9 replies to this topic

[dave06]

Hi All,

Has anyone used crushed / broken up terracotta for filter media - from old plant pots and terracotta pipes ?

I dont see any reason why it couldnt be used - has anyone used it ?

Cheers
Dave

[Neakit]

Realisticly bio balls will have more surface area for bacteria, I wouldn't waste my time personaly

[Bowdy]

Probably do the trick but don't see why you would bother when expanded clay is so cheap and is great media.

[dazzabozza]

Are they very porous? I don't recall water seeping through the sides of pots or is this because they're seeled?

[sydad]

Are they very porous? I don't recall water seeping through the sides of pots or is this because they're seeled?

Unsealed terracotta is quite porous: so much so in fact that terracotta was used a physical support for the first very fragile, inorganic RO membranes.

Syd.

[Mr_docfish]

Almost anything can be used as a medium.... but keep in mind, bacteria create a biofilm around themselves, and this will clog up most fine pores on most media - including matrix and Eheim substrat. The larger the pore size, then less surface area to volume ratio, but the less it will clog - relating to more suitable media long term, but you need a larger container to hold it to get enough surface area to house sufficient bacteria to do a good job. It is a hard choice in the end - best to do water tests several hours after a feed to see if the filter/media/flow rate can handle the number of fish and amount of food added during the feed... if the ammonia and nitrite levels do not jump too high (traces are normal) then the setup is fine at this point... if you get any low levels of ammonia or nitrite, then you have to look at your filter/flow/media or slow the feeding down a bit to suit what you have.... personally, very fine pore structured media is as good as gravel or marbles in the long term..... go for something a fair bit coarser if you can, or just use gravel if you want something cheap.

[Riggers]

Expanded clay is the shnizz!! Like terracotta in its raw form!!

[Mr_docfish]

cheaper to use pea gravel for the aerobic conversion of ammonia and nitrite - same surface area once the pores clog up... like after a month or two.... BUT one thing about fine media like hydroponic clay balls, similar to substrat and matrix and other man made ceramic products, the inner area of the media becomes anaerobic, allowing it to reduce some of the NO3.... an added bonus you dont get with more suitable aerobic media like coarse foam or bio balls.

[bigjohnnofish]

perhaps a good subject for discussion at your talk olley???

[dave06]

Thanks for your input, I've given it a go and will see what happens.
I have used large coral pieces with alot of success,

So would it be of more benefit to mix ceramic rings, coral pieces, bioballs and terracotta pieces all together in cannister?

Cheers Dave