Have you shelled out the big bucks for some Bio-Home Ultimate? Did it work for you? Share your experience with us, we want to know!! Don't forget to Subscribe! 😊 ruclips.net/user/kavemanaquatics
Hey Kev. You may of just missed the window dude as I've heard for this bacteria it takes 6 months 🤷♂️ you've done well to reduce flow / give the time to it ect.. to see if it starts reducing (thumbs up) but you may of just missed the window dude to find that holy grail of a fully cycled filter. But I wouldn't like to say my man. Keep the content coming my guy. Loving the content 👌
I have to say, I was getting impatient! lol I couldnt wait another month, also I was finding so many articles with extensive testing done saying they also were unable to achieve the full cycle. I wanted my flow rate back!! lol
I bought almost 8 pounds, I use it in all my tanks.. no prime or purigen. Its almost two years now.. Nitrates have gone down 25% ish .. it takes a TON of biohome .. but for me.. it is slowly working.
Just a few questions, 1.Is it confirmed that BIOHOME Ultimate tints the tank water? 2. Would you consider MarinePure Superior to BIOHOME? 3.Is there actually any bio media that do provide a full cycle? Sorry for the bombardment of questions, up until now thought BIOHOME Ultimate was the best thing since sliced bread. Having little experience in the hobby just trying to do the best for my African cichlids. Thanks in advance, love your work
1- I dont think it tints tank water, didnt happen to me. 2- When you say superior theres a whole nother conversation we have to have about bio-media to consider one superior to another. 3- Not in my opinion. I dont bother with trying to reduce nitrate levels because im always going to do the best thing for my fish anyway, which is water change, no matter if I get nitrate reduction or not. So I use Pot Scrubbers for bio-media. Before you knock it, watch this 😊- ruclips.net/video/WlKVa0qzjwg/видео.html
I have 180 gal African cichlid tank , I have a fluval Fx6 filtering it fill Bio home media and I had the same result as you testing my water before and after every water change weekly and my nitrates always was that 40 ppm. I'm not taking any sides here but the Fx6 canister just don't hold enough media, so I added two sun sun 304b to my setup. It wasn't until I added the other canisters with all that other media trays filled with bowel home media ,4 trays each. that I receive a full cycle. Now before a weekly water change it around 10ppm. I use the Api test kit too.which is hard to read. After getting the results that I did and all the money I spent on bio home it was not worth it! The only positive thing I can say is that I can go two weeks without a water change and my parameters won't reach over 40 ppm. I look forward to your videos good job.
Thanks for that great info! A lot of people have said that I needed more biohome, but I wanted to prove some theories that it worked with much less. Glad to know that it did work for you...but like you said, that’s a lot of money in bio home and extra filters just for 2 week water change over a weekly water change. Thanks for your input! 👍
The API test is not hard to read but you MUST do the reading in day light, not under a lamp or any other artificial lighting. I stand right in front of my screen door every time and can see the correct color very easy. Before doing this I was doing a lot of unnecessary water changes thinking the liquid was red under a lamp when it was really orange.
Great video. As a biologist and fish keeper for 55 years I have been saying Biohome is a scam for years. Simple science contradicts the Pond Gurus's product claims and enough experienced aquarists are finally revealing the fact that it does not reduce nitrates. Lava rock, pot scrubbies and foam are far superior at a small fraction of the cost to support the nitrogen cycle. Unfortunately, new and inexperienced aquarists fall for the Biohome marketing hype and all they are getting is "their pockets picked"
@@aaronm.bermudez7440 also very abrasive like Biohome. Make sure you have very fine filter media to catch any lava rock abrasive particles before they get into any magnetic drive pumps you might have.
4 года назад+1
Experiment: Pack your 407 completely with the Biohome, all bins with just foam in the 'pre-filter area'. Then run your FX6 normal setup at high flow rate. I think you would see better results with the 407 running the Biohome at low flow rate. See my other comment I left for more detail.
Thanks for producing this clearly explained, detailed video. I have the same water parameters as you when using the API test kit. I've learned not to be overconcerned as long as my community fish are active, eating, and otherwise appear healthy. I look forward to receiving your e-book on achieving crystal clear water. 👍👍👍
I too did this experiment a couple years ago. I filled 3 fX6s with 12lbs of Biohome Ultimate and let it run for 2yrs on a 125gal aquarium. The same as you I noticed no reduction in nitrates. I still had to do the same amount of waterchanges to control nitrates as before. I have since moved on and use no "bio" media at all. Nothing but sponges in my filtration systems to house beneficial bacteria. Sponge always has and always will be sufficient for housing all the BB you need.
I agree with you 100% David! And we actually had this conversation on Facebook a few weeks ago. Lol (But I was using my personal account lol) Glad you found my video, I’ll update our convo on Facebook as well 👍
Hey David, I’m curious. During your 2 year experiment. Did you use prime or purigen? The consensus Im hearing is if you use any of that it won’t allow the growth of anaerobic bacteria.
@@KaveManAquatics yes I used prime during waterchanges. Where Im at its necessary to use a dechlorinator for my watersource. I don't have the available space to store enough water to naturally gas off to do my waterchanges. Anaerobic bacteria is relatively fragile compared to aerobic bacteria. Cleaning alone can destroy anaerobic bacteria. You really need an undisturbed low flow, no oxygen environment for it to thrive. Think about the bottom of a lake. That is the kind of environment anaerobic bacteria can thrive in.
Seeing your tank makes me feel a bit better about what I hope to put in my 75 gal- 11 rummynose tetra, 7 denison barbs, 7 dwarf rainbowdish, 6 boseman's rainbowfish, 6 blue rainbowfish. What do you think? Too much, or OK? It'll be heavily planted.
testing myself using stresscoat as my water treatment and not other chemicals... it did work. I was testing with a 10 gallon and 1 Kg of biogravel. I had to tear down the tank in prep for a move but I'll do it again at the new house. I plan to do a big sump with it for the tank my wife has planned too.
Confused, you said you got 3.5 pounds in the fx6. He put over 11 in the pimp my fx6. So I wouldn't call it stuffed because you could have put 3x that amount. Granted I know it hurts to buy it cuz it's high as hell. But you gonna need a whole lot more than 3.5 lbs with that beautiful tank.
As always love your video and i trust your result! So do you think is it still good as a biological media? my fx6 flow rate is down too because of biohome ultimate. i have 75 gallon tank and i have fx6 and eheim 2217. after watching your video i am planning to transfer all bihome ultimate to eheim 2217 and for the fluval fx6 1st tray mechanical, 2nd tray seachem matrix, 3rd tray only chemipure blue/purigen, so my fluval fx6 can run better. whats your opinion?
That’s the perfect setup, very similar to mine after removing the biohome. Biohome is still great for producing beneficial bacteria, I had no problems with ammonia or nitrites. But it did not reduce any nitrates at all. Plus like you and I both noticed, packing so much biohome in reduces the flow, and that’s problematic in itself. I’d rather use cheaper bio-media that produces beneficial bacteria just the same as bio home and allows my flow rate to be at maximum levels 👍
You didn't read the instructions provided if you purchased Biohome from Great Wave Engeneering, the US distributor. It says that if you are using Purigen you will almost certainly never achieve nitrate reduction.
I did hear about this Purigen theory as well as the Prime theory after running the experiment. If I ever try it again I will keep these in mind, thanks.
I have used it with and without Purigen. No difference. Biohome does not reduce nitrate. At least not more or less than filter materials such as Sera Siporax.
In India people have been running aquariums on just foams for years. Foam is much much efficient that any cintered glass or ceramic media or matrix. The rate for 1 kg of biohome I got quoted in Mumbai was 1800 rupees for 1 kg.
@@DeepikaAditya I use two types of sponges and some lava rocks because the prices of common bio medias(lava rock, ceramic ring,nano tero balls) are very cheap at my location ,you can get 1kg of lava rock at Rs 130-150($2) max.
Nice video and very informative also. Just to check with you, the flow of water for fx6 is from side to bottom then raise back up to the tank right? Isnt it the sponge tray shld be bottom instead?
No, it starts from the bottom, goes up the sides, then back down through the middle, (so sponges on top tray) then back up to your tank...check it out here ruclips.net/video/dllg-vSN-EU/видео.html
@@KaveManAquatics I don’t know bud. I’m 3 weeks into an Oase Biomaster 600 full of the stuff. Takes a few months apparently. Making sure not to use Prime which is weird. Keep the videos coming Kev 👊
I can fully confirm your experience. I have been using almost 8 kilos of Biohome in a 400 litre discus aquarium for over a year. Compared to my previous (much cheaper) filter medium, absolutely nothing has changed.
@@wardraven8755 I only have three sponges in the first box - arranged from coarse to fine. Otherwise only Biohome. But as I said: no difference to Siporax or similar filter media: After one week approx. 25mg nitrate.
Hey Kev! First off i wana tell you how helpful your page is! I got 90 set up about 4 months ago and I've been trying to find a good page to use for info and this is the best one I've see for me! So now to my question. I noticed you changed the set up of your bottom tray and you aren't using the crushed coral anymore. Is there a reason you changed it to what you have here? I've just done my first cleaning filter and your video has helped a lot. Now i wana change up my media! Thanks in advance! Mike
Thanks Mike, so glad to hear I was able to help! I removed the crush coral because due to that in combination with the bio-home it was drastically reducing my flow rate. Since finishing my test of the bio-home (unfortunately didn’t work out for me) I wanted my flow rate back to what I know the FX6 is capable of. So I set up my media baskets with course media like the Fluval rings, only one basket of biohome just to preserve some of the bacteria already there. This way my FX6 Can turn the tank over more times than before. But I also use my 407 filter as a polishing filter, with only fine sponges and some chemical media which would be much easier to remove and replace monthly than having to pop open the FX6. Also, I probably could have left the crushed coral in the filter but I also have a lot in the tank mixed with my substrate helping to keep my water buffered and PH nice and high...so I just wanted to make sure I got maximum flow from FX6 and decided to remove it.
Hey Kev Thanks for getting back so quickly and giving me some good info! I’ve got another question. I’ve seen mix reviews on purogen and was wondering if you’ve ever run into issues using it. And second I have a 407 on a 30gal with 2 goldfish for my wife. I’m about ready to do the first cleaning of it and I was wondering i should do anything differently with my set up or could I just fill it the same way you did in your other video! Thanks again! Mike
Mike Timpone hey Mike, you can fill your 407 same as I did and it’ll keep your tank nice and clean. I’ve never really heard anything negative about Purigen. It’s probably one of the best products in the hobby...but with that being said purigen is not necessary. It’s more of a personal preference if you want to use chemical media or not.
I’ve been using bio homme for years and it keeps my tank in great shape, I don’t use bags because it clogs with gunk and keeps the water from flowing freely through the media and yes I have the FX6 and a Oddyssea 700 filter.
My experience is that bags will reduce flow significantly in a FX6. I use Marine Pure Spheres with no bags and the flow still stays high. The poly fill will clog quickly. You have a great tank!!! I also use a 407 for my polishing and chemical filtration. The 407 is so easy to maintenance every couple of weeks.
I agree with you, I've been planning a big project and things will get moved around including filters and media...Tune in next week and you'll see what I mean. Using the 407 as polishing and chemical only filter is a great idea as its easy to access and change that stuff out more frequently than you would crack open an fx6. great tip!
It is overstocked, but in an African Cichlid tank its done by design. Check this out to learn more about African Cichlids - kavemanaquatics.com/kac-relaunch
I've always used a mix if lava rock and ceramic rings, not trying to reduce nitrates, I just accept water changes as a necessary evil. I have always had good results.
Thanks this is helpful .... There's a lot been written about some of the more complex water conditioners (like prime which I love and use) and chemical treatments like purigen that inhibit nitrate reducing bacteria . I wonder if your high tap nitrate levels impact anaerobic formation. Did you manage to get Nitrate reduction with the fluval rings. I still have a tray of them in my 407 and after watching this i will leave them in there.
Do you use a Dechlorinator that treats ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate(like Seachem Prime)? I didn't hear you mention it. PondGuru has said that that will prevent a full cycle
@james Kerr if you wouldn't mind. Do you know of any easily obtained dechlorinators that match what your saying in the US. Just got biohome and want to make sure I'm not shooting myself in the foot.
@@lincolnhadalispbutnoneever2570 Hi, I’m not in the US so sorry don’t know specific brands, but basically what you want is a dechlorinator that only removes chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. No treating ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate
Honestly the only true way any of that media works well is if your using it to create Anoxic conditions because essentially you are supposed to deprive it of oxygen and just allow enough to produce the bacteria needed to remove nitrates. We in the aquarium hobby are still getting the method wrong lol
right, problem is the inside of a powerful filter is not an anoxic environment. So companies have to get creative about how their media is made. The claim is that "INSIDE" the bio media itself is an anoxic environment so it doesnt matter that its in a heavily oxygenated powerful filter....or so they claim 🤷♂️
@@KaveManAquatics Yep that's the problem with the Aquarium Hobby the Big Box companies and stores, it's also the blessing since we tend to get creative because of it 🤣💯
Thank you for this video. When I first saw your videos on Biohome ultimate, I was ready to go buy some. Glad I didn’t, thanks to this video of yours. Btw, Biohome ultimate is half the price of Amazon, if you buy it directly from the manufacturer.
Negative. While pot scrubbers work great, I successfully used them for over a year, your Lava rocks are doing the exact same job. Stick with what you already got. But for your next tank 😁 Yes, you can go with pot scrubbers to save some dough 💪
You're right Kevin I haven't found a biomedia yet that can truly reduce nitrates pot scrubbers are great but even they don't reduce nitrates nitrate reduction is complicated and even when it is done the nitrates can go up and down in sequence I have even use expensive marinepure bio media and let me tell you it does not work either but what does work if you have enough of them is yes plain old aquarium plants or a lot of golden pothos great video keep it real
Yup, Plants is the only true answer for nitrate reduction, IMO. But I dont worry about that anymore, Im doing weekly water changes regardless of nitrate levels 😁
Of course Marine Pure does not work a purchased, but it can work in the right situation. It's similar to lava rock but not as good for Nitrate removal because it crumbles easier and us more porous. You have to get the big 12x12x4 blocks, put it in a center chamber of a wet dry and cover it with fiberglass screen. Then cover that with gravel, not sand, but fine gravel. After 6 months, undisturbed you will see results. I've done it, so I speak from tested experience. The cubes, balls and thin versions are not effective fir Nitrates, great for other aerobic bacteria tho. Only downside is they crumble easy and can get in your impeller.
Honestly all you need is plants. I have a 75 gallon with a regular hang on the back filter. I don't change the water weekly. Mbuna tank is overstocked and never had any spikes with none of my levels. Anubias, swords, vallisneria, and duckweed and no worries🌿
BHU has more surface area than 30ppi Poret foam, but the foam has more effective surface area making at about 10x more superior than BHU. Foam is far superior and you will be able to keep more fish and maintain clear water
@@sakleo8 thicker foam and slow water movement through the foam, water needs to pass through at least 50mm(2 inches) of foam with slow rate of water(there is a formula) then it will become anaerobic
@@TheDrunkenAlcoholic 2 inches sound too less, I had 10 inches of foam stacked in the sump without anaerobic filtration / denitrification happening, so flow like you mentioned is a key parameter. Do share that formula
It was slowing the flow down more than I wanted. With the bio home in it that was a good thing. Anaerobic bacteria need slow flowing water to grow. Since deciding to remove the bio home I wanted my faster flow rate back....so I just added the crushed coral to the substrate instead. 😊
Kevin, what do you think about FX6 set up that poundguru has? Do you think that theirs to much sponge in it and that the sponges that come with the FX6 is good enough? thanks
The sponges that come with the FX6 are good enough, I would just add an additional fine filter floss pad like pinky floss or poly-fil to the top tray, BUT Pond gurus hack of adding course and medium to the sides is definitely an upgrade. And you cant ever really have too much sponge. Remember not only is the sponge mechanically filtering but beneficial bacteria also grows on sponges, so more sponge also adds more bio-media as well. Hope this answers your question
@@KaveManAquatics Mahalo for the quick reply! i was also wondering if all the added sponges inhibit the flow rate, and noticed you just ran the stock FX6 sponges, and if that was your reason to not upgrade your sponge set up, thanks again for the tips!
It looks like your biohome is clogged with muck. The pond guru didn't say it by name but he does state that purigen kills anaerobic bacteria. I would try this again with no purigen and a canister booster container filled with straight sponge and use the fx6 for just biohome. You need quite a bit for your load.
want to ask, how long can bacteria live inside a media filter that doesn't drown in water. Usually when changing the mechanical filter media the pump will be turned off and the biological filter medium is not temporarily submerged
Great question. I dont know the exact number but it's not long. If you're going to do extended maintenance its best to remove the media and place it in your tank temporarily until you're done.
@@KaveManAquatics You're also the best bro. I often see the video of this channel and I think it greatly increases my understanding. Ok, because I think when mechanical capacity is inadequate we will often wash or change those media and definitely impact other media. Well, thank you for your answer 🙏
Great video, thanks for sharing! I am new to this too so found your video helpful. Trying to decided whether to try biohome. I thought pondguru said you need 1kg for every 100L of water in your tank. You mention you had 3.5 pounds for 75 gallons, which about 1.6kg for 283L. Seems you might have a bit more than half as much media as pondguru recommends to get the full cycle happening. Did I misunderstand something?
No you are correct, I ran my test purposely with only 1fx6 full of biohome. Many have claimed biohome to work with 1fx6. It didn’t work for me, but I also wouldn’t want to have 2 or 3 FX6 which is what the required amount would be. For an over stocked tank like mines I would need 2kg/100L
@@KaveManAquatics i understand your reasons with the reduction in flow but without having enough bio home media its not really a ideal test? Thanks for all your videos 👍🇬🇧
Hello KaveMan... I'm relatively new to keeping African Cichlids. I inherited a 135g Cichlid aquarium in June 2020. I do 40 - 50g water changes weekly. I have a Fluval FX5 and a sponge filter. I've added 2 Current Wavemakers positioned as you recommended in another video and I test my water regularly. I just experienced a Nitrate Spike AFTER doing a water change. Should I add another filter to this aquarium? I'm in Phoenix AZ. Water is super hard and TDS is high. Any suggestions?
That is very strange. The only way to add nitrates to your tank after a water change is if it came from your tap. Test your tap water for nitrates and then retest your tank for comparison. And FYI adding another filter will not reduce nitrates. Only water changes can do that.
@@KaveManAquatics Thank you... Did a 50% water change, tested tap water beforehand (no nitrates), did a thorough vaccum too...Nitrates down, maybe an anomaly. Appreciate the advice.
1KG or ~2Lbs for every 100L /20 gallon of water. Your tank is massive, and the Biohome with nowhere near enough quantity had no chance to treat your water. The result is not down to the media. I think the important bit is, you didn't go full on what the Pondguru said in his video. All trays filled to the brim with Biohome and a fine pad on the very top, and Course+Medium foam on the sides. I have used the FX6 with t he full Upgrade kit that you can buy from the PondGuru for 1 year before moving from my place, and never had issues. All I did was topping the water up. 576L tank, well planted, an average of about 2-300 fish, tetras, guppies etc. You can check for what it can do if you take a look at my vids about my tank. This is just a half solution that ended up with a result, that does not say much,, just one thing, follow the instructions. I hope that you will give it another try based on the numbers I have written in the beginning. You can check for them in any Upgrade my filter video that PondGuru makes. Please follow what PondGuru says, he does it for a reason. Haha, a gun example. If yo follow Ian on Forgotten Weapons, he is running an experiment on the Calico gun, to find out, is the gun unreliable, or is it the operators fault that it is so unreliable. All it seems so far, that ppl just did not do what the manual says,, to crank the mag 23 times to reach optimal spring tension. Is it the guns fault? no, it's the operators's fault. Lovely fish though!;)) Stay safe everyone!
With you “well planted tank” how can you measure how much the bio-home is removing nitrates and how much the plants are? You can’t. I’ve stated that with pond gurus recommendations I’d need 3-4 FX6’s full of bio-home. No realistic fish keepers is going to that in one 75 gallon tank. I was testing the theory of others that claim to achieve the full cycle with far less then what pond guru recommends. (1 FX6, like normal people have). Unfortunately it didn’t work for me. If it worked for you, congrats. These are my findings for my setup and for my viewers that don’t want to keep 4 monster filters on 1 tank. You know, the common fish keeper.
@@KaveManAquatics haha, just checked it, it's 26.4 US gal to 100L. There is a filter on his channel, which he upgrades that holds at least 50% more Biohome than what the FX6 can hold. You are correct, I cannot tell. The only thing that could indicate that the Biohome did it's job was that I basically didn't change water for 12 months, I didn't clean the filter thx to lack of place to clean it, I have added fish about a 100 at once, meant lot more food went in there, I put up a second light, and the dip strip always stayed in the white. But then again I have used good quality substrate, and thx to the amount of plants, I could not vacuum the substrate either so the poop just piled up and still, no changes. Even after I cut the plants back I cannot remember seeing much to any changes. So who knows how effective it was, but in my case, I was at least really close to the recommended amount. I think i just needed another 1kg. I still feel that people will come to the wrong conclusion watching your video and skipping this product, because they not necessarily will check PondGurus video about the media. If someone has managed to achieve full cycle then I'd imagine that person had some similar amount of plants to me. Just rew-watched your video, and you didn't say, that this was an experiment of some hearsay story, hence your conclusion seems misleading, obviously unintentionally.
@@V4zz33 I stated in the video that these results were found based on my set up. And I said that other setups may be different and could have found different results. I said that specifically for viewers like you that have found different results. Most people that do have success with bio-home use planted tanks, just like you. Plants are supposed to help reduces nitrates so I can see how you went so long without a water change, but like we said, cant attribute that all to just the bio-home. But I can tell you that there are way more failure stories out there, including much more extensive tests, way more accurate than what I did, using way more bio-home than what I used and also could not ever get any reduced nitrates. But I didnt want to folow anyone elses findings and decided to use my own setup. I was never planning to buy 3-4 fx6's and fill them with bio-home. If it cant be done with one fx6 than I dont want it. My conclusions were for my viewrs with similar setups as me. you know, guys that wouldnt put 4 huge filters on 1 small 75 gallon tank 🤷♂️
@KaveMan Aquatics - have you recharged your Purigen with Bleach? As mentioned by Pong Guru that has potential to kill your beneficial bacteria. I also saw in your FX6 set up had a lot of wasted Canister space. Unfortunately your set up is significantly different compared to Pond Guru's reco. In my FX6 i am running about 10Ibs of Bio Home Ultimate.
I haven't recharged my purigen no. And it only looked like wasted space once I separated everything. When the media is in the bags and piled together the trays can only hold so much with the red trays being stacked on top. Trust me I packed that thing in. I could have gotten about a pound more if I used the bottom tray for media as well instead of crushed coral. With Pond guru's recommendation I would have had to have 4 FX6's full of biohome, I would never do that realistically on a 75 gallon. But I wanted to test others theories about achieving the full cycle with bio-home with far less media than pond guru recommends. Unfortunately it didn't work for me.
@@KaveManAquatics - Yeah unfortunately your set up is too different. I did follow the Pond Guru Video, and i am starting now to notice a reduction in Nitrate. I also did not use any of the FX6 red baskets and only filled the circular trays with Bio Home Media. My flow is terrible now, but i am getting on average a week longer between water changes on my 75G Discuss Tank.
@@KaveManAquatics - I got about 4.7KG, or amount 10.4 Ibs. I actually purchased the kit direct from Pond Guru, link below. filterpro.co.uk/fx6--fx5-external-filter-freshwater-upgrade-kit-148-p.asp
Do you do like this with everything? Let's say Seachem recomend a dosage of 10 ml something per gallon of tank you dose 2 ml and says, yeah, that did not work...?
Wow!!! This is the first time I seen your channel? Great review regarding the FX filters. Thank You 🙏🏻 for showing how you are loading yours. I load slightly different, but I use the regular Fluval Biomax. It’s proven to obviously work for me. It’s currently on a 75gl fresh tank, 1 Oscar, 1 Leopard & Snoball Pleco. Works flawlessly, and will be seeding and starting my 150 as well. New sub 🤙🏼
I been using Bio home for a few years and it didnt really start to work untill I mixed bio gravel into my substrate, then it really started working properly. And bare in mind that bio home will not work if you run purigen in your filter as you did in the test.
Where to start? 1. You need 1kg/100l of water for a normally stocked tank, twice that for a heavily stocked or carnivore tank. 2. Your mechanical filtration needs to ensure that no waste, only water, reaches your bio media. Your biological media baskets showed obvious signs of contamination, suggesting your mechanical filtration is allowing what little media you have to lose efficiency due to blockage. It’s never going to fully cycle your tank given the minuscule amount you used. Look at The Pond Guru example of ‘how to pimp an FX6’ to see how it should be set up. If you don’t want to run multiple FX6’s to provide the required biological filtration, use your other Fluval as a prefilter, fill it full of coarse, then medium, then fine foams, and connect the outlet to the inlet of your FX6 full of biological media. Don’t switch on the prefilter, leave it unplugged. Again, best to use bio home media, but if you prefer to use media that’s a tenth of the price but a hundredth of the efficiency of biohome, you just need to use 100 time more of it for the same effect. Sigh...
Thanks for that lengthy lecture Gary. Something tells me I could follow your instruction to a T (like so many others already have) and it still wouldn’t work. 🙄
Hi Kaveman, I got a 20 gallon aquarium after rescuing a baby slider turtle in my backyard. I also added a few small fish and some decor. I put about everything you recommended for clear water. Cascade filter, ,wave maker, and a sponge bubble filter. I don’t have the tank filled all the way due to the baby turtle. At first the water looked pretty clear now it’s cloudy especially towards the back of the tank. Oh and I also have the basking and UVB LIGHT that I turn on the turtle for a couple of hours. What do you recommend? I want crystal clear water.
You could be having bacterial bloom which is normal in new tank setups. Nothing to do there but be patient, it will go away on its own. After your bloom period if your water is still cloudy theres multiple things you can do, my free ebook has many tips that will be helpful, check it out here - bit.ly/H2O
You run a heavily stocked tank and didn’t use anywhere near enough. Fx6 are overhyped crap. Oase biomaster 600 thermo. Try that filter. High flow isn’t necessarily a good thing
Have you considered a few cichlid friendly plants in your tank to reduce nitrate. (Anubias, Java fern, Cryptocorne, Vallis) Also Pothos plant in top of tank like aquaponics is good at reducing nitrate. Great vids by the way. Keep up the good work!!
I wouldn't consider those cichlid friendly, my guys would just tear them all up lol. I have tried pothos above the tank in my previous tank which worked well for a bit. I wish I could keep more plants with these pigs 🤣
@@KaveManAquatics I've got a way I've figured out how to keep pothos in my cichlid tank if you're interested. My cichlids destroyed all my plants until now.
I’m using Biohome on my 407 and still can’t get tank to cycle. My Aps filter flooded and I put on my 407 but lost all bacteria. Now trying to do fish in cycle. 240 litres with 3 little goldfish. Been running for 6 weeks
Try seachem stability, it'll help boost your cycle and have it ready in about a week. Follow the dosage on the bottle - check it out here - amzn.to/3l4Cccq
I found that the biohome ultimate has to be kickstarted with their bacteria starter jel balls. When i did this the biohome worked wonderfully. Its been two years and the biohome is keeping all the levels where i want them. Once a month water changes.
Yea, I've heard that will effect it too...but I've since given up on biohome completely. Too many studies and tests with negative results....way better test than I did.
Biohome is super effective for me in all my tanks. I tried seachem media but my tanks just wouldn't cycle. As soon as I put biohome in, it was cycled within a day or two. The bags definitely clog quicker
No media on its own can cycle a tank in a day or 2. Not bio-home, not seachem, not fluval...nothing. before your media change, Bacteria was already growing on your glass, substrate, equipment, decor...anything in the tank. You could have switched the seachem media with .99 cent pot scrubbers and it would have cycled the same way.
Even if it did work marginally better, it's not worth the trade off of not being able to use purigen, prime and carbon when you want to. It's overpriced lava rock and an unfortunate scam on an already expensive hobby.
Lave rock is all you need. I use big pieces for much of my decor. It looks natural, fully supports all necessary aerobic bacteria and reduces Nitrates in my way overstocked 75gal SA and CA big Cichlids. These boys are big and eat well. I only change a 1/3 water volume weekly and my Nitrates are usually 10ppm, never over 20ppm. That's fine. They are so healthy and very happy. Lava Rock, the bigger, the better. Save all the gimmicks, this is the best investment you can make, especially if you can't do plants like me
Using purigen will prevent the complete cycle your looking to achieve. Carbon is safe and won’t impede the cycle. If you are going to use chemical filtration put it in the last basket. Bio home works,but some of the chemical filters out there work against establishing a complete cycle.
I've actually read the exact opposite. That carbon will prevent the full cycle while purigen is safe to use. Thats the problem with this full cycle theory. There's so much misinformation out there. In any case I was using the purigen in the last tray and still failed 🤷♂️
I would need 4 fx6 for pond gurus recommended amount. Not realistic...I wanted to test the theory that one FX6 would be enough...unfortunately not for me.
@@rockfella27 they recommend 1kg per 100 litres for a normally stocked tank so if my tank was stocked with not to many fish I would only need 2kg but I have about 34 fish do it's heavily stocked I regularly test my nitrate weekly and its about the 4 week mark when my nitrate is about 10 ppm but it does take about 6 months before you will notice
In a perfect filter (there is none, lol) No dirt should ever reach your bio-media or the bags they're kept in. If the bags are mechanically trapping dirt and clogging your media you've got bigger problems in your filter than the mesh bags 🤷♂️
I'm sorry but if you are going to knock something you should watch the full video. If he had listened to the pond guru he would have heard that the FX6 would not be able to full cycle a heavily loaded cinclid tank. It would typically take 2 FX6 for a tank of his nature under realistic conditions.
He actually said to use more media for aN overstocked tank. Which was exactly my point of having to use MORE of something doesn’t mean it works. Maybe you should pay attention more.
I have personally tried a lot of different media's except bio home media, I found over the years nothing beats a hamburg matten filter with at least 50mm/5cm/2inches thick and correct water flow to create an excellent anaerobic filter. Plus the fact I only clean the hamburg matten filters maybe once a year, the more mulm at the back of the filter the better...
Thanks Kev. I was thinking about adding Biohome Utlimate in the third tray of my Fluval 407.I think that I will just leave the Matrix in the third and fourth tray.
Those are just bacteria boosters, you can use them all if you like. But honestly I think you spent more than you needed to. Bio-home works well to produce aerobic bacteria, but the over priced price tag is for its claims of reducing nitrates. And IF it actually can do that, you'd need a whole lot more than what your tidal 55 can hold.
I have a 45g tank and a SUNSUN 3000 which I can variable flow rate. I substituted biohome for 2 trays of 4 with lava rock. Tank is clear with course medium and fine pads on the bottom tray, next two the lava rock packed full. Last tray has charcoal and bag of purigen ( soak purigen in 1/2 water 1/2 bleach to bring back to life, rinse then soak in container water with chlorine remover) all my levels are perfect and going on 4 years with same 4-5 “ goldfish x 11
3.5 lbs is no were near enough for an over stocked 75 gal. 0.127 to 0.210 lbs/gal is pond guru's recommended level for heavily to very heavily stocked tanks or 9.5 to 15.75 lbs to help with nitrates in a 75 gal.
I use a 407 right now but was planning on upgrading to the fx6 but I am now thinking I will use my 407 for chemical and polishing filter and keep it hooked up to my coralife turbo-twist 12x fish tank sterilizer and add the fx6 for the biological and debris but I believe I will stop using that filler and only use polishing pads... I would also use ammonia, nitrite, and phosphate pads in the mix in the fx6 cause I already use them in my 407 and they help some but I will try your purigen stuff for the chemical media for the smell as I been having a hard time lately with the smell that I didn't have before
To have an reduction in nitrate through anerobic bacteria you need an anoxic eviroment which means low oxygen . It also takes this bacteria about 6 weeks to become present in the filter or tank subtrate and needs an iron based subrate to really start multiplying which biohome has. The fx6 has far to much flow and wont produce an anoxic enviroment. If you want to use the biohome to reduce nitrates place a layer about 1.5 to 2 inches below your substrate and dose sugar 1 teaspoon is plenty you can also use vodka or vinegar - acetic acid but sugar or vodka is best for a alkali tank. You should as long as anaerobic bateria is in your tank get a hughed reducution in nitrate like 40ppm to 5ppm depending on your bacterial colony plus the sugar/vodka will make the colony grow. Hope this helps you out.
I've never heard of that sugar tactic, but I have to agree with you that the fx6 is to awesomely designed to create the low flow thats needed. Its designed to be a powerful high flow filter!
Hi Kev, thank you for your videos, they are all very helpful. I think I may have watched all of them. I already have the MTS. I wish I would have known about the syndrome. I am working on my third tank that will be my Cichlids tank. I have the FX-4. How much the tank will turn over with the Fx-4?
Glad you like them! It depends on the size of your tank. Fluval says its pumps 450 GPH but its probably more like 350 after you add in the media...so divide 350 gallons by the size of your tank and you get how many times it'll turn over.
I also just use fluval bio max ceramic rings. Best media in my opinion... 5.99 for a 500 gram box,that and sponges have never done me wrong! I've tried adding matrix and other media's and have never noticed any difference. Water changes and plants are the best way to get rid of nitrates unless you wanna spend some serious money
@@KaveManAquatics my problem with plants is a few of my bigger fish seem to like to keep pulling them up as soon as I get them down so I have gotten to the point of not doing plants any longer and the couple times I ordered plants for the tank online a couple came to me in little plastic pots and I wasn't sure if I was suppose to cut the pot off and plant them or plant the pot and plant together so I took them out of the pot and planted them but they didn't last long
Hey kev Hope your doing well. After i installed the sponge filter on my intake but now i noticed an inscreas in algea growth . Should i remove the sponge or how do i rid the algea?.
So you installed a pre filter on your intake? That wouldnt have anything to do with algae growth. there are many other reasons for that...My free ebook can help you out! check it out - bit.ly/H2O
Hi Kev, love your content bro and been following you for years you’ve helped me in more ways you can imagine. I have a FX6 and a FX4 on a discus tank. In this instance I’d like to share my opinion as to why I believe the biohome may not be working for you. It looks like the pores and ‘tunnels’ of the biohome are getting all clogged up with gunk from the tank which isn’t allowing the potential of beneficial bacteria to build up. There should be no waste at all on the biological media. This means that your sponges are way too coarse and waste is getting through. I’d replace the standard coarse sponges for medium instead. Fluval have super course sponges to advertise ridiculous ’gallons per hour turnover’ so have an edge on competitors. They also advertise a single FX6 can be suitable for a 1500L tank. This is so far from the truth. A single FX6 can support maybe 600L at a push until you need an additional filter. They don’t tell anyone these things unless you do your own research and speak to the experts. Back to subject, you definitely need a max clean pad and a polishing pad under that too instead of that black sponge so clean water only flows through the media. This is also why your flow has reduced massively because there’s gunk blocking the pores and tunnels of the media. Biohome ultimate has tunnels like no other media. Pondguru actually has a video where he analyses with a microscope each media structure. Matrix or any other commercialised media doesn’t come close to its structure. Also pretty much all other bio media is made of ceramic and have a great “surface area” but actually have a bunch of ‘dead end’ tunnels. They just look good. The porosity isn’t there when you examine it. Fyi I’ve seen you put all the correct filter pads at the top in other videos but in this one I’m not sure why you left out the fine sponges in this instance. Also as a final note I know you put the chemical media at the top tray for convenience but this actually starves the biological media to reach its full potential and needs to be at the very last stage which is the bottom of a FX6. Thanks for anyone that’s read this if it provides any insight and happy fish keeping!
Just subscribed. I’m new to the hobby. Been about a year now. I’ve watch the pond guru on how he pimps the different filters. Been thinking about getting that FX6. Very informative video. Thanks for sharing 💪🏼
I have a 125 with 15 fancy gold fish I run 2 fx6 with a total of 16 pounds of bio home fully cycled my nitrates never go over 10 every 4 weeks it's expensive but yiu have to put the right amount for you size tank
@@KaveManAquatics hi I have no planta as my oranaa love to destroy them I do use carbon and cemy blue but my media is 12 months cycle the way I do it is one fx 6 just has 16 pounds of bio ultimate on a low flow and the othe one is normal set up with cemy pure blue I do water changes 1 time a month 50-60% add my water conditioner I agree. The media is expensive but nitrates are under control . I love your channel and have learned much thank you so much
Nice video. I have to say that you should have given it more time and according to the PondGuru you need more biohome for a big tank and for the amount of bioload your tank has. Having said that I'm struggling with biohome as well. I've got it in three tanks and it hasn't really reduced my nitrates a lot. I need fewer water changes but that's it. Over quarantine (my tanks are in my classroom) I went in every three weeks for a water changes (50%) and my tanks never went above 40 ppm nitrates. That's not bad. I'm experimenting now because I've read that water conditioners like Prime have additives/binding agents that attach to ammonia for 24 to 48 hours. These agents seem to impede the anoxic bacteria needed to create the full cycle. I'm testing out API, Safe and API Stress Coat(the latter doesn't have binding agents the first two have). The theory is that in municipalities that have chloramine in the water a conditioner will create ammonia when it breaks down the chloramine. In the absence of a binding agent to detoxify the ammonia produced, doing a water change creates a toxic environment for our fish (hence the need for the binding agents). I'm currently on month #2 and should see a bigger difference in my one tank using the API Stress Coat. Fingers crossed it works.
@@KaveManAquatics So my results show that water conditioners do make a difference. My tank using API Stresscoat consistently has 10-20 less PPM of nitrates as opposed to the one tank using API 52D Tap Aquarium Water Conditioner and the last one I tested with Seachem Safe. So Biohome does work but it takes a long time and you need to be careful with your conditioner and plants. Hope this helps.
@@rockfella27 400l tank. Running three external filters all set up the way Pond Guru says. Bought 10kg of biohome ultimate. I had less than a kilo left. I use nothing else. Has been now running for 2 years and no results. Water is crystal clear but nitrates will still grow to 100ppm by the end of the week.
There's no such thing as bacteria based "full cycle" in freshwater aquariums. We do water changes to get rid of nitrates. Or use a ton of plants: submersed for light stocking, emersed for heavy stocking. You can watch Half Man Half Cichlid aquaponics video to get an idea on how many plants you need to achieve this. I have no room for a freaking jungle in my house, and I don't mind the weekly water change.
You can do it without plants, but not with gimmicks like biohomme. Have to use science. Create an anerobic,, and that bacteria will grow. Just has to be proportionate to your needs, which might not be feasible. I keep mine at 10ppm in a very heavy stocked 75gal with big SA and CA Cichlids. No plants and 33% weekly water changes
I too had issues but found leaving my filter for 6 months suddenly the nitrates started to drop i have have nitrates from the tap about 50ppm legal limit here so use a nitrate filter that gets it right down now after a week nitrates hit 10 to 15ppm so i water change but i have been really ill and the filter never got touched for a very long time flow had dropped and the water change was a month late when the water was tested it still only had 10ppm that's after a pal was over feeding ,,since then use it in everything i have with good results
I've been using BioHome Ultimate for about 2 years now and still havent got the full cycle... However, my tank is 300 litres (79 us Gallons) and i'm only using 2kg (4.4Ibs) - that's all i can get in my eheim pro3; lightly stocked and no real planting... typically only needed a weekly 10% water change to keep Nitrate at around 50ppm... as i was planning to aquascape it and re-stock, i wanted to see how long it would take to get to 100ppm without any water change... ANSWER = 4 weeks... BioHome recommend 1kg for every 100ltrs for a Normally Stocked Tank... and double for a heavily stocked tank! By my calculations you should have been using 2.8kg (6Ibs) at the very least, probably closer to 12Ibs with your stocking... The Pond Guru managed to get 3kg (6.6Ibs) into an FX4, so i'm sure you could have squeezed it into your FX6. I know a couple of guys that have got the full cycle going; both using some BioHome with other filter media... one planted tank, the other bare...
I will never know if 12lbs would work or not because I would never attempt it. Many have said the same that I needed way morebio-home but I was testing others claims of biohome working for them with much less. Like a realistic amount lol Unfortunately it didnt work for me with 1 FX6 which is already over filtering a 75 gallon. I dont want 2-3 FX6's on a 75 gallon. Its just not realistic for me.
@@KaveManAquatics - was going to give you the benefit of doubt, but your argument / comments are flawed... 1) you say you were "testing others claims of biohome working for them with much less" yet i don't recall your video/s ever saying that... 2) you'd need 2-3 FX6s to fit 12Ibs of BioHome media in, yet other fish keepers have managed to 11Ibs into one... Your results were always going to fail... so no, i'm not surprised... Does it work as advertised... YOU DON'T KNOW>>> you ran your tank with less than half the recommended quantity for a period of time that was less than the recommended time and made a decision that it wasn't working! It's like saying "hay man, my iPhone battery didn't last the advertised time; but i only half charged it and then had it running every app going"... just lost a subscriber...
It takes at least 4-6 months for that to happen and using the the smaller fx4 nozzles and I've got same 4lbs in mine and it works for me bin in for 6 months and almost no issue 2months no water change with heavily stocked tank
Joey stephens That’s great news, what did you do differently then I did, besides the smaller hoses? Do you have live plants in your tank? What’s your nítrate levels currently?
KaveMan, glad I ran across this video. I too am dissatisfied with Bui-Home, but have something to add. I ran across a video where someone stated The Pond Guru happens to own the company that produces Bio-Home, or at least a part of it. I ran it a while back, or I'd post a link to the info now. Pond Guru should certainly include a disclaimer in his video where he customizes the Fluval filters if he does, as he was really negative towards them and the contents.
Just my 2c from my relative inexperience. Firstly too little biohome, you need min 1.5KG per 100L for heavy stocked tank, yours qualifies. Second, don't use prime or purigen, it messes with the nitrogen cycle (afaik). Third, you need a decent flow rate, not reduced as the aerobic bacteria need the flow and oxygen. The anaerobic will do just fine with a good flow rate. IMO your tested setup will not work given the aforementioned.
Other (MUCH CHEAPER) bio-media is capable of growing anerobic bacteria while using products like Prime and Purigen without any issue. Other (MUCH CHEAPER) bio-media doesnt require 3 fully loaded FX6's worth of media to "work". I find it strange that bio-home wont work if you use 2 of the most widely used products in the aquarium industry.
I have 4.5 pounds of biohome in my tetra ex600 that I use on a 90 litre tropical tank. I run the Tetra full with biohome, no other media at all but I connected a Sun Sun filter booster on the intake of the Tetra that I filled with coarse, medium and fine foams for mechanical filtration and to further reduce flow. My nitrate levels are at 10 ppm before 10% weekly water change. My tap water tests like yours at about 20 ppm nitrate. I used to have 80 ppm nitrate like you (because my tank is overstocked) before 50% weekly water change. It took around 7 months to start seeing drops but after around a year with biohome, my weekly cleaning routine takes me about 10 minutes, from 1 hour that it used to. I only open the Tetra for cleaning every 3 months or so. I do biweekly cleaning on the filter booster as my flow comes down considerably. Your tank is awesome but would need a lot more biohome and a lot more filters to put it in for it to actually make a difference. So probably, like you say, in big tanks, not realistic. P.s. You should probably try finer mechanical media as well, maybe a pre-filter. Your media looks all clogged and it's reducing the colonisation capability. The biohome in my canister is cleaner after 3 months than yours after what, 1 week? Good luck and keep up the good videos.
It was 3 months, and I let it run long purposely as to not disturb any anaerobic bacteria growth. My issue is, there’s no way I’m loading 3 FX6 full of expensive bio home on a 75...that’s just ridiculous. I’d rather replace 80% of the water weekly anyway, regardless of the nitrate levels. The fresh water has many more benefits than leaving the same old nutrient-less water in the tank just to cut down on my maintenance time 🤷🏼♂️ to each is own bro
As I can see from the vid and read in some comments, you don't have plants so unless your tap water has vitamin C in it your fish don't really depend on nutrients from tap water. They get it from their food. Bb's eat their poop so again, no need for nutrients from tap water. Also, my tap water has mostly residual heavy metals which affect greatly a closed ecosystem like an aquarium, it's quite scarce in nutrients. So for me, adding less tap water weekly is a blessing. But it all depends on many variables so it might work for some, might not for others. In my case, I consider a 30 euro investment (that's how much the biohome ultimate cost me) definitely worth it as my fish are thriving (and I have 48 of them in a 90 litre tank, and they're not the size of neon tetras). ✌
@@ionut-alexandrubunescu9698 Ok, you lost me at “they don’t depend on nutrients from tap water” are you suggesting that if your biohome and/or plants reduces nitrates to 0 you would never need a water change? That’s ridiculous. New fresh tap water has minerals and adds those minerals back into the tank. Magnesium, calcium and potassium are used up by your fish and a nice big water change not only removes unwanted nitrates but also re-introduces those minerals that have been depleted. So again, my 55 adult sized African Cichlids in my 210 gallon tank are truly thriving because I remove and replace their water by 80% weekly. Not just to remove nitrates, but also to remineralize. Which I highly suggest you stop worrying about reducing your maintenance schedule and focus more on what’s beneficial for the fish.
@@KaveManAquatics my tap water is soft so it hardly has any calcium or magnesium. That's what fish food is for, for them to get their minerals from. Otherwise, the fish wouldn't have the need to eat, would they? The plants consume whatever nutrients are in the fish poop and whatever decomposes in the aquarium, it doesn't all go to the beneficial bacteria. Closed ecosystems have a habit of balancing themselves based on the amount of nutrients present. The ultimate goal of any aquarist is to spend less time cleaning their tank and equipment and more time enjoying their fish. Maybe you enjoy spending hours weekly removing that much water, but that's just something that again, depends from case to case. I prefer looking at and breeding my fish more, and cleaning less. If my nitrate reaches 0, I will definitely do water changes less often probably not doing them at all will make the water cloudy at some point. But that's not even remotely "ridiculous". There are thousands of people out there that aim to do just that. I think you are one of those guys with a "think like me or don't think at all" mentality. Shame as your vids are quite entertaining. But I would say do a bit more research on the heavy metals that your tap water contains and what it does to the lifespan and growth of your fish. Oh, and my fish are thriving and spawning regularly. They wouldn't do that if the way I care for them wouldn't be optimal, but I presume that's something that you won't agree with... fine with me and my fish though. Take care, my friend.
In order for anaerobic bacteria to develop most capable media requires about six months. In scientific testing by a home ultimate was found to have the second most surface area to Matrix. The primary difference between Matrix and biohome is that Matrix is a natural occurring Rock and biohome is centered glass. Essentially Matrix is going to be inconsistent due to its natural nature while biohome ultimate will be much more consistent. Both products should work just fine for you if given enough time.
@@KaveManAquatics Thanks for the great content man. For what it is worth, I wonder if you could repeat the test in the 407 and go for 8 months and see if filter type matters cus my 07 series has both matrix and biohome and works great. To be fair, I also have 2x pothos planted HOBs and a pothos planted overhead filter sump...so nitrates get pulled out like crazy.
Yea Im sure the Pothos is contributing considerably. The 407 wont allow for enough bio-home that's required. I ran this test with a reasonable amount of bio-home but the recommended amount is about 3-4 times more. I would never want to have to have that much bio-media for this to work...I'd rather just go with some Pothos that is guaranteed to work.
I think that this is an unfair test. You have a very highly stocked tank with a very small amount of the media. It's said to be 1 kg of media to filter 100 litres of water............but halve that in a highly stocked tank, so 1 kg to filter 50 litres to eliminate nitrate. You need to not use the media bags and also use your crushed coral in your tank. Much more media then will fit in your filter. This still may not be enough in the filter as of your high fish load.. To say it doesn't work I feel is unfair as the information on its capabilities are well advertised for all to see. That said i know it's expensive, but the choice is there for the.customer as with any purchase.
@@KaveManAquatics Yes you could check out Dr Kevin Novak's RUclips channel. He explains it in details with all the scientific research that he has done. I hope it helps. ruclips.net/channel/UC06AbbfqomU3MvOB4HE64uQ
Yeah he did say 2kg of Biohome Ultimate per 100l. I've never used it, because Pondguru sells it at stupid prices. For cinted glass, which is the same stuff than ceramic rings. It is porous, but after a bit of reasearch, lava rock as slightly more surface area than Biohome ultimate. The nitrate reduction claim is all over the place, some say it works, some don't. Fortunately i get 0ppm from the tap. So it only gets to 10ppm max, and that's after 2 weeks (High silicates thought so not perfect). RO water would resolve your issue, but then it's more of a pain with ph, and adding minerals.
His filter optimization methods are on point. I've never seen anyone do it better, for the most part. I bought into the Biohome hype train a couple of years ago also...and have since switched to Matrix as my go-to media for new filters/tanks. It's cheap and effective.
I have not given up yet. I am doing a project now to compare between biohome in one tank and matrix in another. 2kg biohome in a 200 liter tank and 1.5kg matrix in a 150liter tank. I stopped using prime and purigen in both now use API. 50% or more water change a week. No chemical media at all. And if we are all still alive in 9 months i will let you know. My 200 was rising from 5ppm to 20ppm when using prime and purigen each week. 150 not had time to gauge it yet. Hold tight. I will update.
Yes the water inside the canister is highly oxygen but that’s not how anaerobic bacteria works the middle of the media is more dens so flow inside the media is really slow that creates the anaerobic condition but Iv seen quite a few people using matrix and getting nitrate reduction
A guy's me and my friends had the same thing happen ,we emailed bio home support and was told not to use prime with bio home, not using prime and all is good ,hope this helps,,,,thanks kaveman nice videos
I watch a pondguru video about filter setups. He mentioned that the water treatments that are supposed to detoxify the water seem to cause problems with the anaerobic bacteria growing. And in order to get the media to work properly as grow the bacteria you should only use a dechlorinator for water treatment. I haven’t tried biohome media yet, was looking into it a little. So no first hand experience of this.
@@lostmangos Any water conditioner that does not 'remove / detoxify or bind' ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. A water conditioner which is a straight dechlorinator (e.g. API Stress Coat or Tetra Aqua Safe).
I ordered biohome ultimate for one of my FX6. I’m glad I ordered it from great wave engineering directly so I’m not out as much as people using amazon. Sucks to find out it’s hype
80 per cent change a week not good for producing the bacteria also how long did you run it for by the looks of the filter not long was not really dirty at all
Have you shelled out the big bucks for some Bio-Home Ultimate? Did it work for you? Share your experience with us, we want to know!!
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Hey Kev.
You may of just missed the window dude as I've heard for this bacteria it takes 6 months 🤷♂️ you've done well to reduce flow / give the time to it ect.. to see if it starts reducing (thumbs up) but you may of just missed the window dude to find that holy grail of a fully cycled filter. But I wouldn't like to say my man. Keep the content coming my guy. Loving the content 👌
I have to say, I was getting impatient! lol I couldnt wait another month, also I was finding so many articles with extensive testing done saying they also were unable to achieve the full cycle. I wanted my flow rate back!! lol
I bought almost 8 pounds, I use it in all my tanks.. no prime or purigen. Its almost two years now.. Nitrates have gone down 25% ish .. it takes a TON of biohome .. but for me.. it is slowly working.
BrokenTexan Good info, thanks for that. The number one reason everyone saying it didn’t work for me is because I need a TON more 🤷🏼♂️
@@KaveManAquatics I think the exact term of measurement I had to use is .. "Shit load"
Just a few questions,
1.Is it confirmed that BIOHOME Ultimate tints the tank water?
2. Would you consider MarinePure Superior to BIOHOME?
3.Is there actually any bio media that do provide a full cycle?
Sorry for the bombardment of questions, up until now thought BIOHOME Ultimate was the best thing since sliced bread. Having little experience in the hobby just trying to do the best for my African cichlids. Thanks in advance, love your work
1- I dont think it tints tank water, didnt happen to me.
2- When you say superior theres a whole nother conversation we have to have about bio-media to consider one superior to another.
3- Not in my opinion. I dont bother with trying to reduce nitrate levels because im always going to do the best thing for my fish anyway, which is water change, no matter if I get nitrate reduction or not.
So I use Pot Scrubbers for bio-media. Before you knock it, watch this 😊- ruclips.net/video/WlKVa0qzjwg/видео.html
I don't understand the doubt with biohome. It works excellent for me. Keep it after mechanical filtration and only use regular dechlorinator.
I have 180 gal African cichlid tank , I have a fluval Fx6 filtering it fill Bio home media and I had the same result as you testing my water before and after every water change weekly and my nitrates always was that 40 ppm. I'm not taking any sides here but the Fx6 canister just don't hold enough media, so I added two sun sun 304b to my setup. It wasn't until I added the other canisters with all that other media trays filled with bowel home media ,4 trays each. that I receive a full cycle. Now before a weekly water change it around 10ppm. I use the Api test kit too.which is hard to read. After getting the results that I did and all the money I spent on bio home it was not worth it! The only positive thing I can say is that I can go two weeks without a water change and my parameters won't reach over 40 ppm. I look forward to your videos good job.
Thanks for that great info! A lot of people have said that I needed more biohome, but I wanted to prove some theories that it worked with much less. Glad to know that it did work for you...but like you said, that’s a lot of money in bio home and extra filters just for 2 week water change over a weekly water change. Thanks for your input! 👍
The API test is not hard to read but you MUST do the reading in day light, not under a lamp or any other artificial lighting. I stand right in front of my screen door every time and can see the correct color very easy. Before doing this I was doing a lot of unnecessary water changes thinking the liquid was red under a lamp when it was really orange.
How many fish do you have in your tank?
Great video. As a biologist and fish keeper for 55 years I have been saying Biohome is a scam for years. Simple science contradicts the Pond Gurus's product claims and enough experienced aquarists are finally revealing the fact that it does not reduce nitrates. Lava rock, pot scrubbies and foam are far superior at a small fraction of the cost to support the nitrogen cycle. Unfortunately, new and inexperienced aquarists fall for the Biohome marketing hype and all they are getting is "their pockets picked"
I believe you are 100% correct. No matter how much bio-home I would have used, the results would have been the same. Thank you for your insight!
Dammit I just ordered 2kg of it before reading this 😆
I can confirm this from my own painful experience. Biohome is simply expensive nonsense.
I'm using lava rock from now on. Thank you for saving me money.
@@aaronm.bermudez7440 also very abrasive like Biohome. Make sure you have very fine filter media to catch any lava rock abrasive particles before they get into any magnetic drive pumps you might have.
Experiment: Pack your 407 completely with the Biohome, all bins with just foam in the 'pre-filter area'. Then run your FX6 normal setup at high flow rate. I think you would see better results with the 407 running the Biohome at low flow rate. See my other comment I left for more detail.
The slower flow rate will definitely help more than the flow rate in the FX6
Thanks for producing this clearly explained, detailed video. I have the same water parameters as you when using the API test kit. I've learned not to be overconcerned as long as my community fish are active, eating, and otherwise appear healthy. I look forward to receiving your e-book on achieving crystal clear water. 👍👍👍
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video! I agree with you 100% 😊
I too did this experiment a couple years ago. I filled 3 fX6s with 12lbs of Biohome Ultimate and let it run for 2yrs on a 125gal aquarium. The same as you I noticed no reduction in nitrates. I still had to do the same amount of waterchanges to control nitrates as before. I have since moved on and use no "bio" media at all. Nothing but sponges in my filtration systems to house beneficial bacteria. Sponge always has and always will be sufficient for housing all the BB you need.
I agree with you 100% David! And we actually had this conversation on Facebook a few weeks ago. Lol (But I was using my personal account lol) Glad you found my video, I’ll update our convo on Facebook as well 👍
David Reno same here
Hey David, I’m curious. During your 2 year experiment. Did you use prime or purigen? The consensus Im hearing is if you use any of that it won’t allow the growth of anaerobic bacteria.
@@KaveManAquatics yes I used prime during waterchanges. Where Im at its necessary to use a dechlorinator for my watersource. I don't have the available space to store enough water to naturally gas off to do my waterchanges. Anaerobic bacteria is relatively fragile compared to aerobic bacteria. Cleaning alone can destroy anaerobic bacteria. You really need an undisturbed low flow, no oxygen environment for it to thrive. Think about the bottom of a lake. That is the kind of environment anaerobic bacteria can thrive in.
Thats quite interesting. Ive never heard that dechlorinators are also antibiotics🤔
Seeing your tank makes me feel a bit better about what I hope to put in my 75 gal- 11 rummynose tetra, 7 denison barbs, 7 dwarf rainbowdish, 6 boseman's rainbowfish, 6 blue rainbowfish. What do you think? Too much, or OK? It'll be heavily planted.
testing myself using stresscoat as my water treatment and not other chemicals... it did work. I was testing with a 10 gallon and 1 Kg of biogravel. I had to tear down the tank in prep for a move but I'll do it again at the new house. I plan to do a big sump with it for the tank my wife has planned too.
Confused, you said you got 3.5 pounds in the fx6. He put over 11 in the pimp my fx6. So I wouldn't call it stuffed because you could have put 3x that amount. Granted I know it hurts to buy it cuz it's high as hell. But you gonna need a whole lot more than 3.5 lbs with that beautiful tank.
As always love your video and i trust your result! So do you think is it still good as a biological media? my fx6 flow rate is down too because of biohome ultimate. i have 75 gallon tank and i have fx6 and eheim 2217. after watching your video i am planning to transfer all bihome ultimate to eheim 2217 and for the fluval fx6 1st tray mechanical, 2nd tray seachem matrix, 3rd tray only chemipure blue/purigen, so my fluval fx6 can run better. whats your opinion?
That’s the perfect setup, very similar to mine after removing the biohome. Biohome is still great for producing beneficial bacteria, I had no problems with ammonia or nitrites. But it did not reduce any nitrates at all. Plus like you and I both noticed, packing so much biohome in reduces the flow, and that’s problematic in itself. I’d rather use cheaper bio-media that produces beneficial bacteria just the same as bio home and allows my flow rate to be at maximum levels 👍
@@KaveManAquatics thank you very much. always wait for your video and its worth it. keep up the good work.
@@mohammadopal682 Thanks bro, I appreciate that!
You didn't read the instructions provided if you purchased Biohome from Great Wave Engeneering, the US distributor. It says that if you are using Purigen you will almost certainly never achieve nitrate reduction.
I did hear about this Purigen theory as well as the Prime theory after running the experiment. If I ever try it again I will keep these in mind, thanks.
I have used it with and without Purigen. No difference. Biohome does not reduce nitrate. At least not more or less than filter materials such as Sera Siporax.
Did you not place a bag of crushed coral this time around? If not, any specific reason why not?
I didnt, because I mixed in the crushed coral with my substrate.
I've always had doubts about this thing,now everything is" Cristal Clear" like your tank.
Great work man love form India .
Wow that’s awesome! Glad I could help!! Make sure you share the video in India!! 😊😊😊
In India people have been running aquariums on just foams for years. Foam is much much efficient that any cintered glass or ceramic media or matrix. The rate for 1 kg of biohome I got quoted in Mumbai was 1800 rupees for 1 kg.
@@DeepikaAditya Believe me, im hearing this more and more everyday. I am planning to gradually switch over myself!
@@DeepikaAditya I use two types of sponges and some lava rocks because the prices of common bio medias(lava rock, ceramic ring,nano tero balls) are very cheap at my location ,you can get 1kg of lava rock at Rs 130-150($2) max.
@@ManishDey20 I had also got cheap garden Pumice but I am replacing them with nylon pot scrubbers
Nice video and very informative also. Just to check with you, the flow of water for fx6 is from side to bottom then raise back up to the tank right? Isnt it the sponge tray shld be bottom instead?
No, it starts from the bottom, goes up the sides, then back down through the middle, (so sponges on top tray) then back up to your tank...check it out here ruclips.net/video/dllg-vSN-EU/видео.html
KaveMan Aquatics thanks. Enjoying all your informative videos
Are you not supposed to use prime though or any products that detoxify ammonia and nitrites
I have heard that..."excuse" How accurate it is...who knows 🤷♂️
@@KaveManAquatics I don’t know bud. I’m 3 weeks into an Oase Biomaster 600 full of the stuff. Takes a few months apparently. Making sure not to use Prime which is weird. Keep the videos coming Kev 👊
Good luck...hit me with an update after 6-8 months! Looking forward to it.
I can fully confirm your experience. I have been using almost 8 kilos of Biohome in a 400 litre discus aquarium for over a year. Compared to my previous (much cheaper) filter medium, absolutely nothing has changed.
It’s unfortunate, I feel your pain!
Thank you. That's very important information. So I won't feel guilty adding Purigen to my Biohome filled canister.
What else do you use in the filter
@@wardraven8755 I only have three sponges in the first box - arranged from coarse to fine. Otherwise only Biohome. But as I said: no difference to Siporax or similar filter media: After one week approx. 25mg nitrate.
What kind of dechlorinator do you use?
Hey Kev!
First off i wana tell you how helpful your page is! I got 90 set up about 4 months ago and I've been trying to find a good page to use for info and this is the best one I've see for me!
So now to my question. I noticed you changed the set up of your bottom tray and you aren't using the crushed coral anymore. Is there a reason you changed it to what you have here? I've just done my first cleaning filter and your video has helped a lot. Now i wana change up my media!
Thanks in advance!
Mike
Thanks Mike, so glad to hear I was able to help! I removed the crush coral because due to that in combination with the bio-home it was drastically reducing my flow rate.
Since finishing my test of the bio-home (unfortunately didn’t work out for me) I wanted my flow rate back to what I know the FX6 is capable of. So I set up my media baskets with course media like the Fluval rings, only one basket of biohome just to preserve some of the bacteria already there. This way my FX6 Can turn the tank over more times than before.
But I also use my 407 filter as a polishing filter, with only fine sponges and some chemical media which would be much easier to remove and replace monthly than having to pop open the FX6.
Also, I probably could have left the crushed coral in the filter but I also have a lot in the tank mixed with my substrate helping to keep my water buffered and PH nice and high...so I just wanted to make sure I got maximum flow from FX6 and decided to remove it.
Hey Kev
Thanks for getting back so quickly and giving me some good info! I’ve got another question. I’ve seen mix reviews on purogen and was wondering if you’ve ever run into issues using it. And second I have a 407 on a 30gal with 2 goldfish for my wife. I’m about ready to do the first cleaning of it and I was wondering i should do anything differently with my set up or could I just fill it the same way you did in your other video!
Thanks again!
Mike
Mike Timpone hey Mike, you can fill your 407 same as I did and it’ll keep your tank nice and clean. I’ve never really heard anything negative about Purigen. It’s probably one of the best products in the hobby...but with that being said purigen is not necessary. It’s more of a personal preference if you want to use chemical media or not.
I’ve been using bio homme for years and it keeps my tank in great shape, I don’t use bags because it clogs with gunk and keeps the water from flowing freely through the media and yes I have the FX6 and a Oddyssea 700 filter.
My experience is that bags will reduce flow significantly in a FX6. I use Marine Pure Spheres with no bags and the flow still stays high. The poly fill will clog quickly. You have a great tank!!! I also use a 407 for my polishing and chemical filtration. The 407 is so easy to maintenance every couple of weeks.
I agree with you, I've been planning a big project and things will get moved around including filters and media...Tune in next week and you'll see what I mean. Using the 407 as polishing and chemical only filter is a great idea as its easy to access and change that stuff out more frequently than you would crack open an fx6. great tip!
Bingo, again water flow across the media, and the amount of media are keys.
Great video as always. I was looking forward to this new video. Keep up the good work
Thank yo bro, Glad you enjoyed it! I think next video is going to be on another level! 😊
I'm no expert, but is that tank over stocked? Seems like a lot of fish in a small area
It is overstocked, but in an African Cichlid tank its done by design. Check this out to learn more about African Cichlids - kavemanaquatics.com/kac-relaunch
I've always used a mix if lava rock and ceramic rings, not trying to reduce nitrates, I just accept water changes as a necessary evil. I have always had good results.
Lava rocks are a great and cheap bio media, works awesome! 👍
Thanks this is helpful .... There's a lot been written about some of the more complex water conditioners (like prime which I love and use) and chemical treatments like purigen that inhibit nitrate reducing bacteria . I wonder if your high tap nitrate levels impact anaerobic formation. Did you manage to get Nitrate reduction with the fluval rings. I still have a tray of them in my 407 and after watching this i will leave them in there.
Do you use a Dechlorinator that treats ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate(like Seachem Prime)? I didn't hear you mention it. PondGuru has said that that will prevent a full cycle
@james Kerr if you wouldn't mind. Do you know of any easily obtained dechlorinators that match what your saying in the US. Just got biohome and want to make sure I'm not shooting myself in the foot.
@@lincolnhadalispbutnoneever2570 Hi, I’m not in the US so sorry don’t know specific brands, but basically what you want is a dechlorinator that only removes chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. No treating ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate
Honestly the only true way any of that media works well is if your using it to create Anoxic conditions because essentially you are supposed to deprive it of oxygen and just allow enough to produce the bacteria needed to remove nitrates. We in the aquarium hobby are still getting the method wrong lol
right, problem is the inside of a powerful filter is not an anoxic environment. So companies have to get creative about how their media is made. The claim is that "INSIDE" the bio media itself is an anoxic environment so it doesnt matter that its in a heavily oxygenated powerful filter....or so they claim 🤷♂️
@@KaveManAquatics Yep that's the problem with the Aquarium Hobby the Big Box companies and stores, it's also the blessing since we tend to get creative because of it 🤣💯
Thanks for the heads up, I will set up 150 gallon tank with fx6 , will small amount of lava rocks work?
lava rocks are great bio media, and affordable too 👍
What do you recommend HOB or Canister right now I have 2 400 Emperor's on a 75 gallon
Im a canister type of guy 😁 kavemanaquatics.com/product-category/equipment/filters/
Thank you for this video. When I first saw your videos on Biohome ultimate, I was ready to go buy some. Glad I didn’t, thanks to this video of yours. Btw, Biohome ultimate is half the price of Amazon, if you buy it directly from the manufacturer.
Link to buy directly manufacter please :0)
Is worth replacing my lava rock with nylon pot scrubbers for my bio media?
Negative. While pot scrubbers work great, I successfully used them for over a year, your Lava rocks are doing the exact same job. Stick with what you already got. But for your next tank 😁 Yes, you can go with pot scrubbers to save some dough 💪
You're right Kevin I haven't found a biomedia yet that can truly reduce nitrates pot scrubbers are great but even they don't reduce nitrates nitrate reduction is complicated and even when it is done the nitrates can go up and down in sequence I have even use expensive marinepure bio media and let me tell you it does not work either but what does work if you have enough of them is yes plain old aquarium plants or a lot of golden pothos great video keep it real
Yup, Plants is the only true answer for nitrate reduction, IMO. But I dont worry about that anymore, Im doing weekly water changes regardless of nitrate levels 😁
Of course Marine Pure does not work a purchased, but it can work in the right situation.
It's similar to lava rock but not as good for Nitrate removal because it crumbles easier and us more porous.
You have to get the big 12x12x4 blocks, put it in a center chamber of a wet dry and cover it with fiberglass screen. Then cover that with gravel, not sand, but fine gravel.
After 6 months, undisturbed you will see results.
I've done it, so I speak from tested experience.
The cubes, balls and thin versions are not effective fir Nitrates, great for other aerobic bacteria tho. Only downside is they crumble easy and can get in your impeller.
If the bio home blocked the fx6 flow, can you imagine the seachem matrix how much more would block? That white pad needs changing maximum 2 weeks.
Honestly all you need is plants. I have a 75 gallon with a regular hang on the back filter. I don't change the water weekly. Mbuna tank is overstocked and never had any spikes with none of my levels. Anubias, swords, vallisneria, and duckweed and no worries🌿
BHU has more surface area than 30ppi Poret foam, but the foam has more effective surface area making at about 10x more superior than BHU. Foam is far superior and you will be able to keep more fish and maintain clear water
Edward Jones Jr with all the latest research I’ve done, I’m beginning to agree with this theory.
And how do you propose foam uses this surface area to make anaerobic zones ?
@@sakleo8 thicker foam and slow water movement through the foam, water needs to pass through at least 50mm(2 inches) of foam with slow rate of water(there is a formula) then it will become anaerobic
@@TheDrunkenAlcoholic 2 inches sound too less, I had 10 inches of foam stacked in the sump without anaerobic filtration / denitrification happening, so flow like you mentioned is a key parameter. Do share that formula
What made you decide not to add the crushed coral to the fx6?
It was slowing the flow down more than I wanted. With the bio home in it that was a good thing. Anaerobic bacteria need slow flowing water to grow. Since deciding to remove the bio home I wanted my faster flow rate back....so I just added the crushed coral to the substrate instead. 😊
I feel like more media is needed also changing the water every week lowers the amount of nitrates that the bacteria need to grow in number
Why do u buy bio home at the 1st place?
Great content Kev👍🏼 Look forward for the next video.. Let’s Goooo!
Thanks, glad you’re enjoying the channel! 😁
Kevin, what do you think about FX6 set up that poundguru has? Do you think that theirs to much sponge in it and that the sponges that come with the FX6 is good enough? thanks
The sponges that come with the FX6 are good enough, I would just add an additional fine filter floss pad like pinky floss or poly-fil to the top tray, BUT Pond gurus hack of adding course and medium to the sides is definitely an upgrade. And you cant ever really have too much sponge. Remember not only is the sponge mechanically filtering but beneficial bacteria also grows on sponges, so more sponge also adds more bio-media as well. Hope this answers your question
@@KaveManAquatics Mahalo for the quick reply! i was also wondering if all the added sponges inhibit the flow rate, and noticed you just ran the stock FX6 sponges, and if that was your reason to not upgrade your sponge set up, thanks again for the tips!
I have a Fx4 but this was still very helpful. Thank you!
Glad to hear it! My pleasure!
It looks like your biohome is clogged with muck. The pond guru didn't say it by name but he does state that purigen kills anaerobic bacteria. I would try this again with no purigen and a canister booster container filled with straight sponge and use the fx6 for just biohome. You need quite a bit for your load.
So I’ve heard, also heard that prime kills the anaerobic bacteria as well...thanks for the tip 💪
want to ask, how long can bacteria live inside a media filter that doesn't drown in water. Usually when changing the mechanical filter media the pump will be turned off and the biological filter medium is not temporarily submerged
Great question. I dont know the exact number but it's not long. If you're going to do extended maintenance its best to remove the media and place it in your tank temporarily until you're done.
@@KaveManAquatics You're also the best bro. I often see the video of this channel and I think it greatly increases my understanding. Ok, because I think when mechanical capacity is inadequate we will often wash or change those media and definitely impact other media. Well, thank you for your answer 🙏
Great video, thanks for sharing! I am new to this too so found your video helpful. Trying to decided whether to try biohome. I thought pondguru said you need 1kg for every 100L of water in your tank. You mention you had 3.5 pounds for 75 gallons, which about 1.6kg for 283L. Seems you might have a bit more than half as much media as pondguru recommends to get the full cycle happening. Did I misunderstand something?
No you are correct, I ran my test purposely with only 1fx6 full of biohome. Many have claimed biohome to work with 1fx6. It didn’t work for me, but I also wouldn’t want to have 2 or 3 FX6 which is what the required amount would be. For an over stocked tank like mines I would need 2kg/100L
Don't waste your money, it's snake oil
@@KaveManAquatics i understand your reasons with the reduction in flow but without having enough bio home media its not really a ideal test? Thanks for all your videos 👍🇬🇧
Hello KaveMan... I'm relatively new to keeping African Cichlids. I inherited a 135g Cichlid aquarium in June 2020. I do 40 - 50g water changes weekly. I have a Fluval FX5 and a sponge filter. I've added 2 Current Wavemakers positioned as you recommended in another video and I test my water regularly. I just experienced a Nitrate Spike AFTER doing a water change. Should I add another filter to this aquarium? I'm in Phoenix AZ. Water is super hard and TDS is high. Any suggestions?
That is very strange. The only way to add nitrates to your tank after a water change is if it came from your tap. Test your tap water for nitrates and then retest your tank for comparison. And FYI adding another filter will not reduce nitrates. Only water changes can do that.
@@KaveManAquatics Thank you... Did a 50% water change, tested tap water beforehand (no nitrates), did a thorough vaccum too...Nitrates down, maybe an anomaly. Appreciate the advice.
Could also be test error, if the bottles arent shaken properly it can give a false reading. Glad it cleared up for you 💪
1KG or ~2Lbs for every 100L /20 gallon of water. Your tank is massive, and the Biohome with nowhere near enough quantity had no chance to treat your water. The result is not down to the media.
I think the important bit is, you didn't go full on what the Pondguru said in his video. All trays filled to the brim with Biohome and a fine pad on the very top, and Course+Medium foam on the sides.
I have used the FX6 with t he full Upgrade kit that you can buy from the PondGuru for 1 year before moving from my place, and never had issues. All I did was topping the water up.
576L tank, well planted, an average of about 2-300 fish, tetras, guppies etc.
You can check for what it can do if you take a look at my vids about my tank.
This is just a half solution that ended up with a result, that does not say much,, just one thing, follow the instructions.
I hope that you will give it another try based on the numbers I have written in the beginning. You can check for them in any Upgrade my filter video that PondGuru makes.
Please follow what PondGuru says, he does it for a reason.
Haha, a gun example. If yo follow Ian on Forgotten Weapons, he is running an experiment on the Calico gun, to find out, is the gun unreliable, or is it the operators fault that it is so unreliable.
All it seems so far, that ppl just did not do what the manual says,, to crank the mag 23 times to reach optimal spring tension.
Is it the guns fault? no, it's the operators's fault.
Lovely fish though!;))
Stay safe everyone!
With you “well planted tank” how can you measure how much the bio-home is removing nitrates and how much the plants are? You can’t. I’ve stated that with pond gurus recommendations I’d need 3-4 FX6’s full of bio-home. No realistic fish keepers is going to that in one 75 gallon tank.
I was testing the theory of others that claim to achieve the full cycle with far less then what pond guru recommends. (1 FX6, like normal people have). Unfortunately it didn’t work for me. If it worked for you, congrats. These are my findings for my setup and for my viewers that don’t want to keep 4 monster filters on 1 tank. You know, the common fish keeper.
@@KaveManAquatics haha, just checked it, it's 26.4 US gal to 100L.
There is a filter on his channel, which he upgrades that holds at least 50% more Biohome than what the FX6 can hold.
You are correct, I cannot tell. The only thing that could indicate that the Biohome did it's job was that I basically didn't change water for 12 months, I didn't clean the filter thx to lack of place to clean it, I have added fish about a 100 at once, meant lot more food went in there, I put up a second light, and the dip strip always stayed in the white.
But then again I have used good quality substrate, and thx to the amount of plants, I could not vacuum the substrate either so the poop just piled up and still, no changes.
Even after I cut the plants back I cannot remember seeing much to any changes.
So who knows how effective it was, but in my case, I was at least really close to the recommended amount. I think i just needed another 1kg.
I still feel that people will come to the wrong conclusion watching your video and skipping this product, because they not necessarily will check PondGurus video about the media.
If someone has managed to achieve full cycle then I'd imagine that person had some similar amount of plants to me.
Just rew-watched your video, and you didn't say, that this was an experiment of some hearsay story, hence your conclusion seems misleading, obviously unintentionally.
@@V4zz33 I stated in the video that these results were found based on my set up. And I said that other setups may be different and could have found different results. I said that specifically for viewers like you that have found different results.
Most people that do have success with bio-home use planted tanks, just like you. Plants are supposed to help reduces nitrates so I can see how you went so long without a water change, but like we said, cant attribute that all to just the bio-home.
But I can tell you that there are way more failure stories out there, including much more extensive tests, way more accurate than what I did, using way more bio-home than what I used and also could not ever get any reduced nitrates.
But I didnt want to folow anyone elses findings and decided to use my own setup. I was never planning to buy 3-4 fx6's and fill them with bio-home. If it cant be done with one fx6 than I dont want it. My conclusions were for my viewrs with similar setups as me. you know, guys that wouldnt put 4 huge filters on 1 small 75 gallon tank 🤷♂️
@KaveMan Aquatics - have you recharged your Purigen with Bleach? As mentioned by Pong Guru that has potential to kill your beneficial bacteria. I also saw in your FX6 set up had a lot of wasted Canister space. Unfortunately your set up is significantly different compared to Pond Guru's reco. In my FX6 i am running about 10Ibs of Bio Home Ultimate.
I haven't recharged my purigen no. And it only looked like wasted space once I separated everything. When the media is in the bags and piled together the trays can only hold so much with the red trays being stacked on top. Trust me I packed that thing in. I could have gotten about a pound more if I used the bottom tray for media as well instead of crushed coral. With Pond guru's recommendation I would have had to have 4 FX6's full of biohome, I would never do that realistically on a 75 gallon. But I wanted to test others theories about achieving the full cycle with bio-home with far less media than pond guru recommends. Unfortunately it didn't work for me.
@@KaveManAquatics - Yeah unfortunately your set up is too different. I did follow the Pond Guru Video, and i am starting now to notice a reduction in Nitrate. I also did not use any of the FX6 red baskets and only filled the circular trays with Bio Home Media. My flow is terrible now, but i am getting on average a week longer between water changes on my 75G Discuss Tank.
Pooya Mozaffari That’s great! How many pounds of bio-home would you say is in your FX6?
@@KaveManAquatics - I got about 4.7KG, or amount 10.4 Ibs. I actually purchased the kit direct from Pond Guru, link below.
filterpro.co.uk/fx6--fx5-external-filter-freshwater-upgrade-kit-148-p.asp
Do you do like this with everything? Let's say Seachem recomend a dosage of 10 ml something per gallon of tank you dose 2 ml and says, yeah, that did not work...?
Lets say Seachem said I needed 3 canisters worth of Matrix for it to work....yea no thanks!
Wow!!! This is the first time I seen your channel? Great review regarding the FX filters. Thank You 🙏🏻 for showing how you are loading yours. I load slightly different, but I use the regular Fluval Biomax. It’s proven to obviously work for me. It’s currently on a 75gl fresh tank, 1 Oscar, 1 Leopard & Snoball Pleco. Works flawlessly, and will be seeding and starting my 150 as well. New sub 🤙🏼
Thank you bro, Welcome aboard! 😊 Glad you enjoyed the video. Fluval biomax works great as well 👍
I been using Bio home for a few years and it didnt really start to work untill I mixed bio gravel into my substrate, then it really started working properly.
And bare in mind that bio home will not work if you run purigen in your filter as you did in the test.
Yea Ive heard that, and the use of prime as well
Where to start? 1. You need 1kg/100l of water for a normally stocked tank, twice that for a heavily stocked or carnivore tank. 2. Your mechanical filtration needs to ensure that no waste, only water, reaches your bio media. Your biological media baskets showed obvious signs of contamination, suggesting your mechanical filtration is allowing what little media you have to lose efficiency due to blockage. It’s never going to fully cycle your tank given the minuscule amount you used. Look at The Pond Guru example of ‘how to pimp an FX6’ to see how it should be set up. If you don’t want to run multiple FX6’s to provide the required biological filtration, use your other Fluval as a prefilter, fill it full of coarse, then medium, then fine foams, and connect the outlet to the inlet of your FX6 full of biological media. Don’t switch on the prefilter, leave it unplugged. Again, best to use bio home media, but if you prefer to use media that’s a tenth of the price but a hundredth of the efficiency of biohome, you just need to use 100 time more of it for the same effect. Sigh...
Thanks for that lengthy lecture Gary. Something tells me I could follow your instruction to a T (like so many others already have) and it still wouldn’t work. 🙄
Is connecting one fx6 to the other even good for the pumps?
Hi Kaveman, I got a 20 gallon aquarium after rescuing a baby slider turtle in my backyard. I also added a few small fish and some decor. I put about everything you recommended for clear water. Cascade filter,
,wave maker, and a sponge bubble filter. I don’t have the tank filled all the way due to the baby turtle. At first the water looked pretty clear now it’s cloudy especially towards the back of the tank. Oh and I also have the basking and UVB LIGHT that I turn on the turtle for a couple of hours. What do you recommend? I want crystal clear water.
You could be having bacterial bloom which is normal in new tank setups. Nothing to do there but be patient, it will go away on its own. After your bloom period if your water is still cloudy theres multiple things you can do, my free ebook has many tips that will be helpful, check it out here - bit.ly/H2O
You didn’t have enough. If you’re not following the recommendations of the manufacturer than you shouldn’t make a negative video
Like I stated in the video, I used what I used for a reason. But your hate cape didn’t allow that message through.
Hey kev! How many fish do you have in the 75?
Had about 25
You run a heavily stocked tank and didn’t use anywhere near enough. Fx6 are overhyped crap. Oase biomaster 600 thermo. Try that filter. High flow isn’t necessarily a good thing
I love my FX6, but thanks for your opinion 😊
Have you considered a few cichlid friendly plants in your tank to reduce nitrate. (Anubias, Java fern, Cryptocorne, Vallis) Also Pothos plant in top of tank like aquaponics is good at reducing nitrate. Great vids by the way. Keep up the good work!!
I wouldn't consider those cichlid friendly, my guys would just tear them all up lol. I have tried pothos above the tank in my previous tank which worked well for a bit. I wish I could keep more plants with these pigs 🤣
@@KaveManAquatics I've got a way I've figured out how to keep pothos in my cichlid tank if you're interested. My cichlids destroyed all my plants until now.
I’m using Biohome on my 407 and still can’t get tank to cycle. My Aps filter flooded and I put on my 407 but lost all bacteria. Now trying to do fish in cycle. 240 litres with 3 little goldfish. Been running for 6 weeks
Try seachem stability, it'll help boost your cycle and have it ready in about a week. Follow the dosage on the bottle - check it out here - amzn.to/3l4Cccq
Ok il give t a go. Thanks for replying
I found that the biohome ultimate has to be kickstarted with their bacteria starter jel balls. When i did this the biohome worked wonderfully. Its been two years and the biohome is keeping all the levels where i want them. Once a month water changes.
What dechlorinator do you use?
Prime
Did you use prime for your water changes pond guru says not to use products that bind ammonia nitrite and nitrate
Yea, I've heard that will effect it too...but I've since given up on biohome completely. Too many studies and tests with negative results....way better test than I did.
@@KaveManAquatics Iv orderd bio home did it affect the sound of the filter? Make it louder
Biohome is super effective for me in all my tanks. I tried seachem media but my tanks just wouldn't cycle. As soon as I put biohome in, it was cycled within a day or two. The bags definitely clog quicker
No media on its own can cycle a tank in a day or 2. Not bio-home, not seachem, not fluval...nothing. before your media change, Bacteria was already growing on your glass, substrate, equipment, decor...anything in the tank. You could have switched the seachem media with .99 cent pot scrubbers and it would have cycled the same way.
Even if it did work marginally better, it's not worth the trade off of not being able to use purigen, prime and carbon when you want to. It's overpriced lava rock and an unfortunate scam on an already expensive hobby.
Im with you on that one!
Prime and purigen don’t just affect anaerobic with bio home it prevents anaerobic entirely
Lave rock is all you need. I use big pieces for much of my decor. It looks natural, fully supports all necessary aerobic bacteria and reduces Nitrates in my way overstocked 75gal SA and CA big Cichlids.
These boys are big and eat well. I only change a 1/3 water volume weekly and my Nitrates are usually 10ppm, never over 20ppm.
That's fine. They are so healthy and very happy.
Lava Rock, the bigger, the better. Save all the gimmicks, this is the best investment you can make, especially if you can't do plants like me
Using purigen will prevent the complete cycle your looking to achieve. Carbon is safe and won’t impede the cycle. If you are going to use chemical filtration put it in the last basket. Bio home works,but some of the chemical filters out there work against establishing a complete cycle.
I've actually read the exact opposite. That carbon will prevent the full cycle while purigen is safe to use. Thats the problem with this full cycle theory. There's so much misinformation out there. In any case I was using the purigen in the last tray and still failed 🤷♂️
I've got 5kg in my filter for a 190l tank and it worked for me i would always put double what I need
I would need 4 fx6 for pond gurus recommended amount. Not realistic...I wanted to test the theory that one FX6 would be enough...unfortunately not for me.
You would need anywhere between 11 to 22 pounds for the biohome to be effective in your tank
Share more details please. How many fish how did you test etc?
@@rockfella27 they recommend 1kg per 100 litres for a normally stocked tank so if my tank was stocked with not to many fish I would only need 2kg but I have about 34 fish do it's heavily stocked I regularly test my nitrate weekly and its about the 4 week mark when my nitrate is about 10 ppm but it does take about 6 months before you will notice
@@rockfella27 filterpro.co.uk/filters-30-w.asp have a read of this it explains how much you need for each type of fish
Do you think the bag’s hurt the performance of the bio home ?
No, I doubt it. Media in bags is commonly used.
@@KaveManAquatics the media bag mesh becomes a mechanical filter and will limit flow when dirty.
In a perfect filter (there is none, lol) No dirt should ever reach your bio-media or the bags they're kept in. If the bags are mechanically trapping dirt and clogging your media you've got bigger problems in your filter than the mesh bags 🤷♂️
@@KaveManAquatics depends on the mesh size. I see it all the time in hob filters. Especially the tidal 110 with the high by pass rate it has .
I'm sorry but if you are going to knock something you should watch the full video. If he had listened to the pond guru he would have heard that the FX6 would not be able to full cycle a heavily loaded cinclid tank. It would typically take 2 FX6 for a tank of his nature under realistic conditions.
He actually said to use more media for aN overstocked tank. Which was exactly my point of having to use MORE of something doesn’t mean it works. Maybe you should pay attention more.
I have personally tried a lot of different media's except bio home media, I found over the years nothing beats a hamburg matten filter with at least 50mm/5cm/2inches thick and correct water flow to create an excellent anaerobic filter. Plus the fact I only clean the hamburg matten filters maybe once a year, the more mulm at the back of the filter the better...
Thanks Kev. I was thinking about adding Biohome Utlimate in the third tray of my Fluval 407.I think that I will just leave the Matrix in the third and fourth tray.
I think that’ll be the best bet 💪💪
Hey Kev
I bought some bio home for my tidal 55 HOV but I don’t know how many gel ball bacteria to put in, can you help? I have a 20 gallon.
Those are just bacteria boosters, you can use them all if you like. But honestly I think you spent more than you needed to. Bio-home works well to produce aerobic bacteria, but the over priced price tag is for its claims of reducing nitrates. And IF it actually can do that, you'd need a whole lot more than what your tidal 55 can hold.
I have a 45g tank and a SUNSUN 3000 which I can variable flow rate. I substituted biohome for 2 trays of 4 with lava rock. Tank is clear with course medium and fine pads on the bottom tray, next two the lava rock packed full. Last tray has charcoal and bag of purigen ( soak purigen in 1/2 water 1/2 bleach to bring back to life, rinse then soak in container water with chlorine remover) all my levels are perfect and going on 4 years with same 4-5 “ goldfish x 11
3.5 lbs is no were near enough for an over stocked 75 gal. 0.127 to 0.210 lbs/gal is pond guru's recommended level for heavily to very heavily stocked tanks or 9.5 to 15.75 lbs to help with nitrates in a 75 gal.
I’m aware, seems like every one is aware of that...I purposely used less...Not practical for me to use that much.
I use a 407 right now but was planning on upgrading to the fx6 but I am now thinking I will use my 407 for chemical and polishing filter and keep it hooked up to my coralife turbo-twist 12x fish tank sterilizer and add the fx6 for the biological and debris but I believe I will stop using that filler and only use polishing pads... I would also use ammonia, nitrite, and phosphate pads in the mix in the fx6 cause I already use them in my 407 and they help some but I will try your purigen stuff for the chemical media for the smell as I been having a hard time lately with the smell that I didn't have before
To have an reduction in nitrate through anerobic bacteria you need an anoxic eviroment which means low oxygen . It also takes this bacteria about 6 weeks to become present in the filter or tank subtrate and needs an iron based subrate to really start multiplying which biohome has. The fx6 has far to much flow and wont produce an anoxic enviroment. If you want to use the biohome to reduce nitrates place a layer about 1.5 to 2 inches below your substrate and dose sugar 1 teaspoon is plenty you can also use vodka or vinegar - acetic acid but sugar or vodka is best for a alkali tank. You should as long as anaerobic bateria is in your tank get a hughed reducution in nitrate like 40ppm to 5ppm depending on your bacterial colony plus the sugar/vodka will make the colony grow. Hope this helps you out.
I've never heard of that sugar tactic, but I have to agree with you that the fx6 is to awesomely designed to create the low flow thats needed. Its designed to be a powerful high flow filter!
@Andy H. What you’re saying to do is with an fishless tank right?
Hi Kev, thank you for your videos, they are all very helpful. I think I may have watched all of them. I already have the MTS. I wish I would have known about the syndrome. I am working on my third tank that will be my Cichlids tank. I have the FX-4. How much the tank will turn over with the Fx-4?
Glad you like them! It depends on the size of your tank. Fluval says its pumps 450 GPH but its probably more like 350 after you add in the media...so divide 350 gallons by the size of your tank and you get how many times it'll turn over.
@@KaveManAquatics thank you, its a 75gallon tank. if my math is right it should turn over about 4x.
I also just use fluval bio max ceramic rings. Best media in my opinion... 5.99 for a 500 gram box,that and sponges have never done me wrong! I've tried adding matrix and other media's and have never noticed any difference. Water changes and plants are the best way to get rid of nitrates unless you wanna spend some serious money
Totally agree! 👍
@@KaveManAquatics my problem with plants is a few of my bigger fish seem to like to keep pulling them up as soon as I get them down so I have gotten to the point of not doing plants any longer and the couple times I ordered plants for the tank online a couple came to me in little plastic pots and I wasn't sure if I was suppose to cut the pot off and plant them or plant the pot and plant together so I took them out of the pot and planted them but they didn't last long
Good work always appreciated your videos where did you get the decor
Thanks bro! I got lucky and found them at my local Pet Smart! 😊
Hey kev
Hope your doing well. After i installed the sponge filter on my intake but now i noticed an inscreas in algea growth . Should i remove the sponge or how do i rid the algea?.
So you installed a pre filter on your intake? That wouldnt have anything to do with algae growth. there are many other reasons for that...My free ebook can help you out! check it out - bit.ly/H2O
Your thoughts on the bio balls?
Not really that efficient for a canister. Bio-balls are better when they can move. But they still work just as good as any other bio-media
Hi Kev, love your content bro and been following you for years you’ve helped me in more ways you can imagine. I have a FX6 and a FX4 on a discus tank.
In this instance I’d like to share my opinion as to why I believe the biohome may not be working for you. It looks like the pores and ‘tunnels’ of the biohome are getting all clogged up with gunk from the tank which isn’t allowing the potential of beneficial bacteria to build up. There should be no waste at all on the biological media. This means that your sponges are way too coarse and waste is getting through. I’d replace the standard coarse sponges for medium instead.
Fluval have super course sponges to advertise ridiculous ’gallons per hour turnover’ so have an edge on competitors. They also advertise a single FX6 can be suitable for a 1500L tank. This is so far from the truth. A single FX6 can support maybe 600L at a push until you need an additional filter. They don’t tell anyone these things unless you do your own research and speak to the experts.
Back to subject, you definitely need a max clean pad and a polishing pad under that too instead of that black sponge so clean water only flows through the media. This is also why your flow has reduced massively because there’s gunk blocking the pores and tunnels of the media.
Biohome ultimate has tunnels like no other media. Pondguru actually has a video where he analyses with a microscope each media structure. Matrix or any other commercialised media doesn’t come close to its structure. Also pretty much all other bio media is made of ceramic and have a great “surface area” but actually have a bunch of ‘dead end’ tunnels. They just look good. The porosity isn’t there when you examine it. Fyi I’ve seen you put all the correct filter pads at the top in other videos but in this one I’m not sure why you left out the fine sponges in this instance.
Also as a final note I know you put the chemical media at the top tray for convenience but this actually starves the biological media to reach its full potential and needs to be at the very last stage which is the bottom of a FX6.
Thanks for anyone that’s read this if it provides any insight and happy fish keeping!
Just subscribed. I’m new to the hobby. Been about a year now. I’ve watch the pond guru on how he pimps the different filters. Been thinking about getting that FX6. Very informative video. Thanks for sharing 💪🏼
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Yes pond guru is awesome, he taught me a thing or 2 back when I started as well. You will love the FX6, it is a beast!
I have a 125 with 15 fancy gold fish I run 2 fx6 with a total of 16 pounds of bio home fully cycled my nitrates never go over 10 every 4 weeks it's expensive but yiu have to put the right amount for you size tank
How many plants do you have? Do you use Prime or Chemical media?
@@KaveManAquatics hi I have no planta as my oranaa love to destroy them I do use carbon and cemy blue but my media is 12 months cycle the way I do it is one fx 6 just has 16 pounds of bio ultimate on a low flow and the othe one is normal set up with cemy pure blue I do water changes 1 time a month 50-60% add my water conditioner I agree. The media is expensive but nitrates are under control . I love your channel and have learned much thank you so much
Nice video. I have to say that you should have given it more time and according to the PondGuru you need more biohome for a big tank and for the amount of bioload your tank has.
Having said that I'm struggling with biohome as well. I've got it in three tanks and it hasn't really reduced my nitrates a lot. I need fewer water changes but that's it. Over quarantine (my tanks are in my classroom) I went in every three weeks for a water changes (50%) and my tanks never went above 40 ppm nitrates. That's not bad.
I'm experimenting now because I've read that water conditioners like Prime have additives/binding agents that attach to ammonia for 24 to 48 hours. These agents seem to impede the anoxic bacteria needed to create the full cycle. I'm testing out API, Safe and API Stress Coat(the latter doesn't have binding agents the first two have).
The theory is that in municipalities that have chloramine in the water a conditioner will create ammonia when it breaks down the chloramine. In the absence of a binding agent to detoxify the ammonia produced, doing a water change creates a toxic environment for our fish (hence the need for the binding agents).
I'm currently on month #2 and should see a bigger difference in my one tank using the API Stress Coat. Fingers crossed it works.
Ive heard about the prime issue as well...curious to hear your results.
@@KaveManAquatics So my results show that water conditioners do make a difference. My tank using API Stresscoat consistently has 10-20 less PPM of nitrates as opposed to the one tank using API 52D Tap Aquarium Water Conditioner and the last one I tested with Seachem Safe. So Biohome does work but it takes a long time and you need to be careful with your conditioner and plants.
Hope this helps.
I've run biohome for 18months and never seen any reduction in nitrates.
Unfortunately you're not alone bro 😟
How much for what size tank?
@@rockfella27 400l tank. Running three external filters all set up the way Pond Guru says. Bought 10kg of biohome ultimate. I had less than a kilo left. I use nothing else. Has been now running for 2 years and no results. Water is crystal clear but nitrates will still grow to 100ppm by the end of the week.
What about biohome in bags if your sup running on low flow ??? Would that work ??
If you have enough, it’s possible.
There's no such thing as bacteria based "full cycle" in freshwater aquariums. We do water changes to get rid of nitrates. Or use a ton of plants: submersed for light stocking, emersed for heavy stocking.
You can watch Half Man Half Cichlid aquaponics video to get an idea on how many plants you need to achieve this.
I have no room for a freaking jungle in my house, and I don't mind the weekly water change.
Diddo 👍
You can do it without plants, but not with gimmicks like biohomme.
Have to use science.
Create an anerobic,, and that bacteria will grow.
Just has to be proportionate to your needs, which might not be feasible.
I keep mine at 10ppm in a very heavy stocked 75gal with big SA and CA Cichlids.
No plants and 33% weekly water changes
I too had issues but found leaving my filter for 6 months suddenly the nitrates started to drop i have have nitrates from the tap about 50ppm legal limit here so use a nitrate filter that gets it right down now after a week nitrates hit 10 to 15ppm so i water change but i have been really ill and the filter never got touched for a very long time flow had dropped and the water change was a month late when the water was tested it still only had 10ppm that's after a pal was over feeding ,,since then use it in everything i have with good results
I've been using BioHome Ultimate for about 2 years now and still havent got the full cycle...
However, my tank is 300 litres (79 us Gallons) and i'm only using 2kg (4.4Ibs) - that's all i can get in my eheim pro3; lightly stocked and no real planting... typically only needed a weekly 10% water change to keep Nitrate at around 50ppm... as i was planning to aquascape it and re-stock, i wanted to see how long it would take to get to 100ppm without any water change... ANSWER = 4 weeks...
BioHome recommend 1kg for every 100ltrs for a Normally Stocked Tank... and double for a heavily stocked tank! By my calculations you should have been using 2.8kg (6Ibs) at the very least, probably closer to 12Ibs with your stocking... The Pond Guru managed to get 3kg (6.6Ibs) into an FX4, so i'm sure you could have squeezed it into your FX6.
I know a couple of guys that have got the full cycle going; both using some BioHome with other filter media... one planted tank, the other bare...
I will never know if 12lbs would work or not because I would never attempt it. Many have said the same that I needed way morebio-home but I was testing others claims of biohome working for them with much less. Like a realistic amount lol Unfortunately it didnt work for me with 1 FX6 which is already over filtering a 75 gallon. I dont want 2-3 FX6's on a 75 gallon. Its just not realistic for me.
@@KaveManAquatics - was going to give you the benefit of doubt, but your argument / comments are flawed... 1) you say you were "testing others claims of biohome working for them with much less" yet i don't recall your video/s ever saying that... 2) you'd need 2-3 FX6s to fit 12Ibs of BioHome media in, yet other fish keepers have managed to 11Ibs into one...
Your results were always going to fail... so no, i'm not surprised...
Does it work as advertised... YOU DON'T KNOW>>> you ran your tank with less than half the recommended quantity for a period of time that was less than the recommended time and made a decision that it wasn't working! It's like saying "hay man, my iPhone battery didn't last the advertised time; but i only half charged it and then had it running every app going"... just lost a subscriber...
Bye Felicia
Kev, do you use the sea chem Cichlid trace elements also?
I have, but sometimes I run out and don’t replenish right away. I do believe it’s beneficial for them though! 👍
It takes at least 4-6 months for that to happen and using the the smaller fx4 nozzles and I've got same 4lbs in mine and it works for me bin in for 6 months and almost no issue 2months no water change with heavily stocked tank
Joey stephens That’s great news, what did you do differently then I did, besides the smaller hoses? Do you have live plants in your tank? What’s your nítrate levels currently?
About 10-20ppm
I have 2 java ferns
Small ones like 5 stems each
KaveMan, glad I ran across this video. I too am dissatisfied with Bui-Home, but have something to add. I ran across a video where someone stated The Pond Guru happens to own the company that produces Bio-Home, or at least a part of it. I ran it a while back, or I'd post a link to the info now. Pond Guru should certainly include a disclaimer in his video where he customizes the Fluval filters if he does, as he was really negative towards them and the contents.
Didn’t know that! Thanks for that info!
I would also love to see the link because I know for fact he doesn’t .....
@@mtourgus Thanks for the heads up. I'm trying to find the video, but until I do, I have amended my comment to say it was stated in another video.
Just my 2c from my relative inexperience. Firstly too little biohome, you need min 1.5KG per 100L for heavy stocked tank, yours qualifies. Second, don't use prime or purigen, it messes with the nitrogen cycle (afaik). Third, you need a decent flow rate, not reduced as the aerobic bacteria need the flow and oxygen. The anaerobic will do just fine with a good flow rate. IMO your tested setup will not work given the aforementioned.
Other (MUCH CHEAPER) bio-media is capable of growing anerobic bacteria while using products like Prime and Purigen without any issue. Other (MUCH CHEAPER) bio-media doesnt require 3 fully loaded FX6's worth of media to "work". I find it strange that bio-home wont work if you use 2 of the most widely used products in the aquarium industry.
I have 4.5 pounds of biohome in my tetra ex600 that I use on a 90 litre tropical tank. I run the Tetra full with biohome, no other media at all but I connected a Sun Sun filter booster on the intake of the Tetra that I filled with coarse, medium and fine foams for mechanical filtration and to further reduce flow. My nitrate levels are at 10 ppm before 10% weekly water change. My tap water tests like yours at about 20 ppm nitrate. I used to have 80 ppm nitrate like you (because my tank is overstocked) before 50% weekly water change. It took around 7 months to start seeing drops but after around a year with biohome, my weekly cleaning routine takes me about 10 minutes, from 1 hour that it used to. I only open the Tetra for cleaning every 3 months or so. I do biweekly cleaning on the filter booster as my flow comes down considerably. Your tank is awesome but would need a lot more biohome and a lot more filters to put it in for it to actually make a difference. So probably, like you say, in big tanks, not realistic.
P.s. You should probably try finer mechanical media as well, maybe a pre-filter. Your media looks all clogged and it's reducing the colonisation capability. The biohome in my canister is cleaner after 3 months than yours after what, 1 week? Good luck and keep up the good videos.
It was 3 months, and I let it run long purposely as to not disturb any anaerobic bacteria growth. My issue is, there’s no way I’m loading 3 FX6 full of expensive bio home on a 75...that’s just ridiculous. I’d rather replace 80% of the water weekly anyway, regardless of the nitrate levels. The fresh water has many more benefits than leaving the same old nutrient-less water in the tank just to cut down on my maintenance time 🤷🏼♂️ to each is own bro
As I can see from the vid and read in some comments, you don't have plants so unless your tap water has vitamin C in it your fish don't really depend on nutrients from tap water. They get it from their food. Bb's eat their poop so again, no need for nutrients from tap water. Also, my tap water has mostly residual heavy metals which affect greatly a closed ecosystem like an aquarium, it's quite scarce in nutrients. So for me, adding less tap water weekly is a blessing. But it all depends on many variables so it might work for some, might not for others. In my case, I consider a 30 euro investment (that's how much the biohome ultimate cost me) definitely worth it as my fish are thriving (and I have 48 of them in a 90 litre tank, and they're not the size of neon tetras). ✌
@@ionut-alexandrubunescu9698 Ok, you lost me at “they don’t depend on nutrients from tap water” are you suggesting that if your biohome and/or plants reduces nitrates to 0 you would never need a water change? That’s ridiculous. New fresh tap water has minerals and adds those minerals back into the tank. Magnesium, calcium and potassium are used up by your fish and a nice big water change not only removes unwanted nitrates but also re-introduces those minerals that have been depleted.
So again, my 55 adult sized African Cichlids in my 210 gallon tank are truly thriving because I remove and replace their water by 80% weekly. Not just to remove nitrates, but also to remineralize. Which I highly suggest you stop worrying about reducing your maintenance schedule and focus more on what’s beneficial for the fish.
@@KaveManAquatics my tap water is soft so it hardly has any calcium or magnesium. That's what fish food is for, for them to get their minerals from. Otherwise, the fish wouldn't have the need to eat, would they? The plants consume whatever nutrients are in the fish poop and whatever decomposes in the aquarium, it doesn't all go to the beneficial bacteria. Closed ecosystems have a habit of balancing themselves based on the amount of nutrients present. The ultimate goal of any aquarist is to spend less time cleaning their tank and equipment and more time enjoying their fish. Maybe you enjoy spending hours weekly removing that much water, but that's just something that again, depends from case to case. I prefer looking at and breeding my fish more, and cleaning less. If my nitrate reaches 0, I will definitely do water changes less often probably not doing them at all will make the water cloudy at some point. But that's not even remotely "ridiculous". There are thousands of people out there that aim to do just that. I think you are one of those guys with a "think like me or don't think at all" mentality. Shame as your vids are quite entertaining. But I would say do a bit more research on the heavy metals that your tap water contains and what it does to the lifespan and growth of your fish. Oh, and my fish are thriving and spawning regularly. They wouldn't do that if the way I care for them wouldn't be optimal, but I presume that's something that you won't agree with... fine with me and my fish though. Take care, my friend.
In order for anaerobic bacteria to develop most capable media requires about six months. In scientific testing by a home ultimate was found to have the second most surface area to Matrix. The primary difference between Matrix and biohome is that Matrix is a natural occurring Rock and biohome is centered glass. Essentially Matrix is going to be inconsistent due to its natural nature while biohome ultimate will be much more consistent. Both products should work just fine for you if given enough time.
Thanks for sharing 😊
@@KaveManAquatics Thanks for the great content man. For what it is worth, I wonder if you could repeat the test in the 407 and go for 8 months and see if filter type matters cus my 07 series has both matrix and biohome and works great. To be fair, I also have 2x pothos planted HOBs and a pothos planted overhead filter sump...so nitrates get pulled out like crazy.
Yea Im sure the Pothos is contributing considerably. The 407 wont allow for enough bio-home that's required. I ran this test with a reasonable amount of bio-home but the recommended amount is about 3-4 times more. I would never want to have to have that much bio-media for this to work...I'd rather just go with some Pothos that is guaranteed to work.
You werent using the pondgurus sponges configuration. That may have uplifted youy flow if you did his setup
I think that this is an unfair test. You have a very highly stocked tank with a very small amount of the media. It's said to be 1 kg of media to filter 100 litres of water............but halve that in a highly stocked tank, so 1 kg to filter 50 litres to eliminate nitrate. You need to not use the media bags and also use your crushed coral in your tank. Much more media then will fit in your filter. This still may not be enough in the filter as of your high fish load.. To say it doesn't work I feel is unfair as the information on its capabilities are well advertised for all to see. That said i know it's expensive, but the choice is there for the.customer as with any purchase.
Hi Kevin, Have you tried the anoxic filtration as advocated by Dr Kevin Novak?
No I havent...got a link where I can do some research?
@@KaveManAquatics Yes you could check out Dr Kevin Novak's RUclips channel. He explains it in details with all the scientific research that he has done. I hope it helps.
ruclips.net/channel/UC06AbbfqomU3MvOB4HE64uQ
Yeah he did say 2kg of Biohome Ultimate per 100l.
I've never used it, because Pondguru sells it at stupid prices.
For cinted glass, which is the same stuff than ceramic rings.
It is porous, but after a bit of reasearch, lava rock as slightly more surface area than Biohome ultimate.
The nitrate reduction claim is all over the place, some say it works, some don't.
Fortunately i get 0ppm from the tap.
So it only gets to 10ppm max, and that's after 2 weeks (High silicates thought so not perfect).
RO water would resolve your issue, but then it's more of a pain with ph, and adding minerals.
I agree with everything you said...Its way too expensive and you need so much...its just not worth it, IMO
His filter optimization methods are on point. I've never seen anyone do it better, for the most part. I bought into the Biohome hype train a couple of years ago also...and have since switched to Matrix as my go-to media for new filters/tanks. It's cheap and effective.
Thanks man, I appreciate that...and thanks for that feedback! I agree matrix is great media for the price. 😊
I have not given up yet. I am doing a project now to compare between biohome in one tank and matrix in another. 2kg biohome in a 200 liter tank and 1.5kg matrix in a 150liter tank. I stopped using prime and purigen in both now use API. 50% or more water change a week. No chemical media at all. And if we are all still alive in 9 months i will let you know. My 200 was rising from 5ppm to 20ppm when using prime and purigen each week. 150 not had time to gauge it yet. Hold tight. I will update.
Yes the water inside the canister is highly oxygen but that’s not how anaerobic bacteria works the middle of the media is more dens so flow inside the media is really slow that creates the anaerobic condition but Iv seen quite a few people using matrix and getting nitrate reduction
I’m currently testing matrix right now. I know the claim of these companies is that’s what happens inside the media…doesn’t mean it’s true.
A guy's me and my friends had the same thing happen ,we emailed bio home support and was told not to use prime with bio home, not using prime and all is good ,hope this helps,,,,thanks kaveman nice videos
I did read that somewhere as well but couldn't find conformation that prime would be a problem. It's very possible though, thanks for the info 👍
Interesting! Did they say what you should use instead of Prime?
I watch a pondguru video about filter setups. He mentioned that the water treatments that are supposed to detoxify the water seem to cause problems with the anaerobic bacteria growing. And in order to get the media to work properly as grow the bacteria you should only use a dechlorinator for water treatment.
I haven’t tried biohome media yet, was looking into it a little. So no first hand experience of this.
What should we use instead of prime any idea?
@@lostmangos Any water conditioner that does not 'remove / detoxify or bind' ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. A water conditioner which is a straight dechlorinator (e.g. API Stress Coat or Tetra Aqua Safe).
I ordered biohome ultimate for one of my FX6. I’m glad I ordered it from great wave engineering directly so I’m not out as much as people using amazon. Sucks to find out it’s hype
Which is better ceramic rings or bio max in filter
pretty much do the same thing and both get the job done
80 per cent change a week not good for producing the bacteria also how long did you run it for by the looks of the filter not long was not really dirty at all
6 months, big water changes has nothing to do with beneficial bacteria production or loss.