Filter Media Review - Power Material & Mr Aqua ceramic rings

[jayc]

Everybody has their preference and favourites when it comes to the type of filter media to use.

After all there are literally hundreds of man made and natural materials that can be used as filter media.

Filtration media can be broken down into 3 categories:

Biological - houses beneficial bacteria.

Mechanical - physically removes debris from large to fine depending on the material.

Chemical - removes unwanted chemicals by way of absorption.

Mechanical and Chemical media will eventually become home to Beneficial Bacteria (BB) also.

Beneficial Bacteria as all aquarist know are the little guys that break down the waste Ammonia, Nitrite. They also breakdown other nutrients like Proteins, Iron, etc to a lesser extent.

This article isn't about the Nitrogenous cycle, so we won't be going into this topic too deeply here. The point is - we want Beneficial Bacteria in out Aquatic environment, the more the better.

As physical space is very limited in our filters (external canisters, HOBs, sumps) we want to maximise the real estate that these little Beneficial Bacteria can colonise on. Ideally we want a media that will serve to function in more than one category above, eg Mechanical & Biological. That way we make effective use of the space in our filters.

As mentioned the choice is largely personal. I have traditionally gone with Sponges of different grades (coarse & fine), Ceramic Rings and a combo of Macropore and Matrix. The Macropore is interchangeable with Carbon depending on what I want to do with the water.

Sponges being Mechanical.

Ceramic Rings being for Biological and to some extent Mechanical.

Macropore, Carbon, etc being the Chemical media in my filter canister.

So, if the Beneficial Bacteria is what we want a lot of, how do we increase their numbers? or at least give them more room to colonise? Give them a media with more surface area!

Up for review today is the porous Ceramic Rings from Mr Aqua and Power Material.

This is an exclusive SKF only review. I have not seen any reviews on the web at all. Only here.

We will start off with a visual inspection. Followed by tests on water parameter impacts. pH, Kh, and TDS.

I certainly cannot test claims of surface area, amount of Beneficial Bacteria that will colonise each ring, nor will claims of clearer water, healthier fish/shrimp be very helpful or objective.

THE PRODUCTS:

Traditional Ceramic rings:

Nothing much to say for this. Smooth, round, hard, but cheap. Will not disintegrate in water and will not alter water parameters.

Glass Noodles:

Glass noodles have a rougher surface and thus provide a greater surface area compared to ceramic rings. Also cheap if you need lots of them, say for a sump. Will not disintegrate in water and will not alter water parameters.

Now for the main contenders - Round 1, in the red corner we have Power Material Bio-Ceramic rings ... and in the Blue corner we have Mr Aqua Porous Ceramic rings.

Mr AQUA POROUS CERAMIC RINGS:

A picture speaks a thousand words. Look how much more pores and holes and roughness is on each ring. Every hole is potentially capable of housing thousands to millions more BB than glass or normal ceramic rings.

Mr Aqua CR claims to have a surface area of 6458sq ft for 1 Liter of the S-Size (600m2).

As a comparison, Seachem Matrix claims each liter of Matrixâ„¢ provides as much surface (>~700 m2). Matrix contains between 4 to 4.5 times the biologically active surface area of Substrat Pro, and between 8 to 9 times the biologically active surface area of MicroMec. But Matrix is about AUD$18 - $25 for 1 L.

Notes 1: Eheim Sub Pro has 450sqm = 4,844sq ft of surface area.

Notes 2: Mr Aqua CR M size has 500sqm of surface area.

Notes 3: Dupla bioballs : Dupla Minikaskade has surface area = 390m2/ball.

But to be fair, Seachem even admit that "Although the surface area that is taken up in pores too small to be biologically useful is a little more than half the total, Matrix still has available for biological processes a greater surface area than either Ehiem Substrat Pro and JBL MicroMec."

What that means, is that, not every sq ft of surface area is capable of housing BB, as some pores are just too small. So the effective surface area is actually smaller than advertised. That goes for all brands of media.

These come in a small size or a medium size. I purchased the small.

They are physically smaller than the normal glass or ceramic noodles. And as a result I can fit more into the space of my canister. Thereby, increasing BB real estate. They are hard like glass and ceramic noodles, but obviously a lot rougher. There is little to no chance of the Mr Aqua CR disintegrating in your filter over an extended period.

You will see fine bubbles escaping when you drop it into water. Evidence that water will get into those pores.

Price AUD$10 for 1Litre (not including shipping) for the Mr Aqua CR.

It's certainly not cheap especially if you need a lot of it for a sump. But the price is bearable for Canister and HOB users.

If you want to know where to buy it, a quick google search will point you to your local retailer.

POWER MATERIAL BIO-CERAMIC:

Power Material (PM) is also covered in little holes and pores.

Equally capable of housing thousands to millions more BB than glass or normal ceramic rings.

On closer inspection, the PM material holes and pores are slightly larger than Mr Aqua CR.

No data was provided by PM on the surface area. But if Mr Aqua has ~600m2, the PM will likely be equal if not more, since the pores are larger. The larger pores also mean that it will be more resistant in clogging, at least it will take longer to clog and reduce the surface area for BB to colonise.

They are the same size as MR Aqua CR, so again I can fit more in a given space, and increase the surface area for BB to colonise.

There is little to no chance of the Power Material disintegrating in your filter over an extended period.

As with the Mr Aqua CR rings, you will see fine bubbles escaping when you drop it into water. However, I noticed more bubbles than the Mr Aqua CR product. Obviously due to the larger pores. Evidence that water will also get into those pores. The water turns a bit cloudy when dropped into water. But it does say to wash the rings first. I dropped two rings into a cup for water parameter testing. But didn't wash it first to see if it impacts readings. So be sure to wash this first before adding it your filter.

Price $12.50 for 1 litre (not including shipping) for the Power Material Bio-Ceramic.

But PM came with a filter bag included.

A 3 Litre bag can be purchased for $34.95, making it slightly cheaper per Litre.

If you want to know where to buy it, a quick google search will point you to your local retailer.

ROUND 1 CONCLUSION:

And the winner of round 1 .... by a whisker .... Power Material Bio-Ceramic.

There was not much in it. Especially since Mr Aqua Porous Ceramic Ring is cheaper. This conclusion is by physical inspection only. Despite the higher price I liked the Power Material because it had larger pores, and potentially more surface area per ring.

Round 2 and the final round will decide the winner. Round 2 will consist of water parameter tests. pH, KH and TDS. The winner here in round 2 will get an equivalent of 2 points, while the round 1 winner received 1 point.

It doesn't matter what price or looks are like if the product alters water parameter.

[jayc]

Reserved for Round 2 results.

Method of testing:

- 2 rings of each brand were placed in a cup of Demineralised water.

- Demin water is tested standalone. And a 3rd cup with just Demin water as a benchmark.

- Water from each cup will be tested for pH, KH and TDS reading

- Test equipment: API KH test kit, API pH test kit and HM Digital TDS AP-1 AquaPro meter

http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/ap1.html

Round 2 Results

pH:

Demin water alone = 6.3

Mr Aqua Porous Ceramic Ring = 6.3

Power Material Bio-Ceramic = 6.3

No change to the pH with either product in 24 hours.

KH:

Demin water alone = took one drop to change, so either 0 or 1 KH.

Mr Aqua Porous Ceramic Ring = took one drop to change, so either 0 or 1 KH.

Power Material Bio-Ceramic = took one drop to change, so either 0 or 1 KH.

Also no change to KH for either product in 24 hours.

TDS:

Demin water alone = 1

Mr Aqua Porous Ceramic Ring = 4

Power Material Bio-Ceramic = 6

There is a slight change in TDS for both products. They reach those figures above at the 12 hour mark when I measured and stayed the same until the 24 hour mark.

This is inconclusive data, as I did NOT wash the rings as per instructions.

I didn't wash them deliberately to see if the residue impacted TDS, and it does.

As mentioned previously, the PM Bio-Ceramic rings produced a cloudier water (more residue) than the Mr Aqua CR. Hence the higher TDS reading. The lesson from this is to wash the products thoroughly prior to use.

Also, I forgot to wash each cup in Demin water first. So there might have been something in the cups already that affected TDS readings.

I am continuing the TDS test with washed materials to see if TDS continues to increase.

This time the cups are washed in Demin water first.

TDS pen is also rinsed in clean Demin water between tests.

ROUND 2 CONCLUSION:

It's a tie between the two.

Looks like the results will be drawn out a bit longer. Sudden death overtime !!

I'll update this post when I have TDS readings later tonight.

ROUND 3 RESULTS:

A further 12 hours have passed since I washed both media in Demin water to get rid of the excess residue.

And ...

TDS:

Demin water alone = 1

Mr Aqua Porous Ceramic Ring = 1

Power Material Bio-Ceramic = 1

I re-tested pH as well while I was at it. And .... no change to the results. pH is still at about 6.3 for both, the same as the Demin water.

OVERALL CONCLUSION:

Round 1 = Power Material Bio-Ceramic

Round 2 = Tie

Round 3 = Tie

So based on those results, the Power Media is a winner by only the slightest of margins, and it's based solely on my personal belief that the pores are slightly larger and thus gives a slightly greater surface area, a slight advantage over the Mr Aqua Ceramic Rings.

The positives with the Mr Aqua Ceramic Rings is that it is cheaper by the litre. So if you are buying a lot more than 1 Litre, then this might be the product for you.

Both products are a great way to increase surface area for Beneficial Bacteria if you have limited filter space. If you are looking for ways to increase your existing filtration capacity without the expense of buying a larger filter, then think of upgrading your media. Of course there are many choices in media to be made. Hopefully this review has made the choice one step easier for you to decide, at least with the Biological/Mechanical filtration category. So if you like it, then ... LIKE it. The button is below ;)

[Squiggle]

Awesome idea for a thread dude,very cool indeed! I know I'll be watching the results carefully. :encouragement:

[durro68]

GOOD ONE MATE! Nice idea.

[jayc]

Thanks Squiggle and durro.

Just giving back some :cool-new: love to the community.

I couldn't find any reviews on the net, so I thought why not do a review. So yeah, this review of these products is definitely exclusive to SKF.

I just bought an Eden 511 for my CRS tank. The plan is to put the better media into the Eden 511 to supplement my filtration. The other brand will go into my canister for the fish tank, replacing the standard glass noodles.

[jayc]

Added additional info on surface areas of some other products as a comparison.

Bio balls are economical means of biological filtration, but it's low surface area means that you need a lot more balls to gain the same amount of surface area.

Ah, why don't we use sand in our filter in that case, it has a huge surface area. The reason we don't use such dense material in canisters or HOBS is to maintain water flow. The ring structure of ceramic rings, with the whole in the middle, allows water to flow through the filter. Sand will just block water flow to a trickle as the pump will not be strong enough to pull the water through it.

[Squiggle]

Fluidized bed filters use sand & force the flow through the filter so the water travels from the bottom to the top, you are right in they have a massive biological filtration but not much mechanical or chemical, they are also very touchy to adjust. :encouragement:

[Wraithie]

Awesome Jayc- very informative!

[jayc]

Thanks Wraithie. All my posts are informative :p :friendly_wink:

And thanks for the likes Ineke and newbreed.

[newbreed]

Thanks Wraithie. All my posts are informative :p

And thanks for the likes Ineke and newbreed.

Great thread mate! Looking forward to the results, have considered getting some of this from one of the sponsors and this will help me decide which way to go! Thanks for doing the ground work for me!! :)

[jayc]

Round 2 results are in!

[Wraithie]

Oooh! bring on round 3!

[BlueBolts]

Great thread. Heard many great thing on the PM, costly but efficient.... Eagerly awaiting Round 2 with the WP results :encouragement:

[jayc]

Round 3 and Conclusion

Round 3 results are in !

And the winner is ....

see the second post.

[jayc]

Great thread. Heard many great thing on the PM' date=' costly but efficient.... Eagerly awaiting Round 2 with the WP results :encouragement:[/quote']

Thanks BB.

Costly compared to generic ceramic rings. But not so compared the say Seachem's Matrix.

Results are in on post 2.

[Rambozo]

Good review. Thanks Jayc.