# Biohome Ultimate media



## jalz1222

good day
has anyone used a media called Biohome? biome ultimate/plus/mini ?
they claim it is better than Matrix and claim it can remove ammonia, nitrite and nitrate!!!


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## workharddieproud

I have been using BioHome since August 14th, this year. The verdict is still out, it's really kinda hard to say unless you do a really good time study on things like media. But I still have it in my canister. If you want to try it out, I purchased mine from Great Wave Engineering.


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## Kanorin

jalz1222 said:


> good day
> has anyone used a media called Biohome? biome ultimate/plus/mini ?
> they claim it is better than Matrix and claim it can remove ammonia, nitrite and nitrate!!!


Any media seeded with denitrifying bacteria removes ammonia and nitrite. On the description page that I found I don't see where they claim that it removes nitrate - maybe you are looking at a different website - but I'd be extremely skeptical of any claims of a media removing nitrate for any extended length of time. If it really worked like that, everyone would buy it and would pay lots for it because it would eliminate water changes.


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## jalz1222

They do state that I am sure %100 below is the statement word by word , you can also check you tube they clearly say that as well 
THE HUGE AVAILABLE AND PROTECTED SURFACE AREA ALLOWS AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC BACTERIA TO THRIVE CREATING AN EXCELLENT ENVIRONMENT FOR THE REMOVAL OF NOT ONLY AMMONIA AND NITRITE BUT ALSO NITRATE TOO


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## jalz1222

The only way to check these claims is by using the media for at least 6 months and test the water every week to monitor the changes, but this media is expensive it would be a total waste of time and money if these claims were not true. That's why I am trying to see if anyone has Used it already.


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## The Cichlid Guy

This appears to be the most "official" site for the media, on which it is hard to find any solid information: http://www.tynevalleyaquatics.co.uk/#/b ... 4573328269

They do say "_Unlike plastic filter media Biomhome matures rapidly as its surfaces are very suited to bacteria and once the filter is working at full capacity it will be very effective for removing ammonia (NH3) and nitrite (NO2) in the filter (nitrification) . *By-product of this will be nitrate (NO3).*
The protected surface area within the media will (after a couple months of use) be colonised by anaerobic bacteria *which will aid the removal of the nitrate* (denitrification)._"

To me, that doesn't quite add up to Biohome = zero nitrates, and it honestly doesn't sound much different from similar products, such as Seachem Matrix. In fact, the website also states:

_"What is the difference between sintered glass filter media and ceramic filter media?
Not much really. The process of creating media is almost the same but one media is made from heat treated silica sand (sintered glass media) and the other is made from heat treated clay (ceramic media). If made properly they both can have a very impressive available surface area. I personally prefer the sintered glass media as it seems to be more receptive to bacteria but it is personal choice."_

I'd welcome more information on the product, especially first-hand experiences. It's not as widely available as the media I currently use, and without unbiased testimonials I can't really justify switching.


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## Maximus74

What about Seachem Matrix... they do claims will remove nitrate...

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product ... atrix.html

These macropores are ideally sized for the support of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. This allows Matrix™, unlike other forms of biomedia, to remove nitrate along with ammonia and nitrite, simultaneously and in the same filter.


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## Kanorin

Seachem matrix makes up about half of my bio media - my fish tank definitely still generates nitrates.
Is it possible that some small percentage of nitrates are being metabolized in my tank (media)? I guess so - but it must be a small amount because I still have to do weekly water changes.


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## The Cichlid Guy

From my understanding, while the bacteria CAN remove nitrate, it is at a very low rate, so if you have any sort of fish load in your tank (let alone that massive load in our cichlid tanks) you're not going to see any real difference. (http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Matrix.html)

This is the problem I have with Biohome. It's the bacteria, not the media, that contribute to the removal of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. And, as stated on Biohome's website, there isn't much difference between their media and other media made of similar materials. So what makes Biohome so special?


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## hisplaceresort1

I've been using Biohome for about 6-7 months. I also use Fluval bio rings. I also use Seachem Matrix (added later). I "seed the tank" with Seachem Stability, which has nitrate-eating anaerobic bacteria...


Do I believe the Biohome works? Yes.

Do I believe it is inherently better than Seachem Matrix? Unclear.

Do I believe it is inherently better than Fluval Bio Rings? Yes, for me there was a definite improvment when I added the Biohome, after a couple of weeks. This was not, of course, carried out with any kind of scientific protocol, and I suppose my nitrate reduction could have been due to something else. I am not knocking Fluval bio rings, just saying I saw a gradual improvement when I added the Biohome.

Why do I believe the Biohome worked? Even though there seemed to be improvements after adding the Biohome, I became really convinced because of what happened when it _stopped _working...

When I medicated my tank, my nitrate absolutely shot through the roof really quickly, and it took weeks to get it back under control. (I did not have an ammonia/nitrite spike.) During the preceding months, my bioload nearly doubled, and until I saw this huge, fast spike, I didn't realize until then that the anaerobic bacteria was working for me. I believe the antibiotics killed the anaerobic bacteria that was keeping my nitrates lower.

Will it work "good enough"? That depends. Not for me. With my current bioload, I'm still doing 2 water changes/week of 60-70%. Because of this, I am investigating RO/DI and de-nitrate systems.

So, should you buy it? If you want some improvement, and that's all you need... sure. I truly believe it helps. If you need drastic help in reduction of nitrates like I do, you may want to begin to consider alternate methods. I currently have a post about that if you're interested here - http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=339962

Hope this helps some.


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## Iggy Newcastle

This information/statement is an explanation of how this media works. I will say that I have never used the stuff, nor do I have any thing to input about it, but thought I'd share this...



> Hopefully this will reply to you all (I'm not sure how this stupid Google+ works, lol)
> The biohome mini ultra and ultimate were made specifically for external filters (although the media can obviously be used in other types of filters) and I wanted it to have a specific structure which would support aerobic bacteria AND anaerobic bacteria within the same media just like the other forms of biohome but in a stick size which would have more applications (for different types of filters).
> Through luck or design the mini ultra (which came before the ultimate) had exactly the right structure to support aerobic and anaerobic bacteria even at high flow rates due to the huge amount of protected internal surface area which is still accessible. The accessibility of those surfaces is the key reason why the mini ultra and ultimate works so well in reducing nitrate as the anaerobic bacteria responsible for processing nitrate can populate inside the media and live in great numbers even with high flow rates with oxygenated water.
> Many other medias out there claim to have huge (and often impossible) surface areas but the balance between surface area and accessibility is all cocked up. If the media was smashed up and put under a microscope you would indeed see a nation of tiny holes but most of them have no connection to the outer surface so may as well be on the moon.
> The biohome mini ultra is made from two different size of sand particle plus binding agent so has three very different size spherical particles fused together where they touch.
> A sphere has the largest surface area per volume of any 3d object so not only is biohome made from rough textured high surface area particles, even the innermost tunnels of the media has a connection to the outer edges allowing them to be accessible by water carrying ammonia, nitrite and nitrate for bacteria to process.
> By the time water finds its way into the core of the media the aerobic bacteria has worked on it and the water has deoxygenated allowing the perfect conditions for the anaerobic bacteria to thrive and process the end result of the aerobic bacteria's work (nitrate).
> As for as the nitrate reduction capacity of the media ideally you would use a minimum of 1kg per 100 litres and that should reduce the nitrate down to around 5-10ppm (often untraceable) in an ordinary community tank. More would be required for malawis or other tanks with high stocking, feeding and waste production (e.g predator tanks) - around 2kg per 100 litres would be the rough amount needed in those situations to see a huge reduction in nitrate.
> Many people think that if they use 500g in an external filter which has other types of media in for a 40 litres tank that the biohome will magically solve their nitrate problem but that's just not going to happen ad part of the problem there is the other media - it produces nitrate as an end result so the biohome is fighting against the other media which is only doing half of the waste processing job, thus flooding the system with nitrates and still requiring you to do huge regular water changes to keep nitrates down.
> The trace elements added to the ultimate are a carefully selected range of essential elements required by freshwater bacteria to complete their processes and are fused into the structure of the media to be available purely on a bacterial level and that allows the bacteria to complete their processes quicker.
> Think of that media as a state of the art office with all the gear the office workers need to take orders and carry out their tasks as efficiently as possible. The computer, phone, high speed internet and water cooler never leave the office but the workers come and go, always being efficient at their job.
> Hope that makes sense - it was a bit abstract, lol
> There are plenty of reports starting to show up on forums from people who have used the biohome at a sensible amount for their tank and have nitrate which is close to zero in well stocked tanks. Obviously the ammonia and nitrite is zero.
> I honestly don't know why manufacturers would have you believe that you need all manner of other **** in a filter but I suspect it has something to do with their media not doing its job - many of the so called 'essential' **** people put in to pull in ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are absolutely unnecessary and are simply used to mask the fact that the media and filter is not doing its job properly (and to provide manufacturers with regular income).
> Only thing I would recommend is carbon after a course of treatment or if you want to draw in colour from new bogwood. It would go as the last thing water hits before leaving filter to prolong its life and would stay active for 7-8 weeks.
> Feel free to share this comment or copy and past on forums or facebook pages or wherever you think people may benefit from reading it.
> This is the link to my last external filter video which explains much of the information above:
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