Ceramic rings and how they work

I dont know how it would be possible to measure how much bb you actuall have in or on your media. The potential for bio media is measured by how much acutal surface area each kind of bio media has. Ceramic or glass rings are exstremely porriss and have more surface area then any other bio media so wheather used submerged or in a trickle, or wet dry filter they are the best option for generating the most surface area i know off. The amount of bb in or on your media will be determined by the bio load of your tank. If i have a hundred gallon tank with one large fish the bb amount will be less then if i have a 100 gallon tank with 10 large fish. Your bio media makes enough bb for the actuall bio load of the tank. So the amount of bio media you need is based on how many fish, size of fish and the bio load needs of the tank not the amount of water in the tank. I dont know if airating submerged media does any thing or not. The media gets plunty of airation through the water current and water movement over around, and through the media. The most bennefit to me would be to have a batterie back up air pump in the submerged part of the sump so if the power goes out your media still gets air. I have been meening to test the air pump theory in my media but havent got around to it. The way i am going to test it when i do. Is to run a specific tank for a month testing the water constantly. And run the tank for another month after doing the same thing but with the media airated. If the time between needed water changes is longer then you have your answer being airated media is more efficent. Maybe this thread will get me off my as- to put it to the test. So in short asking if the media amount you plan on using is enough can not be answered by simply knowing the tank size. We need to know what kind of fish, the size of the fish exct. If you have the money for ceramic it is the best route to go for sure. I have 3 five gallon buckets full of bio balls i no longer use. Allso it depends on if this is a fresh water or salt water set up. to determine what media to use. Bio balls in salt water are useless. Allso bio balls in a wet dry are more effective with a slower amount over them. I have personaully tested that theory on a 75 with different size pumps and flow rates. And the lower the water movement over them the longer in between water changes was needed. Wet drys are designed strictly for bio not mechanical. But alot of people on here have seem to correct that problem by a simple desing of a sump with three chamber first a filter sock for super water polishing = mechanical, secound chamber submerged ceramic = bio and third chamber for the return. I have yet to do this design the next sump i make is deffently going to be set up this way. Low maintence and cost effective only needing new filter socks and them to be cleaned. I think i confused my self. So i hope this makes sence to you

Having an aquarium is never that easy as many people assume it to be. You may see one with beautiful fish swimming gracefully inside without any idea of what it takes to keep an aquarium clean enough for fish to survive. There are various filtration methods that people use to clean their aquariums regularly; they range from using biological and chemical agents like beneficial bacteria and UV sterilizers to using physical tools like bio balls and ceramic rings.

Of particular interest are the bio balls and ceramic rings, two different filter media materials that have similar functions, cleaning the water. We are going to look into these two in detail to see how they work and compare to each other. If you have been thinking of setting up an aquarium but have no clue on what to go for between these two for your filtration system, then stick around to the end.