# Filter Media- Bio Balls or Rings



## nhanq

Hi guys,
This is my first post in here. I have a 60 gallon fish tank and I am looking for more things to improve it. But as a college student, my budget is limited so I need your help. I have a XP3 Filter and I need ideas for bio balls. I don't want to buy the five stars media materials that they are selling because I think they're expensive. Any idea on what I can use as media material for the biological filtration section? Thank you for reading this post.


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## emc7

Anything really. Gravel, carbon. I've heard of "plastic scrubbers" from the dollar store being used this way.


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## redpaulhus

Bio-balls and other plastic media with large void spaces are really designed for "dry" or "trickle" filtration, not submerged filtration in a canister filter. The large void spaces allow a) direct ammonia outgassing and b) high oxygen levels in a thin film of water (leading to a very active biofilm).
When submerged they provide a lower surface area than other media types (such as ceramic rings or "noodles", Seachem's Matrix media, or even open cell foam).
Off course, closed canister filters can only support as much biofiltration as the water oxygen content will allow, so its important to keep the water well oxygenated.

I tend to put a layer of any of the ceramic media, or if this is a tank of fishes that enjoy alkaline water, porus gravel such as crushed coral, in a filter bag (so that I can periodically clean the media with dechlorinated water).
I also make sure that whatever other media I use (carbon, floss or polyfiber pad, sponge, etc) in the filter is changed on a rotating basis to preserve the bacterial population as much as possible.


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## jones57742

nhanq said:


> Hi guys,
> This is my first post in here. I have a 60 gallon fish tank and I am looking for more things to improve it. But as a college student, my budget is limited so I need your help. I have a XP3 Filter and I need ideas for bio balls. I don't want to buy the five stars media materials that they are selling because I think they're expensive. Any idea on what I can use as media material for the biological filtration section? Thank you for reading this post.


nq: 

If I were in your situation, as has been mentioned by folks previously in this thread, I would try the dense plastic pot scrubbers which do not have detergent in them.

Soaking these pot scrubbers in a warm, mild chlorine solution, rinsing thoroughly, and subsequently soaking in a dechlorinate solution, IMHO, would be appropriate.

The technical details of the XP3 available on the Internet are somewhat lacking to say the least but the literature indicates that it is a "no by-pass" filter.

Based upon your budget constraints and if I were trying to solve this problem:

[1] in the first basket leave the coarse filtration media which came with the filter;

[2] in the second basket place the pot scrubbers which are slightly compressed and which have been prepared as set forth previously; and

[3] in the third basket place some loose quilt batting.

Once you have the filtration media cycled and have fish, substrate and plants in the tank you will want to check this media daily until you have some experience with respect to "its' clogging rate".

TR


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## nhanq

*Thank you *

Thank you for the information. These are helpful tips. I was reading around the forum last night and people are using gravel and such as their biological filter. I have over 3' of gravel inside my tank, I was wondering if these can serve as my biological filter? As for the xp3, I will go to the dollar store around my house and look for those and try them out. For more information on my tank, I used the foams that came with the xp3 for around 2 years now, commercial cotton fiber for fish, and activated carbon. I just want to try these bio balls thing since people are putting it into their filter. Thank you again for the replies.


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## emc7

You can put some of the tank's gravel in the filter and it will seed the filter and speed up the cycle. But gravel in tank can only support bacteria where food and oxygen pass over it and only as much bacteria as that food and oxygen will support. Gravel in a filter will have a much larger and more useful bacteria colongy than gravel the sits on the tank bottom. Using the substrate for filtration is the idea behind undergravel filters. They do work, but IMO are high maintainence and rarely worth the trouble.


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## lohachata

the best filters with the least amount of hassle and grief that i have ever used are undergravel filters.many people today do not use them because they are not high tech enough.i have had tanks set up for 2 years without having to tear them down..while i have mostly bare tanks;it is because most of my tanks are for breeding and fry.out side of that..undergravel filters outperform HOB or canisters almost any day of the week.
that is my considered opinion for what it is worth.and while i am not as knowlegable as many most folks;i can only go by my own experiences.


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