# Eheim and Bio-Balls



## Notrevo (May 2, 2005)

Greetings forum - I am considering the following. I am running two Eheim 2262 canisters and thought of replacing the Ehfifix with an allotment of bio-balls. Each canister is about 50% filled with Efimech ceramic loops. Thoughts?

Thanks!


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## Kleovoulos (Jan 6, 2011)

enfifix-efimech are mainly for mechanical filtration.
replaced all with eheim substrat or pure pumice http://www.lava.gr/products/holystone/


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## Cyphound (Oct 20, 2014)

I swear by marine pur bio balls. expensive but what a difference.
http://www.cermedia.com/marinepure.php


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

probably not available to you but sera siporax. verry expensive but knocks your nitrates right down.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Kleovoulos said:


> enfifix-efimech are mainly for mechanical filtration.
> replaced all with eheim substrat or pure pumice http://www.lava.gr/products/holystone/


Plus one.


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## Notrevo (May 2, 2005)

wortel87 said:


> probably not available to you but sera siporax. verry expensive but knocks your nitrates right down.


wortel87 - so is the suggestion to replace the ceramic "noodles" only with the siporax? Or do siporax in the entire canister? I actually can get my hands on it here. I am a bit concerned with the weight of the canister...even with no water in it...full of siporax. Moving them to do a flush/clean will be more than a chore!


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I prefer to use the Eheim Ehfi Mech (ceramic cylinders) for the bottom layer in my 2260/62 filters, approx. 5L worth. I find they do a great job of trapping any large debris and the water flow is disbursed by the shape of the media.

I also use 2" thick Poret foam for the next couple layers in the filter, using a combination of pore sizes. On top of the Ehfi Mech, I use 10 PPI, 20 PPI and then a layer or two of Poly-fil brand traditional batting. Finally, I use either Eheim Substrat Pro or Seachem Pond Matrix placed in a media bag or a lingerie bag meant for use in a washing machine.

I do agree that this filter does weigh a lot when filled with media and water, however, I find that draining most of the water prior to removing the filter for service does lighten it quite a bit. I have been running these filters this way for a few years and find that they do a great job.

Different people have different preferences for types or brands of media so everyone seems to be pleased with what they use. The only thing that matters in my opinion, is that mechanical (coarse) media should be the bottom layer, followed by medium or finer media and lastly the bio-media. You want your bio-media to be in the cleanest flow of water to avoid premature clogging.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'm not getting how using a different filter media will reduce nitrates?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

The Sera Siporax instructions state the unique pore structure allows both aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms to colonize and break down both nitrite and nitrate, depending on fish & plant population, food quantity, and size and water flow rate of the filter. Recommended use is 1L of Siporax per 53G of water.

I think this a claim made by a few manufacturer's regarding how bio-media pore structure is able to process nitrate. I'm not saying it is or is not possible but without some 3rd party testing, we are stuck with manufacturer's statements.


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## Ryan_R (Aug 20, 2014)

I call bogus on this. Denitrifying significantly requires sooooo much more dedicated surface area for utterly anoxic conditions.

Does the fancy media work on Nitrates? No doubt, but I contend it's minimal.

-Ryan


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

It really isnt bogus.

*** got 28 mbuna in a 400 liter tank.

*** got a fluval fx6 filled with siporax.

At first I had about 2 liters of siporax in my filter. Because my nitrates were always 0 I developed a problem with blue green algea. To battle this I added about 20mg/l nitrate every week at the end of the week I had about 5mg/l left.

After removing 1 liter siporax and setting my nitrates to 20mg/l after a water change it stays that way till the next water change.

Do what you want but i can tell you its great stuff


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## Als49 (Jul 11, 2014)

wortel87 said:


> At first I had about 2 liters of siporax in my filter. Because my nitrates were always 0 I developed a problem with blue green algea. To battle this I added about 20mg/l nitrate every week at the end of the week I had about 5mg/l left.
> 
> After removing 1 liter siporax and setting my nitrates to 20mg/l after a water change it stays that way till the next water change.


I'm really curious, isn't nitrate the end result of the filtration? Since the nitrate decreases, what consumes or breaks down that nitrate?

Is it a heavily planted tank with many fast growing plants that absorb nitrate?

Because in my experience, I usually keep nitrate low using fast growing plants such as elodea or floating plants in the sump, in addition to the plants in the how tank.


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

Nitrate is not the end. The end is nitrogen gas.

So with siporax there are anearobic spots. Thus bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrogen gas grow in these spots.

*** got no plants what so ever.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

In nature, there is no end to the nitrogen cycle (hence the cycle part of the name)
N2 -> NH3 -> NO2 -> NO3 -> N2 (and repeat)

I'm curious how this siporax works, though. Nitrogen gas must be able to leak out of these anaerobic spaces without oxygen getting in. How?


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## Als49 (Jul 11, 2014)

wortel87 said:


> Nitrate is not the end. The end is nitrogen gas.
> 
> So with siporax there are anearobic spots. Thus bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrogen gas grow in these spots.





Kanorin said:


> In nature, there is no end to the nitrogen cycle (hence the cycle part of the name)
> N2 -> NH3 -> NO2 -> NO3 -> N2 (and repeat)


In the tank with filtration, usually it ends as NO3. Is it because there's no anaerobic bacteria existing in the filters?

Hence some people use fast growing plants such as floating plants to help absorbing this remaining NO3. I even read that in some tanks, the roots of terrestrial plants are dipped into the tanks to absorbs the NO3.

And that brings to the next question, if traces of NO3 somehow no longer can't be measured because it's broken down either by bacteria or absorbed by plants, does it mean WC is no longer required?


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

You still need to do water changes.

I still do 50% every week.

Nitrate isnt the only waste product.

You still have phosfates. And other contaminants. And dominant males put hormones in the water that make the others grow slower.

So its still required


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## Als49 (Jul 11, 2014)

I see. I thought we're getting closer to closed self-sustaining system with the nitrate getting close to 0


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## Als49 (Jul 11, 2014)

Nitrogen becomes so interesting, and finally I know why nitrification can reduce pH, while denitrification can increase pH, and both can offset each other.

NH4+ + 3/2 O2 => NO2- + H2O + 2H+

NO2- + 1/2 O2 => NO3-

NO3- + 5/12 C2H5OH => 1/2 N2 + 5/6 CO2 + 3/4 H2O + OH-

However I still don't understand where the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) comes from?
Because if I remember correctly, denitrification happens in anaerobic condition with very slow water movement, and may produce hydrogen sulfide.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 241400008X


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