Thank you for breaking this down into simple understanding terms! I noticed my tanks running on a simple sponge filter with lots of plants have far less algae issues than my 55g with an Oase external filter with the clay pieces which I’m constantly battling black beard algae and string algae. Time to try a new method in this 55g tank using just sponge filters instead of all that external filter material and see if that helps the issue I’m having. Thanks for the very useful information in this video! 👍🏻
Thank you! I'm glad the video was useful. It seems that Oase canister deprives your plants of nutrients, so only algae thrives as it doesnt require as much nutrients as most plants do. With a sponge filter things should hopefully stabilize, although it might take a while.
I also just learnt a tip, instead of changing to mechanical filtration, just remove like half or 2 thirds of the bio media in your filter, and leave either half or 1/3.
Great video i can't comment 0n the more expensive biomedias ,but i can say i only use basic biomedia lava rock,alfagrog and cheap standard ceramic rings ,along with 30ppi sponges for many years.i am very happy with my constant low nitrates 5 to 10,with water changes once a week on hard scape tanks,never felt the need for expensive media,infact for many year i ran just air operated box filters lol,i agree with you totally, Keep it basic with water changes works well for me,Keep up the good content and the information your putting out there .New Subscriber,
Thanks, great video! All my tanks have now sponge filters only and I couldn't be happier with that decision. What I struggle with is on how to fix in a stable and practical way the house plants in the aquarium. I look at your tanks and I wonder how you get those huge heavy plants to stay there without sinking . :-)
All we need is a generous sand bed and a good amount of healthy plants in our tanks and they will be such a healthy ecosystem. Then just some sort of small internal filter to move water around, and you will be all set.
Great and informative video. I started to suspect this myself as I started to give up on trying to achieve pretty planted tanks and switching more to biotope style aquariums. I noticed plant health increased dramaticly and the fish themselves started to behave in a more natural way, pairing and breeding. But when you get on youtube everyone pushes these expensive giant canister filters with super special biomedia. Your tanks look amazing and gave me the inspiration to start dabling in ripariums aswell. Keep up the good work!
I found this very informative. Being in the hobby and watching TH-cam. There is always pressure to up your filtration to the best thing. As you pointed out most is unnecessary. If you use the KISS ( keep it simple) you can be successful and save lots of money. New subscriber.
I have pothos on my 210g tank with a 75g sump. At night I run the light for the pothos in the sump. I’ve tried between 8-12 hours and I even have an hour of darkness in between for it to “chill” and I also have some growing out the top. My tank is moderately stocked but I still have to do water changes to reduce nitrates and I’ve noticed my pothos will actually die off quite frequently. Although I keep getting new growth it’s constantly just dying and regrowing. I had pothos on a heavily overstocked tank which also still had nitrates climb though the pothos did amazing. Very big leaves, dark green color and healthy, never dying off… I know it definitely prefers ammonia but I’ve yet to experience the plant keep my nitrates as low as you say while still retaining its overall plant heath.
I noticed that sump loaded with bio media and riparian plants tend to compete for nutrients and sump usually comes out as a winner. I lost quite a lot of plants, including large monstera on a tank with a sump, but reducing the amount of bio media in the sump might help pothos to get healthier and if you tank is moderately stocked it should help to bring nitrates down a bit
@@tropicalfishhub I only run sponge though :/ I find bio media a waste as sponge does double duty plenty well. Maybe I need to straight up kill the bacteria looool. But yeah I’ve still seen my nitrates climb above 30 on both set ups quite regularly
I use external canisters because they are quiet when running, they have ceramic impellers and are really effective at mechanical filtration. As a bio media I use pumice which I bought from company providing filter media for ponds. My first canister filter I introduced to operation has two baskets of lava rocks. For me the price for amount of media you need to fill canister is not acceptable when it's basically the cost of new high-quality light...
Just subscribed to yr channel, because of yr video about several types of Biological midea, and now this one, if we pay attention on the most of the. canister's sold now, Sicce, Aquael, Oases, and others, they come with a lot of sponge filtration, and normally only one tray with biomideas, that they consider it enough for capacity of the canister, that's interesting isn't it??? Buy the way, under gravel filter always worked very well, if used with a small flow of water.
Thanks for subscribing, it means a lot! Absolutely agree about undergravel filters; when I started keeping fish about 20 years ago, they were on top of the game! Indeed most externals are sold with mostly sponges, I guess because are designed for an average community tank with healthy plants, rather than a cichlid community.
You said that plants consume ammonia but then also said that it's important to have nitrates in your aquarium for the plants to consume. Do plants consume ammonia, nitrates, or both?
It really depends on a plant, some of them like pothos prefer nitrates, most others feed on ammonia. If there is no ammonia in aquarium, plants at least need nitrates to survive.
Hello Thanks I liked this vedio because is very informative and useful. What is the best plant to use for biggner does echinodorus and cryptocoryne consume and anubia good I want to use it with no filter ONLY SMALL SPONGE FILTER . I have a problem which is the anubia has a black layer on its surface and the echinodorus leaves turn yellow and as if it is multing ( I was using big filter) so any advise . Thanks a lot
One of my heavily planted tanks (14 gallons) has only a small sponge filter that i have never cleaned. It has 8 small fish (such as guppies, dwarf rainbows), and I have not changed the water since last September. Nitrates, nitrites and ammonia are at 0.
I still haven't given up on processing regular water changes, especially since the first time I missed a few days, I noticed my fish start exhibiting some signs that I believe are a great example for dilution 🌊of the pollution 💩in my aquariums is the solution 🏝 /🤔\ Best to do it with the belief that you are doing it the way Nature does it...and I do love everything about freshwater nature aquariums and your channel is one of the best, no questions about it 😎
Absolutely no need for canister filter nor any expensive media for bacteria in any system. That is one of the big scams in the aquarium hobby! When we were kids we had only water, substrate, plants and cheap incandescent house lights for many years. Not even pumps or external filters!! Better tanks we've ever seen in our lives! You don't need that canister that you have for mechanical filtration either!! They get clogged and shouldn't be used for mechanical filtration anyways because they are not designed to be used like that. Just remove that canister and mechanically export the dead leaves and detritus when you do water changes. :) In a bare bottom tank we can use the simple sponge filter with a thin layer of substrate or none. The amount of water changes can help with the lack of substrate surface. It's a balance between bio load (fish population/sizes) and nutrient import/ export. Great video, man! Always great to watch your inputs!
Thanks! Certainly agreed. I have few options but to rely on mechanical filtration of some sort in my blackwater tank; because of leaf litter bed, I am unable to syphon the bottom. I can only do small water changes under 20% once in 3-4 weeks not to upset the delicate water chemistry there as I want to keep it acidic and have tannins at more or less the same level.
@@tropicalfishhub I understand. I would choose at least an external hang on filter in your case, like Aquaclear, or similar with a surface scum remover attached to it. It's much easier to handle that instead of a canister IMO. I've tried canister on planted tanks for years just to confirm my opinion I had about them since I was a kid. It's just an expensive fashion IMO. The only "advantage" I see in them is to automatically transfer stabilized bacteria between systems. But any sponge filter would do that as well, or natural substrate as you proposed, so... Anyways.. Have you thought on building a filter similar to the ones we see in Simon Forkel's videos? I would like to hear from you what you think about those. That would also be great to remove the surface scum using the overflow, the sponge filtration for bacteria, and the floss to remove detritus at the same time. Would that be the ultimate type of filtration for Altums in your opinion? Thank you so much for all your input!!
@@Alex_Correa Thank you! I love hang on filters, and I've tried installing one on that blackwater riparium, but it is half full and the sound of cascading water was a bit too much to handle, particularly because the tank is in the bedroom!
@@tropicalfishhub Well, then I agree 100% with you. LOL! No noise in the bedroom, please! Would you please comment on that filter we see in Mr. Forkel's tanks? Would that be the best filter to keep Altums? It's basically a sump built into the main tank. I've had those when I was a kid and it's very easy to make. It can be built outside as well with a simple hole on the glass to connect the overflow. I think I will build one when I get my new tank for the Altums. Any ideas or feedback on that? Thanks! I appreciate your help.
Yes, I agree but bacteria is reliable comparing with plants... With any ammonia unexpected rise, bacteria would react much better, for example, at night... a fish death, plants rotting... I think a big filtration system is necessary, sponge for mechanical and biological filtration and any media you want... Not plastic media, please... Fish will be healthier... plants will help, but I trust in a good filtration system, even much of the biological media isn't working fulltime... Regards
Plants of different metabolisms will process differently according to their limits and needs under various types and intensity of light. Other important aspects in the metabolism of plants are temperature and type of substrate according to species. They consume nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and minerals... Ammonia provides nitrogen to plants!! In an efficient system, with enough and healthy bacteria population, you will have competition for ammonia. That is when the additional NO3 comes into pace to provide that nitrogen to keep plants at it's best.
This guy really knows what he's talking about. We should listen and follow his ideas and we would all have happy tanks and fish. You need Nitrates in a tank. The worst thing in this hobby is those test kits that say 20 - 30 ppm Nitrates are bad and you have to flush your tanks.
Ive actually just been wondering why biological media is necessary. I do have a cannister filter, and I use alfagrog which is cheap enough, but why am i not using biosponge? like the stuff on a sponge filter. Surely there's a lot more surface area on sponge than ceramic, or even sintered glass media!
Yes sir, if these expensive bio media actually does the complete cycle, which has been around for 15 years people should be jumping up and down how Great it is!! Actually I think plants and my 3" sand substrate does a better job than expensive bio rings!
There are several misleading things in this video. First no biomedia. Even if you don't put ceramic or pumis you just use sponge. It's still biomedia. Sponge is absolutely biomedia. Next water quality. For some reason people think zero ammonia and nitrite and low nitrate means good water quality. This is completely false. What your tds reading? What's your redox reading? Next biomedia denitrifying. It's physically impossible for any biomedia to contain both nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. There's simply to much oxygen present in the media for denitrifying bacteria to live. Remember your forcing water through your media. Lastly anaerobic conditions. Anaerobic conditions are void of oxygen. Both dissolved oxygen and oxygen available from things like nitrate. The bacteria that grows in anaerobic conditions convert nitrate and nitrite back into ammonium. Through a process called assimilitory de-nitrification. The bacteria that truly complete the nitrogen cycle. Meaning nitrate into nitrogen need oxygen dissolved in the water. Very low oxygen. Oxygen needs to be at .03 ppm oxygen. The only way to achieve this in substrate is to slowly move water through it. Unfortunately water doesn't move through your substrate. Remember your substrate is surrounded on 5 sides by impermeable surface. The only place for water to pass through the substrate is on the top. See the problem here. Because of this deep substrate goes anaerobic and produces ammonium. Ever wondered why you can't get rid of algae? Now you know. The substrate is the food source for it. Not only that but deep substrate can ferment and produce toxic gasses. Even if it's planted. Biohome and matrix are a rip off. If you're going to buy biomedia get the cheapest one you can. Better yet use 30ppi sponge. Nothing beats it. Man made it natural no biomedia is better than sponge. This isn't opinion. It's fact. Already tested and proven.
Firstly, I never said anywhere in the video that deep substrate is good so I see no need in your lecture here on its negative effects. Secondly, I grow algae on purpose because I keep biotopes and that's a part of it, so no I never try 'to get rid of algae'. And there is no need to teach me how to get rid of it. Thirdly, I use terminology of canister manufacturers who distinguish between between biological and mechanical, and yes I know very well that bacteria can thrive on sponge, but as I've said in the video sponges do not offer as much surface area as some other media. Lastly, thank you very much for explaining that I need to 'get the cheapest biomedia I can'; this what I said several times in the video!
![[MPD직캠] 베이비몬스터 직캠 8K 'LIKE THAT' (BABYMONSTER FanCam) | @MCOUNTDOWN_2024.6.13](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8qa-nm9bCLs/mqdefault.jpg)
Totally agree...I've tested the expensive stuff and used basic lava rock from a landscape store...they worked in a very similar way for me.
Thank you:)
😊
In Singapore, I see my experience hobbyists and breeders use red brick chips. Maybe something all of you can consider.
Thank you for breaking this down into simple understanding terms! I noticed my tanks running on a simple sponge filter with lots of plants have far less algae issues than my 55g with an Oase external filter with the clay pieces which I’m constantly battling black beard algae and string algae. Time to try a new method in this 55g tank using just sponge filters instead of all that external filter material and see if that helps the issue I’m having. Thanks for the very useful information in this video! 👍🏻
Thank you! I'm glad the video was useful. It seems that Oase canister deprives your plants of nutrients, so only algae thrives as it doesnt require as much nutrients as most plants do. With a sponge filter things should hopefully stabilize, although it might take a while.
Хотелось бы услышать результат по истечении времени)))
I also just learnt a tip, instead of changing to mechanical filtration, just remove like half or 2 thirds of the bio media in your filter, and leave either half or 1/3.
Great video i can't comment 0n the more expensive biomedias ,but i can say i only use basic biomedia lava rock,alfagrog and cheap standard ceramic rings ,along with 30ppi sponges for many years.i am very happy with my constant low nitrates 5 to 10,with water changes once a week on hard scape tanks,never felt the need for expensive media,infact for many year i ran just air operated box filters lol,i agree with you totally, Keep it basic with water changes works well for me,Keep up the good content and the information your putting out there .New Subscriber,
Thank you!
IDK But, 30 years ago i never heard of all this bio stuff and Tanks I saw were clear and Healthy...
Excellent video!
Thanks, great video! All my tanks have now sponge filters only and I couldn't be happier with that decision. What I struggle with is on how to fix in a stable and practical way the house plants in the aquarium. I look at your tanks and I wonder how you get those huge heavy plants to stay there without sinking . :-)
Thank you! Most of my riparian plants sit on top of driftwood. I will make a video on that topic
Great Info. Thank You.
I agree. I removed half of the media from my sump with no increase in ammonia.
Thank you:)
All we need is a generous sand bed and a good amount of healthy plants in our tanks and they will be such a healthy ecosystem.
Then just some sort of small internal filter to move water around, and you will be all set.
Thank you for sharing. I agree with you 100%.
Thank you for watching:)
Great and informative video. I started to suspect this myself as I started to give up on trying to achieve pretty planted tanks and switching more to biotope style aquariums. I noticed plant health increased dramaticly and the fish themselves started to behave in a more natural way, pairing and breeding.
But when you get on youtube everyone pushes these expensive giant canister filters with super special biomedia.
Your tanks look amazing and gave me the inspiration to start dabling in ripariums aswell. Keep up the good work!
Thank you:) I'm glad you decided to try a riparium, they are a lot of fun, and look amazing once get established!
I found this very informative.
Being in the hobby and watching TH-cam.
There is always pressure to up your filtration to the best thing. As you pointed out most is unnecessary. If you use the KISS ( keep it simple) you can be successful and save lots of money.
New subscriber.
Thanks a lot for subscribing:) Absolutely agree that keeping things simple (which is also often cheaper) will work fine when it comes to filtration
I have pothos on my 210g tank with a 75g sump. At night I run the light for the pothos in the sump. I’ve tried between 8-12 hours and I even have an hour of darkness in between for it to “chill” and I also have some growing out the top. My tank is moderately stocked but I still have to do water changes to reduce nitrates and I’ve noticed my pothos will actually die off quite frequently. Although I keep getting new growth it’s constantly just dying and regrowing.
I had pothos on a heavily overstocked tank which also still had nitrates climb though the pothos did amazing. Very big leaves, dark green color and healthy, never dying off… I know it definitely prefers ammonia but I’ve yet to experience the plant keep my nitrates as low as you say while still retaining its overall plant heath.
I noticed that sump loaded with bio media and riparian plants tend to compete for nutrients and sump usually comes out as a winner. I lost quite a lot of plants, including large monstera on a tank with a sump, but reducing the amount of bio media in the sump might help pothos to get healthier and if you tank is moderately stocked it should help to bring nitrates down a bit
@@tropicalfishhub I only run sponge though :/ I find bio media a waste as sponge does double duty plenty well. Maybe I need to straight up kill the bacteria looool. But yeah I’ve still seen my nitrates climb above 30 on both set ups quite regularly
@@robertjohnston25 Most fish should be fine with 30ppm, I had wild discus growing and prospering at 30
Thank you for providing this information. You have saved my wallet!
I run a 20 us gal blackwater with a sponge only setup and it works great
You are absolutely right! Respect!
Thank you:)
I use external canisters because they are quiet when running, they have ceramic impellers and are really effective at mechanical filtration. As a bio media I use pumice which I bought from company providing filter media for ponds. My first canister filter I introduced to operation has two baskets of lava rocks. For me the price for amount of media you need to fill canister is not acceptable when it's basically the cost of new high-quality light...
Pumice and lava rock are great media. I didn't notice any difference between them and more expensive media
Now you tell me!
....after spending/wasting a shed load of money on Biohome 🤥
Great video and too true.
Thank you! Glad it was useful:)
Well said. Ah the power of advertising and Utube influencers.
Indeed!
Just subscribed to yr channel, because of yr video about several types of Biological midea, and now this one, if we pay attention on the most of the. canister's sold now, Sicce, Aquael, Oases, and others, they come with a lot of sponge filtration, and normally only one tray with biomideas, that they consider it enough for capacity of the canister, that's interesting isn't it??? Buy the way, under gravel filter always worked very well, if used with a small flow of water.
Thanks for subscribing, it means a lot! Absolutely agree about undergravel filters; when I started keeping fish about 20 years ago, they were on top of the game! Indeed most externals are sold with mostly sponges, I guess because are designed for an average community tank with healthy plants, rather than a cichlid community.
@@tropicalfishhub I agree with you.
😀 absolutely amazing
Volcanic rock..yeeees very succesful for all my 7 or so marine tanks...large & small 💪🏿💥💥💥💥💥✌🏿✌🏿
What’s wrong with the cheaper stuff If you can’t afford it 🤷🏼♂️✌️👍🇨🇦🙏
I needed to hear this video, i was about to buy the biohome media at £20 per kg😢
You said that plants consume ammonia but then also said that it's important to have nitrates in your aquarium for the plants to consume. Do plants consume ammonia, nitrates, or both?
It really depends on a plant, some of them like pothos prefer nitrates, most others feed on ammonia. If there is no ammonia in aquarium, plants at least need nitrates to survive.
Loved this, we were brainwashed for years. At least we woke up! Congrats on the 5k subs 🎉
Thank you:)
Outstanding video. Thanks for sharing your perspective. I really like videos of this kind on filtration topics.
Thank you for watching!
IF you think you don't then you're the only one. lol!
Hello Thanks I liked this vedio because is very informative and useful.
What is the best plant to use for biggner does echinodorus and cryptocoryne consume and anubia good I want to use it with no filter ONLY SMALL SPONGE FILTER .
I have a problem which is the anubia has a black layer on its surface and the echinodorus leaves turn yellow and as if it is multing ( I was using big filter) so any advise . Thanks a lot
Shout fo patient camera man.
Actually camera woman:)
One of my heavily planted tanks (14 gallons) has only a small sponge filter that i have never cleaned. It has 8 small fish (such as guppies, dwarf rainbows), and I have not changed the water since last September. Nitrates, nitrites and ammonia are at 0.
Sounds like a great example of how effective plants can be:)
I still haven't given up on processing regular water changes, especially since the first time I missed a few days, I noticed my fish start exhibiting some signs that I believe are a great example for dilution 🌊of the pollution 💩in my aquariums is the solution 🏝 /🤔\ Best to do it with the belief that you are doing it the way Nature does it...and I do love everything about freshwater nature aquariums and your channel is one of the best, no questions about it 😎
I agree 100% I’ve spent a fortune on expensive media which has made no difference to my water quality
I agree too!!!
Thank you:)
Absolutely no need for canister filter nor any expensive media for bacteria in any system. That is one of the big scams in the aquarium hobby! When we were kids we had only water, substrate, plants and cheap incandescent house lights for many years. Not even pumps or external filters!! Better tanks we've ever seen in our lives!
You don't need that canister that you have for mechanical filtration either!! They get clogged and shouldn't be used for mechanical filtration anyways because they are not designed to be used like that. Just remove that canister and mechanically export the dead leaves and detritus when you do water changes. :)
In a bare bottom tank we can use the simple sponge filter with a thin layer of substrate or none. The amount of water changes can help with the lack of substrate surface. It's a balance between bio load (fish population/sizes) and nutrient import/ export.
Great video, man! Always great to watch your inputs!
Thanks! Certainly agreed. I have few options but to rely on mechanical filtration of some sort in my blackwater tank; because of leaf litter bed, I am unable to syphon the bottom. I can only do small water changes under 20% once in 3-4 weeks not to upset the delicate water chemistry there as I want to keep it acidic and have tannins at more or less the same level.
@@tropicalfishhub I understand. I would choose at least an external hang on filter in your case, like Aquaclear, or similar with a surface scum remover attached to it. It's much easier to handle that instead of a canister IMO. I've tried canister on planted tanks for years just to confirm my opinion I had about them since I was a kid. It's just an expensive fashion IMO. The only "advantage" I see in them is to automatically transfer stabilized bacteria between systems. But any sponge filter would do that as well, or natural substrate as you proposed, so... Anyways.. Have you thought on building a filter similar to the ones we see in Simon Forkel's videos? I would like to hear from you what you think about those. That would also be great to remove the surface scum using the overflow, the sponge filtration for bacteria, and the floss to remove detritus at the same time. Would that be the ultimate type of filtration for Altums in your opinion? Thank you so much for all your input!!
th-cam.com/video/izV4yKKOAl8/w-d-xo.html
@@Alex_Correa Thank you! I love hang on filters, and I've tried installing one on that blackwater riparium, but it is half full and the sound of cascading water was a bit too much to handle, particularly because the tank is in the bedroom!
@@tropicalfishhub Well, then I agree 100% with you. LOL! No noise in the bedroom, please! Would you please comment on that filter we see in Mr. Forkel's tanks? Would that be the best filter to keep Altums? It's basically a sump built into the main tank. I've had those when I was a kid and it's very easy to make. It can be built outside as well with a simple hole on the glass to connect the overflow. I think I will build one when I get my new tank for the Altums. Any ideas or feedback on that? Thanks! I appreciate your help.
Yes, I agree but bacteria is reliable comparing with plants... With any ammonia unexpected rise, bacteria would react much better, for example, at night... a fish death, plants rotting...
I think a big filtration system is necessary, sponge for mechanical and biological filtration and any media you want... Not plastic media, please... Fish will be healthier... plants will help, but I trust in a good filtration system, even much of the biological media isn't working fulltime...
Regards
Thanks:) I agree that in a fish-heavy setup or in larger tanks, filtration is a safer bet.
saved me £10 thank you
Is the sponge filter even necessary in a heavy planted tank?
May be, but you may want to have some surface agitation and may be also remove waste through mechanical filtration, depending on stocking levels
are you sure about nitrate and ammonia? that plants use more ammonia then nitrates? why we add kno3 ? as nitrate? for plants to grow? im confused
Plants of different metabolisms will process differently according to their limits and needs under various types and intensity of light. Other important aspects in the metabolism of plants are temperature and type of substrate according to species. They consume nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and minerals... Ammonia provides nitrogen to plants!! In an efficient system, with enough and healthy bacteria population, you will have competition for ammonia. That is when the additional NO3 comes into pace to provide that nitrogen to keep plants at it's best.
This guy really knows what he's talking about. We should listen and follow his ideas and we would all have happy tanks and fish. You need Nitrates in a tank. The worst thing in this hobby is those test kits that say 20 - 30 ppm Nitrates are bad and you have to flush your tanks.
Der Type bestätigt genau das was ich auch in 4 Jahren gemerkt habe. Der Lava Stein ist richtig gut.
Ive actually just been wondering why biological media is necessary. I do have a cannister filter, and I use alfagrog which is cheap enough, but why am i not using biosponge? like the stuff on a sponge filter. Surely there's a lot more surface area on sponge than ceramic, or even sintered glass media!
Yes sir, if these expensive bio media actually does the complete cycle, which has been around for 15 years people should be jumping up and down how Great it is!! Actually I think plants and my 3" sand substrate does a better job than expensive bio rings!
I share the same opinion!
Very logical, thats why I dont buy that stuff, many plants and substrate will do the job.
tittle is bad, like is ment for novice ppl, but you explain well other aspects beyond the tittle
There are several misleading things in this video. First no biomedia. Even if you don't put ceramic or pumis you just use sponge. It's still biomedia. Sponge is absolutely biomedia. Next water quality. For some reason people think zero ammonia and nitrite and low nitrate means good water quality. This is completely false. What your tds reading? What's your redox reading? Next biomedia denitrifying. It's physically impossible for any biomedia to contain both nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. There's simply to much oxygen present in the media for denitrifying bacteria to live. Remember your forcing water through your media. Lastly anaerobic conditions. Anaerobic conditions are void of oxygen. Both dissolved oxygen and oxygen available from things like nitrate. The bacteria that grows in anaerobic conditions convert nitrate and nitrite back into ammonium. Through a process called assimilitory de-nitrification. The bacteria that truly complete the nitrogen cycle. Meaning nitrate into nitrogen need oxygen dissolved in the water. Very low oxygen. Oxygen needs to be at .03 ppm oxygen. The only way to achieve this in substrate is to slowly move water through it. Unfortunately water doesn't move through your substrate. Remember your substrate is surrounded on 5 sides by impermeable surface. The only place for water to pass through the substrate is on the top. See the problem here. Because of this deep substrate goes anaerobic and produces ammonium. Ever wondered why you can't get rid of algae? Now you know. The substrate is the food source for it. Not only that but deep substrate can ferment and produce toxic gasses. Even if it's planted. Biohome and matrix are a rip off. If you're going to buy biomedia get the cheapest one you can. Better yet use 30ppi sponge. Nothing beats it. Man made it natural no biomedia is better than sponge. This isn't opinion. It's fact. Already tested and proven.
Firstly, I never said anywhere in the video that deep substrate is good so I see no need in your lecture here on its negative effects. Secondly, I grow algae on purpose because I keep biotopes and that's a part of it, so no I never try 'to get rid of algae'. And there is no need to teach me how to get rid of it. Thirdly, I use terminology of canister manufacturers who distinguish between between biological and mechanical, and yes I know very well that bacteria can thrive on sponge, but as I've said in the video sponges do not offer as much surface area as some other media. Lastly, thank you very much for explaining that I need to 'get the cheapest biomedia I can'; this what I said several times in the video!