Description
Biohome Ultimate for marine aquariums ..
Biohome Ultimate Marine is essentially the Mini Ultra with added trace elements to increase bacteria performance and has a porosity of approx. 50%. You can check out the extreme porosity of the Ultimate Marine yourself by touching just the tip of a piece media to the surface of some water. You’ll be amazed at how fast the water is drawn up the entire length.
Biohome Ultimate Marine is made from industrial grade material to ensure a long working life. Long working life and reliability are hallmarks of all Biohome products and used correctly Biohome Ultimate Marine will outperform all other filter media in the removal of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
Ultimate Marine is an efficient biological filter media and good mechanical filtration must be provided to insure the water passing through it does not contain any debris that might clog it and reduce efficiency.
It is most suitable for external canister filters, overhead filters, aquarium sumps, and shower / trickle filters.
Biohome Ultimate Marine allows both nitrifying (aerobic) and denitrifying (anaerobic) bacteria to grow on and through it’s unique structure.
Trace elements added include Iron and Manganese which act as a catalyst for bacteria living on and in the media which speeds up waste processing.
The trace elements are fused into the structure of this media and are there to enhance bacterial processes only, not to alter water chemistry although users have commonly reported a marked improvement in coral health and colouration - this may be due to the water being extremely good quality in a biohome filtered tank.
Due to the higher cost of marine gel filter starter balls only the marine filter upgrade kits ship with complimentary filter starter balls. Marine filter starter balls are available separately in the 'BACTERIA' section of this website.
This media is sold by the kilogram. 1 kilogram of media is approximately equal to 1.25 cubic litres.
For best nitrate reduction use approx. 1.5 - 2kg per 100 litres marine aquarium water.
About Biohome
Biohome is known as a 'SINTERED GLASS' media as it is mostly constructed from special sand. This material is colonised much faster than 'CERAMIC' media which is made from clay.
The 3d shape with the highest surface area per volume is a sphere. Imagine a media made from thousands of tiny spheres, all different sizes. That is Biohome.
Biohome has been around for approximately 15 years but has been mostly sold in the Far East where keepers of Koi and Arowana appreciated its remarkable ability to process the waste generated from these demanding species. In 2012 the manufacturer of Biohome contacted Richard from the Pondguru channel on Youtube and asked him to take a look at the media which was incredibly popular in Asia but was still relatively unknown in the rest of the world.
As the Asian market tended to be skewed toward large tanks or nano systems the available forms of Biohome (Standard, Plus and Ultra) were perfect for many of the fish keepers there but the UK and US is different. Although extremely popular, fish keeping in UK and US tends to have many more 'average size' aquariums of between 100-300 litres capacity which are typically filtered by external canister filters.
As the extreme porosity of the ultra media is perfect for supporting aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in higher flow rates Richard suggested that the Ultra be made in a smaller form making it more suitable for use in the trays of external filters and 'Mini Ultra' was created.
With the combined knowledge of the biohome manufacturer and a chemist the perfect balance of size, porosity and performance was achieved resulting in the revolutionary Mini Ultra media which allows the full nitrogen cycle to be completed inside an external filter. A later improvement to the mini ultra (addition of trace elements for benefit of bacteria) resulted in Biohome Ultimate which allows for even faster bacterial colonisation and faster processing of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
Through years of Biohome being used in all sorts of aquariums and ponds the recommended amounts of biohome needed to see a good reduction in nitrate (full cycle filtration) are as follows:
Average community tropical aquarium = 1kg per 100 litres
Average coldwater aquarium = 1kg - 1.5kg per 100 litres
Predator aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres
Large cichlid aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres
Malawi / Tanganyikan aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres
Marine aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litres
Average mixed fish pond = 1kg per 200 litres
Average koi pond = 1kg per 150 litres
Ammonia and nitrite will be reduced at much lower amounts but full cycle filtration is the only 'proper' filtration therefore the figures above are for the filtration job to be done properly resulting in more stable water conditions.
REMEMBER - It is always better to over-filter than under-filter as a filter with a larger capacity will react more quickly to any pollution incidents and process waste before levels rise above safe amounts.
Having filtration capable of reducing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate reduces the need for water changes, allows for pH reduction and creates a much more stable environment than is possible with any other media.
Now there is a form of biohome for every filter application and as Biohome is manufactured from sustainable materials (sand, trace elements and recycled glass) it is environmentally friendly, inert, allows for pH increase / reduction if necessary and will easily last 6-10 years at high efficiency in a properly set up filter.
You will not find a more environmentally friendly, efficient and cost effective media anywhere else.