Hey all does anyone see any problem with doing as the title suggests? I've heard of people doing this but I want to confirm that there isn't the potential for nasty conditions to arise inside the canister if left uncleared or if there is a power outage. (Eg I know if power goes out more than a few hours that bio media should be removed from a canister and allowed access to oxygen)

 

Thanks for any help!

 

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Will

What would be the benefit of using substrate over purpose built biological media?

I've always thought about using lava rock instead as it's quite cheap.

Is the motive financial or purely just which option is better?

Edited February 26, 20179 yr by neo-2FX

The thinking is for ease of maintenance. If the tank is plumbed then you can disconnect the pump and replace the substrate without disturbing shrimp.

Don't have that option if relying on canister. I'm just curious more than anything else.

Lots of people recommend lava rock but my experience was bad the one time I bought some i found it leached minerals. I have terrible luck when it comes to finding inert things !

An interesting concept and I'm not expert but I would imagine you'd still run into the same issues as if the substrate were in the tank. Would you replace all substrate or just some? Wouldn't you still run into ammonia spikes?

Where did you buy your lava rock from?

If I'm not mistaken, when you pour some vinegar over the so called inert rock you'll quickly know if it's inert or not if it starts to fizz. If it fizzes up, it's not inert.

Edited February 26, 20179 yr by neo-2FX

Thanks for the reminder re vinegar test I should use it again it's pretty quick and easy compared to testing in containers with tds meter.

I haven't ever seen ammonia in any of my newly setup tanks using black earth premium although I always have at least one cycled sponge in place when I set them up so that shouldn't be an issue. I'm just thinking if i want to keep sensitive shrimp in a barebottom tank then im wondering if this is a sensible option to pursue or not.

That's a good point about the BEP, I was only thinking about Amazonia and it's large output of ammonia initially.

I've seen people use the Hang on the Back breeder boxes that use a pump to push water through the breeder box and back into the tank. These boxes are modified to keep shrimp in, or out. Some have used them with a buffering substrate, so whenever the substrate wears out, they replace the box, not the substrate in the tank.

That sounds cool!

I have used filter media as substrate plenty of times, its how you overclock a UGF!