Crushed corals as bio media for canistar filter???

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yk387

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Crashed corals as bio media for canistar filter???

Upon reading good advices on this forum, I am separating my filtraion into separate biological in my Eheim 2213 and strictly mechanical in my HOT Magnum Pro, plus extra biological in add-on Magnum bio wheel. Both filters will be prefiltered with a sponges. I removed everything from Eheim except cylinders (Efhimech), added another liter of Efhimech, but still have about 1/4 volume left. Can I add crushed coral to fill it to the top? I will be keeping African Cichlids. I bought crushed coral as a substrate, but then decided to go with something better looking and have 15 lbs bag just sitting. I have read that coral as pH buffering works much better in the water flow (inside the filter) then just sitting on the bottom. So is it a good bio surface or a very bad idea? My tank is 46 gallon bow front.

Thanks.
 
It will work, but you'll likely need to fiddle with the amount to get an appropriate amount in there to maintain a stable pH.
 
I'm not sure it's a good idea...

First of all, you have to put crushed coral into some sort of fine-meshed bag (a filter bag, a nylon stocking) to keep it from spraying all over your tank when the filter is running. If you fill the top 25% of your canister with crushed coral, your filter bag will tend to trap a lot of crud and shed biofilm, which pretty much negates the advantage of bio-only canisters: low maintenance. There's also a chance the coral would compact differentially across the layer it occupies, which would affect the flow characteristics of water thru the canister.

I'd add some bioballs, plastic soldiers, or just pony up a few more bucks and buy some more Ehfimech for the top quarter of the canister.

You can put a filter bag containing coral in the canister, if you want. I'd put it in the center at the top, and have it surrounded by Ehfimech. I'd also check it regularly to make sure it wasn't getting clogged with crud. (Personally, I'd probably not use a bag of coral at all in a bio-only canister, but if you feel you must, that's how I'd do it.)

HTH,
Jim
 
I don't like crushed coral, or any such gravel-type material in a bio-only canister either. And for exactly the same reasons Jim has already detailed - you are asking for flow reduction and organic retention. I have done coral in mesh in bio-only, but I use coral rubble - much larger chunks and totally non-compacting - it clears as well as the Ehfimech.

BTW, not all of my bio-only canisters are full. I have no guilt about a bit of open space in the canister so long as I know I have sufficient biofiltration.
 
Thanks guys.
I will also have an empty canistar in my HOT Magnum, where I will be using only the sleeve for mechanical filtration and ocasionally a micron insert for polishing. Should I put crushed corals there?
 
what about a loose wad of floss in the empty chambers? especially if it's before the biological type media. i stuffed all my empty chambers in my fluvals with it. it won't compact, costs nothing, and serves biologically as well, as well as pre-filters the water somewhat (extra) before it enters the biological media......

seemed win/win to me...... eventually it will collect some junk, but then you wash it or replace it.
 
If the canister is for bio-only (as mine are), then you do not want any debris-trapping material inside the unit. A prefilter is highly desirable, but not inside, on the intake - where it can be frequently rinsed.
 
crushed coral will raise the ph up a fair bit so keep it in mind and ph down wont help tha much cause it will go back up in a mater of a few hours
 
DLT - reread the original post/question. The tank involved is for Afican Rift Lake fish, where crushed coral or aragonite is used routinely to support the pH, hardness, and buffering to which these fish are adapted. There would never be a reason to use pH down or such commercial products in this tank - the crushed coral or aragonit is serving that use with much greater stability than any of the commercial products.
 
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