Bio Blocks Any Good?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This is interesting. I recently brought in Briopsis into my 40 gal office tank from a frag. I am now considering setting up a Coral QT tank. With freshly mixed Saltwater, my parameters should match my display as far as alk and Ca is concerned. I assumed that I needed rock in there, but maybe I don't. Would an initial dose of Phosphates and Nitrates be enough to sustain the corals for a few weeks while checking once a week to maintain nutrients?

Might need some trace elements, and IMO, used tank water is better than raw salt water. Many of the elements in raw salt water bind to organics that will exist in used tank water but not new salt water.

 

[Naekuh]

"Biobricks" are the current bridges that Big Reef is trying to sell us. Rocks are porous and usually have lots of holes. They are irregular shaped which make for pleasing aquascapes. Biobricks are expensive bricks...

maybe we can give the ceramic blocks a special designer name, and charge 1000% more then the made in china stuff?

Honestly, as i said i use them because they fit in my sump nicer, cleaner, and do not sacrifice surface vol. as if i had a bunch of rubble in the sump.

I do have some rubble tho, mostly to attach frags if i need them.
But i like bioblocks because it makes cleaning detritis a lot easier in the sump.

I like a clean sump, the only space in my sump thats allowed to be messy is the refugium because i do not want to suck all my copepods into oblivion when i clean that section out.

 

[Mikeltee]

maybe we can give the ceramic blocks a special designer name, and charge 1000% more then the made in china stuff?

Honestly, as i said i use them because they fit in my sump nicer, cleaner, and do not sacrifice surface vol. as if i had a bunch of rubble in the sump.

I do have some rubble tho, mostly to attach frags if i need them.
But i like bioblocks because it makes cleaning detritis a lot easier in the sump.

I like a clean sump, the only space in my sump thats allowed to be messy is the refugium because i do not want to suck all my copepods into oblivion when i clean that section out.

You bring up great points. I suppose that this is a good option for a frag tank that doesn't have any LR in the display and you want the ease of cleaning your sump. I ammend my statement that these are worthless.

 

[machliwala]

I have heard something like 1 bio block is 1,000 pounds of rock... Obviously very exaggerated for marketing, but are they any good compared to live rock? If there was a guess what is a 1 pound bio block compared to pounds of live rock? The reason I ask is I plan to start up a 120-150 soon and if I could buy these blocks and put them in my current sump and allow them to build bacteria and then boost the new tank that would be optimal, but just wanna know if this is a good or bad idea, what brands if any of them are good? How much or how many should I use? Any info is appreciated thanks!

One day I had the brilliant idea that I would like to complete change my aquascape and start over with new rocks. My tank was loaded with both LPS/SPS and softies and i didnt think it was possible to do it. I spoke to my LFS and they said they had done it zillions of times with no ill effects and the way they do it is by keeping marine pure blocks in the sump for 1.5 months. I did that and sure enough was able to complete replace my existing rocks with new rocks(not live) in a single day without losing any fish or corals.

I've kept the blocks in my sump and it has definitely increased the overall stability of my tank(not sure if it's a coincidence)

 

[Shooter6]

but bioblocks makes things a lot cleaner IMO..

Also if i need to "seed" another tank for some reason, i can just take one of those blocks and move it over to that system instead of taking a piece of rock.

Not to mention that little block probably has more surface area then a 1lb rock at 1/10th the weight / size due to how pourus it is....

I use Both these small ones sitting right below filter socks, and the big brightwell ones in my main sump with refugium.

I do know if you get super cheap ones, they will Melt, and disintegrate.
But i havent had any issues with the brightwell ones, and these guys yet.

But i am a fan of bioblocks... because it makes your sump a bit more maintance friendly, and if friends need a seed or something, you can just give them a block soaked in water to take home.

The tube ones that are rectangular and have a hole through the middle that you can find on ebay and or Amazon will not melt. They are very resilient I have even dropped them on tile flooring when taking them out of a sump, they still stayed together. That was after over 3 years of being submerged in my sump.

 

[KC2020]

I think the block approach to media came about because it's easy to manufacture and the stats about surface area make for good marketing. Like so many products in this hobby the functional application of them may not live up to the marketing.

I've been using Sera Siporax for a couple of decades. It's works extremely well in fresh and saltwater. I put it in small mesh bags in my sump and scale the amount I use up or down as a tank ages, the fish load and/or lighting changes and I see a trend in the balance of the tank as a result.

Here's a good explanation of how it's made and why it's different from other bio media.

 

[VintageReefer]

I use these in my 15g nano and keep a couple in my main tanks sump

 

[Naekuh]

Is the one i have in picture.

These guys don't melt... but they float until its completely soaked, which takes a few days.

I used to be a firm user of Seachem Matrix.
I would put Matrix in mesh bags, and toss them in, but again, it would get messy over time with detritus, and other nasty stuff.

I like Ceramic blocks because it makes sump maintance EZ.
Also the holes are big enough for copepods to live in as well.

 

[VintageReefer]

Double post. Deleting duplicate

 

[VintageReefer]

I have the same ones. I don’t remember them ever floating but I do rinse them in the sink to make sure there’s no dust

I am thinking of using these on a new build since the included sump is limited space

I need something like this attachment that will organize them and let water travel through the center hole

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've kept the blocks in my sump and it has definitely increased the overall stability of my tank(not sure if it's a coincidence)

What sort of stability are you referring to?

 

[Reign1]

Should work great for your purpose. I recently did the same, threw some Maxspect plates in my sump for a few weeks then used them to start a new aquarium. I would say this is fairly common practice (though I could be remembering this from my freshwater days haha), and I have even heard of LFS that will basically trade you a new block off the shelf for one of the old blocks from their sump.

Just a word on surface area. . . As I understand it: They do offer a lot of surface area for bacterial colonization. . . more than is needed for most of our applications, especially considering the surface area already available in our rockwork (and sand bed if you are a blasphemous heretic that doesn't run bare bottom). . . and probably offer more surface area than the rocks we use in our tanks (pound for pound anyway).

LOL I almost spit my coffee out with that comment ..