Filter Media, Plastic, Ceramic, Matrix and other

Same sandstone we got here in krugersdorp, the bottom one looks like if you touch it it will crumble.... also @Dirk Prof will normal gravel do the trick provided that it does not stuff up the flow rate?

 

@oupoot - That was why I made my comment. Once these boulders are broken open it has a grainy sugar appearance inside. If you rub the 2 pieces together the boulder disintegrates into hard sand. There are many different types of sandstone so if you are going that route, look around.

 

seachem recommend that one litre of matrix is sufficient media to treat 400litres of tank water. So if you want to use 30 litres of matrix i hope your tank is 12 000litres!!

Just remember the matrix is porous whereas the stones Dirk refers to are not. That is why you would need more of the pebbles Dirk refers to than matrix to filter the same volume of tank water.

Hope this helps

Andrew

 

@MarcHawke I have only ever seen the type that deteriorates here in Krugersdorp, @pHish_man thanks for the matrix explantion, forgot that fact a bit lol, i will also have to go hunt for the media and not the movie here by me lol.

 

Cool so how much water does your tank hold?

 

@oupoot, you can also buy sheets of filter sponge and then cut it to size. This will help with mechanical filtration to keep solids away from the Matrix and/or sandstone.

 

Sponges i dont have a real problem with, i got batting and pillow stuffing aswell i want to try out....

 

Oupoot,

If you look on the first page of this thread, I told you that sponge and all the plastic batting etc etc is not good, we are going around in circles here really?

What I am also getting at is that you would never want to buy 30 litres of matrix in any case, so that calculation is also not valid, you would need a lot less Matrix in any case. What I would like to show you is however, if you would fill this with the gravel that I am talking about, how big the surface of that may be and what that would cost you.

So, I want to get back to Marc Hawke's comments and concerns. Marc you are obviously heavily into the building industry but that Table Mountain sandstone is what you need, obviously not those massive rocks but crushed rock. I know that they crush this type of rock in Worcester, it is the stuff that rolls down our rivers as large boulders, so I googled and I found this link showing the rock that I mean:

http://www.msnb.co.za/webimages/gravel/19mmWorcesterstone.jpg

It is also called Worcester stone so this must be something that you guys that are involved in building must know.

I use very similar pebbles from the Eerste River in Jonkerhoek here behind Stellenbosch that I collected 22 years ago and this stuff does not degrade at all, I mean there is not even sand coming off this stuff, it is really hard, has a nice rough surface and because it is course, water flows throw it very well.

Correct me if I am wrong but as far as I know this sandstone consists chemically of quartzitic rock which is very hard and resistant to erosion and chemical degradation. It certain does not contain any lime and water runoff from these rocks contains no carbonates. This also explains why our tapwater here contains so few dissolved solids and is therefore very soft.

Does this sound right, Marc?

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

@Dirk thanks for the picture prof, now i know what to look for and im missing the part about the sponges, will read the thread from start again to make sure of it as im sure i have missed it...

 

Also another question, how will heat effect the bacteria? how will for example direct heat from a heater effect the bacteria if you put the media and heater in the same compartment?

 

@Dirk, what mechanical filtration material do you recommend then?

 

Oupoot in the fourth post in this thread, I wrote:

 

AquaS,

for mechanical filtration yes, you can use sponge and or batting or filter floss, but for the biological filtration you need a solid medium as I have indicated.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Prof your 2 posts just clarified alot for me, ill use the sponge for mechanical and then ill go rock hunting this weekend....

 

The rocks doesnt look to good on this chart

 

Pot scrubbers worked for me, at the end of the day it doesnt matter what you use, as long as the bacteria has a place to grow. Dont think the bacteria knows if they are on plastic, rubber, sand, rocks or whatever really...

 

@Singularity I agree with you about them not really knowing what they are on, but maybe just the amount surface area on other media is better and thus you get more bacteria per liter?

 

Sure, but at the end of the day you want 0 NH3 and 0 NO2, if you get this by using super bio media like matrix, rocks or bio balls i dont see the difference ? Not like matrix will convert it faster or better in anyway, still the same process. That makes sense to me, dont know about the rest of you ?

 

logic behind all of this, but i think you would want to fill up your whole compatment in the sump and not say 3% if using matrix? thats how i understand it as more water would get bumped through more backteria, but lets see what Prof says