Totally agree...I've tested the expensive stuff and used basic lava rock from a landscape store...they worked in a very similar way for me.

In Singapore, I see my experience hobbyists and breeders use red brick chips. Maybe something all of you can consider.

Thank you for breaking this down into simple understanding terms! I noticed my tanks running on a simple sponge filter with lots of plants have far less algae issues than my 55g with an Oase external filter with the clay pieces which I’m constantly battling black beard algae and string algae. Time to try a new method in this 55g tank using just sponge filters instead of all that external filter material and see if that helps the issue I’m having. Thanks for the very useful information in this video! 👍🏻

For 40 years I have only used sponge. I have never had nitrite issues. I was just given biological media for free so I thought I would throw a bag in my filters just to give it a try, That is what brought me here.

Great video i can't comment 0n the more expensive biomedias ,but i can say i only use basic biomedia lava rock,alfagrog and cheap standard ceramic rings ,along with 30ppi sponges for many years.i am very happy with my constant low nitrates 5 to 10,with water changes once a week on hard scape tanks,never felt the need for expensive media,infact for many year i ran just air operated box filters lol,i agree with you totally, Keep it basic with water changes works well for me,Keep up the good content and the information your putting out there .New Subscriber,

IDK But, 30 years ago i never heard of all this bio stuff and Tanks I saw were clear and Healthy...

Great and informative video. I started to suspect this myself as I started to give up on trying to achieve pretty planted tanks and switching more to biotope style aquariums. I noticed plant health increased dramaticly and the fish themselves started to behave in a more natural way, pairing and breeding. But when you get on youtube everyone pushes these expensive giant canister filters with super special biomedia. Your tanks look amazing and gave me the inspiration to start dabling in ripariums aswell. Keep up the good work!

Thanks, great video! All my tanks have now sponge filters only and I couldn't be happier with that decision. What I struggle with is on how to fix in a stable and practical way the house plants in the aquarium. I look at your tanks and I wonder how you get those huge heavy plants to stay there without sinking . :-)

All we need is a generous sand bed and a good amount of healthy plants in our tanks and they will be such a healthy ecosystem. Then just some sort of small internal filter to move water around, and you will be all set.

I found this very informative. Being in the hobby and watching KZfaq. There is always pressure to up your filtration to the best thing. As you pointed out most is unnecessary. If you use the KISS ( keep it simple) you can be successful and save lots of money. New subscriber.

Thank you for providing this information. You have saved my wallet!

Excellent video!

I have pothos on my 210g tank with a 75g sump. At night I run the light for the pothos in the sump. I’ve tried between 8-12 hours and I even have an hour of darkness in between for it to “chill” and I also have some growing out the top. My tank is moderately stocked but I still have to do water changes to reduce nitrates and I’ve noticed my pothos will actually die off quite frequently. Although I keep getting new growth it’s constantly just dying and regrowing. I had pothos on a heavily overstocked tank which also still had nitrates climb though the pothos did amazing. Very big leaves, dark green color and healthy, never dying off… I know it definitely prefers ammonia but I’ve yet to experience the plant keep my nitrates as low as you say while still retaining its overall plant heath.

I use external canisters because they are quiet when running, they have ceramic impellers and are really effective at mechanical filtration. As a bio media I use pumice which I bought from company providing filter media for ponds. My first canister filter I introduced to operation has two baskets of lava rocks. For me the price for amount of media you need to fill canister is not acceptable when it's basically the cost of new high-quality light...

Now you tell me! ....after spending/wasting a shed load of money on Biohome 🤥 Great video and too true.

I run a 20 us gal blackwater with a sponge only setup and it works great

Well said. Ah the power of advertising and Utube influencers.

Thank you for sharing. I agree with you 100%.

I agree. I removed half of the media from my sump with no increase in ammonia.

Just subscribed to yr channel, because of yr video about several types of Biological midea, and now this one, if we pay attention on the most of the. canister's sold now, Sicce, Aquael, Oases, and others, they come with a lot of sponge filtration, and normally only one tray with biomideas, that they consider it enough for capacity of the canister, that's interesting isn't it??? Buy the way, under gravel filter always worked very well, if used with a small flow of water.

IF you think you don't then you're the only one. lol!

You are absolutely right! Respect!

Absolutely no need for canister filter nor any expensive media for bacteria in any system. That is one of the big scams in the aquarium hobby! When we were kids we had only water, substrate, plants and cheap incandescent house lights for many years. Not even pumps or external filters!! Better tanks we've ever seen in our lives! You don't need that canister that you have for mechanical filtration either!! They get clogged and shouldn't be used for mechanical filtration anyways because they are not designed to be used like that. Just remove that canister and mechanically export the dead leaves and detritus when you do water changes. :) In a bare bottom tank we can use the simple sponge filter with a thin layer of substrate or none. The amount of water changes can help with the lack of substrate surface. It's a balance between bio load (fish population/sizes) and nutrient import/ export. Great video, man! Always great to watch your inputs!

What’s wrong with the cheaper stuff If you can’t afford it 🤷🏼‍♂️✌️👍🇨🇦🙏

I needed to hear this video, i was about to buy the biohome media at £20 per kg😢

Loved this, we were brainwashed for years. At least we woke up! Congrats on the 5k subs 🎉

This guy really knows what he's talking about. We should listen and follow his ideas and we would all have happy tanks and fish. You need Nitrates in a tank. The worst thing in this hobby is those test kits that say 20 - 30 ppm Nitrates are bad and you have to flush your tanks.

Der Type bestätigt genau das was ich auch in 4 Jahren gemerkt habe. Der Lava Stein ist richtig gut.

Shout fo patient camera man.

Yes, I agree but bacteria is reliable comparing with plants... With any ammonia unexpected rise, bacteria would react much better, for example, at night... a fish death, plants rotting... I think a big filtration system is necessary, sponge for mechanical and biological filtration and any media you want... Not plastic media, please... Fish will be healthier... plants will help, but I trust in a good filtration system, even much of the biological media isn't working fulltime... Regards

One of my heavily planted tanks (14 gallons) has only a small sponge filter that i have never cleaned. It has 8 small fish (such as guppies, dwarf rainbows), and I have not changed the water since last September. Nitrates, nitrites and ammonia are at 0.

Great Info. Thank You.

Outstanding video. Thanks for sharing your perspective. I really like videos of this kind on filtration topics.

I agree 100% I’ve spent a fortune on expensive media which has made no difference to my water quality

Volcanic rock..yeeees very succesful for all my 7 or so marine tanks...large & small 💪🏿💥💥💥💥💥✌🏿✌🏿

You said that plants consume ammonia but then also said that it's important to have nitrates in your aquarium for the plants to consume. Do plants consume ammonia, nitrates, or both?

😀 absolutely amazing

I agree too!!!

Hello Thanks I liked this vedio because is very informative and useful. What is the best plant to use for biggner does echinodorus and cryptocoryne consume and anubia good I want to use it with no filter ONLY SMALL SPONGE FILTER . I have a problem which is the anubia has a black layer on its surface and the echinodorus leaves turn yellow and as if it is multing ( I was using big filter) so any advise . Thanks a lot

saved me £10 thank you

Is the sponge filter even necessary in a heavy planted tank?

Ive actually just been wondering why biological media is necessary. I do have a cannister filter, and I use alfagrog which is cheap enough, but why am i not using biosponge? like the stuff on a sponge filter. Surely there's a lot more surface area on sponge than ceramic, or even sintered glass media!

are you sure about nitrate and ammonia? that plants use more ammonia then nitrates? why we add kno3 ? as nitrate? for plants to grow? im confused

Yes sir, if these expensive bio media actually does the complete cycle, which has been around for 15 years people should be jumping up and down how Great it is!! Actually I think plants and my 3" sand substrate does a better job than expensive bio rings!

Very logical, thats why I dont buy that stuff, many plants and substrate will do the job.

There are several misleading things in this video. First no biomedia. Even if you don't put ceramic or pumis you just use sponge. It's still biomedia. Sponge is absolutely biomedia. Next water quality. For some reason people think zero ammonia and nitrite and low nitrate means good water quality. This is completely false. What your tds reading? What's your redox reading? Next biomedia denitrifying. It's physically impossible for any biomedia to contain both nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. There's simply to much oxygen present in the media for denitrifying bacteria to live. Remember your forcing water through your media. Lastly anaerobic conditions. Anaerobic conditions are void of oxygen. Both dissolved oxygen and oxygen available from things like nitrate. The bacteria that grows in anaerobic conditions convert nitrate and nitrite back into ammonium. Through a process called assimilitory de-nitrification. The bacteria that truly complete the nitrogen cycle. Meaning nitrate into nitrogen need oxygen dissolved in the water. Very low oxygen. Oxygen needs to be at .03 ppm oxygen. The only way to achieve this in substrate is to slowly move water through it. Unfortunately water doesn't move through your substrate. Remember your substrate is surrounded on 5 sides by impermeable surface. The only place for water to pass through the substrate is on the top. See the problem here. Because of this deep substrate goes anaerobic and produces ammonium. Ever wondered why you can't get rid of algae? Now you know. The substrate is the food source for it. Not only that but deep substrate can ferment and produce toxic gasses. Even if it's planted. Biohome and matrix are a rip off. If you're going to buy biomedia get the cheapest one you can. Better yet use 30ppi sponge. Nothing beats it. Man made it natural no biomedia is better than sponge. This isn't opinion. It's fact. Already tested and proven.

tittle is bad, like is ment for novice ppl, but you explain well other aspects beyond the tittle