filter media

I recently aquired a filter that had media in it that just looks like rocks.  Hoping someone can tell me if these are something special, or, if the are in fact, just rocks.

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They look like rocks to me. The idea of media is for the objects to be porous to allow for bacteria growth. I dont see how those can be affective.

Looks like fancy pea gravel to me..

On a side note without thread jacking  ... If you add carbon to a FX5 top basket with matrix in the two lower baskets will it kill the beneficial bacteria?

It's filter media... for landscaping. lol
I was up in Renton at Manufacturers Mineral and they had "filter media" listed as a product, and when I asked about it, they pulled out a display of rocks that looked like yours. Basically it works if you're looking to make a drain from your house/garage etc. Just not the same type of media we need in the hobby.

Filter media needs to be inert and provide surface area for bacteria growth.  Rocks (thoroughly rinsed and possibly boiled) should work fine as long as they're not the type that will affect the hardness of your water.  Granted, they won't have as much surface area as some of the more fancy filter media out there (bio rings, etc.), but they're better than nothing at all.  Most of the biological filtration in the average aquarium lives in the substrate anyway (see the aforementioned rocks ).

And they're CHEAP!  

I know that some use the small red lava rock pieces for the same application. With all the small spaces left from the gas bubbles as it cooled, there is a huge amount of surface area for bacterial colonies.

yeah, these are porous and light weight. Still, I think I might just use them for a landscaping project I have coming up...

Anybody used seachem matrix? I was looking at pics and this looks a lot like it.

I use Matrix alot...its in most of my canisters. I'll try to get a pic of it as we just had to pull a canister that malfunctioned and only some of the media transported to another canister (the replacement was a little bit smaller canister). So I have a bucket with media that I'm saving (I give it a good rinse, a quick soak in a dilute bleach solution, a soak in dechlore water and again if I still smell bleach and then I spread it out on a towel for drying..then to the bucket it goes).

Matrix is great stuff. Lasts forever and doesn't need replacement (well...maybe a looong time in the future). It does look like your stuff but I think a pic would show more porosity as the rocks have lots of pores.

thanks

n9643750 wrote:Anybody used seachem matrix?  I was looking at pics and this looks a lot like it.

Here's a pic of some Matrix...hope that helps

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Thanks!

I actually am thinking that is what I have here.

i also use matrix. it's good stuff. very porous. it does look like rocks though. i recently bought a bucket of pond matrix cause u got twice as much for about $3 extra. it's pretty much the same but the "rocks" are about double the size. still works great though.

I also use matrix in everything short of the sumps. I use red cinders in those.