in a very low flow area with less oxygen to reach the centre of the media they work exactly the same as deep inside live rock does, they reduce nitrates very well pick a very high flow area they convert ammonia and nitrite into nitrates. Also some manufacturers such as maxspect are selling specifc nitrate reducing ceramic media.
@Matthew @BRStv yes I have
Since you're covering these, maybe give us a little video, talking if these will leech aluminum to the tank? Everytime I think about switching to these, I always see people complaining they leech aluminum and what not.
I have not done an ICP but I am using two large Marine Pure blocks and I have 40 acropora growing very well. Total there are about 80 specimens and so far not one loss. On an earlier aquarium that I had two also I did have an ICP and no metals were out of balance. I did hear mention of it on 'The Forums' but I have never heard of a block itself being tested. Something like 'I have elevated aluminum, its the Marine Pure' but it was only an ICP test, not a test of the block. Ambiguous at best.
@mark. Where would the aluminum come from then? I used these spheres and my icp tests showed elevated aluminum, ditched them immediately!
Quick question on this media, Ive heard it can leach aluminium, have you ever had issues?
Matthew do we need to clean the ceramic bio media with toothbrush to remove detritus after one year or earlier when we are cleaning sump?
Can one use the ceramic balls or shapes in their display tanks?
Great video covering ceramic media. One thing in question, you mentioned placing the Marine pure spheres in a bag so when you need to rinse it, it's much easier. You said in RODI water. Wouldn't that kill most of the beneficial bacteria? I've always rinsed mine in saltwater. Happy Reefing!
Yes you are right. I totally misspoke! Good catch!
Won’t rinsing in RODI water hurt the bacteria?
Didn’t these crumble after X amount of time? Or was that fixed in these new batches
My tank is loaded with ceramic marine gems and I still had a super rough ugly phase despite leaving the lights off for the first few months, adding bottled bacteria and taking it slow turning on the lights
I belive you can't avoid the ugly phase. Altough use fluconazole and just diatom will be the only problem, what is easy to blow off or suck down and you have a pristine tank
I have been watching it! I think I’m finally on the other side of the ugly phase now (after around 3 months). The turning point was adding 4 corals from WWC, I didn’t dip them (I know, risky!) to ensure I could get all the good biome that came with them. Over the following 2 weeks, I watched the Dino’s, GHA and cyano slowly melt away. It felt like a miracle.
Any aluminum laches in marine pure block?
When would u add these?? During the cycle stage or afterwards??
Either works
I’ve always wondered if pumice stone would be a viable and more affordable option.
If you look at its surface and watch how it reacts to water it’s very similar to the ceramic media.
🤷🏼♂️ 🤷🏼♂️ 🤷🏼♂️
Seachem Matrix recommends a VERY low flow rate to get the nitrate reduction benefit. Perhaps you guys had too much flow going through the test sumps?
Can you use to much or is more always better?
Can I add a bio brick with Microbacter 7 to a tank that’s only 5 to 6 months old? Would that help establish good bacteria?
You can definitely add more bio media and bacteria to an established system
@@BulkReefSupply thank you. Was very worried about messing something up if I did this.
i use my water change water to rinse my media
They ever get rid of all the aluminum in this stuff???
could you just use extra live rock rubble instead of the bio blocks?
A box of bio balls is equal to 100 pounds of live rock I’d stick with bio balls personally and a whole box fits in most sumps
@@pstiikkreefing8937 ahh ok thanks for clearing that up.
Denitrification is a tricky subject. It's less about what media or rock is available, and far more about how much oxygen is available. But it's a fun topic to explore
Denitrification as a biopathway becomes available in facultative anaerobic bacteria that are in a very low oxygen environment, but not yet a fully anaerobic environment. It's a condition known as anoxic (not the medical anoxic, but the microbiological definition) where by dissolved oxygen is completely unavailable, but oxygen containing compounds are still present. You can test for this using an ORP probe if you have something like a plenum; it will read between -50 & +50 mV. A far cry from the typical 250+ mV of a saltwater reef.
Under those conditions, usually in sediment over 3-5 inches (and not often in porous rock or media): Facultative anaerobes can strip the Oxygen off the molecule and use it as an electron acceptor in respiration. Several compounds can be used by the bacteria, one of which is Nitrate, another is Nitrite. And that reduction process creates N2 gas. It's also worth noting that denitrification is still aerobic respiration, it just adding an extra step to procure a free Oxygen atom.
It's very very hard to purposely create it with bio media or in rock, and extremely hard to test for it in rock. The most reliable way to create these conditions is with a sand bed and a plenum. Where layers of aerobic bacteria in the sand strip out the O2, thus at somewhere between 3 & 5 inches you create an anoxic area for bacterial stratification. The issue however, as that as biofilm grows it fouls and clogs the porosity of the substrate leading to anoxic areas higher in the substrate, and the possibility of fully anaerobic zones developing. Creating and maintaing these conditions is difficult to maintain in lab settings, let alone in your tank or sump.
However, if the bio media is kept in a low oxygen area (which you should not really want to create in a captive reef), you can theoretically create an anoxic zone in the bio media.
However, (and this is critical) proving denitrification took place requires being able to measure the amount of N2 gas produced (usually difficult outside of a lab), as nitrogen is HIGHLY mobile and often changes forms. It is more likely someone thinks they created denitrification, but in reality excess nitrate was just taken up by another biopathway in the system. Hence why the hobby only provides anecdote. We'd need lab quality tests and replicants from a hobbyist to prove it.
I'm not trying to challenge your statement for or against bio media leading to denitrification, I'm just providing context. As what I described is a summary of the scientific theory behind denitrification and why some hobbyists claim to have created it. I would agree that hobbyists are very unlikely to purposely create denitrification in anything other than a sand bed, and even less likely to maintain it long term as it tends to shift to anaerobic conditions as the bacteria multiples. But, I really do like this topic and it pops up from time to time (hence the post).
Nice write up. Keep practicing reefs. You have a long way to come. Glad you can read.
Detritus traps
Are you doing videos anymore?
I used a big box in my new 70g and honestly I don't feel like it did much of anything. I've been at this 15 years so this is not my first new tank. I'm not saying there is no benefit but its certainly not magic.
So i cannot use them if i don't have a water filter? I have a small fisht tank and haven't been using a filter. Can i use ceramic bio balls?
I hate how some of these tend to crumble
All of which gets clogged in about a week it's my only argument to the square footage thing
using media alone will not stop the "uglies"
its best to cycle your rocks ahead of time if you wanna avoid any new tank "uglies"
not sure the title is very accurate to the content. the video is clearly about ceramic media, while the title is about algae and tank uglies not really mentioned at all.
Water will always take the route of least resistance
Ceramic media is not that effective honestly and a 30 PPI sponge is way better. Hence why sponge filters are so effective at keeping an aquarium clean.
Wait till you hear about siporax
I got those nasty orange gold diatoms, that were there for over a month, the only natural way that worked out for was simple cheap beautiful God blessed, miraculous… nerite snails. Those Diatoms were gone in matter of days :)