B76

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pTS0YD2nylU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTS0YD2nylU

Im not completely sure how this works other than having an amazing amount of biofiltration I understand that the porus balls are covered with biofilm and bacteria and breakdown waste, but is this worth while for planted aquariums? and can some one explain to me the pros and cons if it is compatable with freshwater and planted tanks? I would really appreciate it. (DISCLAIMER- yes i have searched the internet! and even asked people on youtube an no one has an exact answer) PLEASE HELP lol look forward to hearing responses thanks alot

B76

does anyone have any experience with this product? is it useless for freshwater setups?

AaronT

It's not useless for freshwater setups, but likely not necessary as simply having adequate filtration should be sufficient.

I definitely wouldn't use it in a planted tank as you don't want the water column to be devoid of nitrates and phosphates. If anything you'll need to add them back in when the plants use them up.

B76

Ok. Why thank u araon! In all seriousness. So maybe this would be a good Idea in like a overstocked cichlid tank? Interesting. Please hit me with some feedback. Lol

AaronT

Yeah, but even then I'd probably just use a wet/dry sump setup to get the most filtration.

Personally, I'm just not a fan of products like these. They often work, but only for so long and if you don't keep up with them (i.e. replace them often = $$$) their effectiveness is little to nil.

It's always best and easiest to look for the long-term solutions to keeping fish / plants. They might be a little more work and / or money up front, but they're worth it.

B76

I was just curious in the product. I personally was interested in using it in a future reef project. That is all. Aaront thank u do much for your response. Thorough as usual. Ur awesome.

digital_gods

It is really only good in saltwater setups because the skimmer pulls out the excess bacteria from the consumption of bioplastic. Bioplastic is a fancy name for starch polymer. It is made from corn. So you are just feeding bacteria sugar. If you dumped sugar in to your freshwater tank, you water could go cloudy and look really bad. I'm sure some of the DIY CO2 people know what I mean. Your only option at that point is just a water change. A sure filtration method is Kaldness K1 filter media. At DFWAPC, we have had the please of playing with that media. It is a biofiltration system that you can build using water bottles, with air pump to tumble the media within the tank. YouTube videos about it.

jestep

You have to use a skimmer with any bioplastics as stated above. Part of the mechanism is removing the bacteria that grows on the plastics through the skimmate. Pellets tumble which sluffs off bacteria. Without this you are introducing a huge food source and bacteria into the tank. I think you would have cyano problems fairly quickly as commonly seen when over dosing a tank with vodka.