Re: bioballs and ceramic rings

[Jared Weinberger <jared at brainyday_com>]

BC writes <<The ceramic ring on the other hand is good in terms of surface 
area. These rings have varied porosity depending on the material. I have 
came across Sera Siropax which is extremely porous and has very high 
surface area per unit volume. These type of design is good for canister 
type filters where the water fully fill the pores. However, these rings 
have limited lifespan as these pores will get clogged. >>

I'm pretty sure that Siporax rings are glass make with a sintering process 
(like Eheim's Ehfisubstrat) and not ceramic. Unlike Eheim, the makers of 
Siporax claimit doesn't need replacing. However, someone on a BB said they 
e-mailed the company, who replied that their "research" was one tank 
running a few years. (Of course you can leave these pricey media in place 
when their internal surface is clogged and they still function more or less 
like the other balls and ceramic rings -- a tank's biofilter wouldn't 
fail.)  I've seen suggestions about reclaiming sintered glass -- boiling, 
microwaving -- but I doubt these would do more than clean the outside. I 
see no way that a biofilm could slough off and flow out of the micropores 
and micro-fissures of sintered glass. Had I to do our tank over I would go 
with all Ehfimech for our Eheim -- easy to clean and more than enough 
reserve area for a planted tank with a large fish load.

Jared

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Jared Weinberger
http://www.brainyday.com/jared