Hi I use a mix of sintered glass "Siporax" and chicken bone sized crushed coral as my bio filtration medium. I saw a comment somewhere that using sintered glass was equivalent to starting a "nitrate factory". Perhaps someone could explain?
In the sump. I dont as a rule use trickle filters, but I would use the same mix if I did.Rod where do you have it, in the sump ?
Are you using it as a trickle filter ?
I have used it for years, and dont have a nitrate problem. I have six sumps all using the coral/sintered glass mix. Oh well we all have to do what we do.Rod, it's not so much the sintered glass or CC, but rather most mechanical flitration. The point is that it traps detritus which eventually causes nitrate to rise. I have never seen it being used, but by the sound of it, it will be difficult to clean the sintered glass. Therefore it will trap detritus and cause nitrate accumalation.
In my Discus keeping days of the past I always wanted to try sintered glass, but it was way too expensive at the time.
Sintered glass was toted as having a very very high surface area. It was also very porous. Now depending on the flow around it it is possible that it does denitrification as well provided that the water flowing through it is relatively clean. Just a thought. I have no experience with the product.
I am on dangerous ground here but I believe the tanks using zeolites are based on the same principle. Zeolites have a crystaline structure where the bacteria can lie in wait for a morsal of ammonia or nitrate.
The ZEOlites used in the ZEOvit method strip ammonia out of the water before it gets a chance to form nitrite. That's part of the system anyway.