Such a young Joey. Thank you for such great ideas all the time. I love watching the old videos.

now off to find the correct sizing for tanks lol! I'm going to have to buy your book once I'm out on my own and I can do whatever I want with my tanks! :)

In Mexico the normal biological media are really spensive(like 2 o 3 times their cost in USA) so most of the mexican aquariums have lava rock( called tezontle here), but there volcanic rock in gardening stores that have a smaller grain size like half inch or less , sorry for my bad english.

I truly appreciate all your uploads. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into all of your videos! Cheers from NC!

Thank you for posting this video Joey! I have 5 tanks running; finally got quilt batting and lava rock for all filters. Since then my water is CRYSTAL clear, parameter levels are perfect, and I no longer waste money on filter cartridges. For less than $10 I have 3 months worth filter media for ALL of my setups. You're a lifesaver!

This was so reaffirming for me to see you doing what I do. So stoked to start the week out like this. thanks Joey!

Very good alternatives Joey, I think every aquarist I know have used these at one point or the other.

Some of these ideas are really great. I can't wait to make my filter more eFISHient

Thanks Joey, I'm stoked you covered that!

Sweet tutorial on filter media. Enjoyed watching! Thank you for sharing!

Great video! I love watching your videos they have alot of information I need for my canister filter.

XD I love how Canadians say Barbecue..

THANKS MAN! i learnt a lot. keep up the great work!

Thank you Joey for telling us about lava rock, mine is working great and even grew denitrifying bacteria!

Starting a 75g right now! Tons of info on the web about filter media and until now wasn't sure what to use. Thanks for the direction. Breakin lava rocks now!!!. Your videos ROCK.

I love your videos but I keep getting more and more confused ha ha. You explain everything great but I want to set up my tank in the office (36 gallon bowfront) but don’t know what type of filter to use. What do you recommend?

Great video sir . Thank you million times 👍🏽

Wow thanks so much for the info i was just about to set up for the first time a canister filter for a 50 gallon turtle tank and you gave me a lot of great options. Thank you

Awsome delivery again Joey

Very informative as always Joey..

this guy is quality and has saved me a fortune..cheers joey.

The king of DIY you are awesome. I followed many of your videos. I built a DIY cascade filter for my aquarium that works perfect. I was moving some bio-media form a old filter to this new one and notice that my bio filter media was wearing out after 8 months

Very informative. Thank you for posting.

thank you Joey everything I know about aquariums I learned from you. have a fun and safe trip, oh definitely clear water, driftwood, and hang on the back sand filter. of course I enjoy any and all your videos I have three tanks and healthy fish because of your advice thank you bye.

Hey Joey! I have a question, is filter wool effective against heavy metal particles and other small particles in my aquarium? Great vid!

Very informative video . Learned a lot . Thank you

Joey I've been looking four videos on lava rock to see if it's safe for saltwater unfortunately I couldn't find it from anybody else so that's what I get with you and hoping the common will answer my question because I have not found any of this information

dude. thank you. This is super helpful.

hi Joey thank u for your video . I'm off to make this filter now and I'm in australia and our big Home N BBQ store is Bunnings.. they have volcanic rock can i use that instead of lava rock and or is it the same cause they look the same ?

Hey Joey. I'm also from ns and I was wondering where you buy you're materials ( wood,tubing and such) thanks a lot!

hi joey thanx for all the videos. i wanted to add some pot scrubber to my sump but was tol that many are made with plastic that has anti-microbial chemicals inbeded into them. do you know anything about this and which brands would you recommend? thank you joey

Mate. I love your video's. Keep it going

I used to use pot scrubbers for my 180 gallon tank. They worked great!

LOL thanks man, I been watching tube to make my filter and none of them really address the cost factor. My first impression from you is: "save money on hoby". Good vid, keep it up

Great video very informational. Solid Thank you

will the little plastic scrub sponge thingys work fully submerged too? (like in a plastic bottle with an air pump)

Wow. there's something about how you did this video making it more lively than the previous videos.

Thanks for the info, excellent as usual. Can lava rock be used in a marine system as well as fresh water?

Suggested future topic: starting nitrogen cycle in a new tank. Not many have started more new tanks than you Joey, can you cover what works best for you, pitfalls to watch for, etc?

Have you ever used sponge gutter guards in a tank? I've seen the stuff at hardware stores, but I haven't been able to figure out whether it is aquarium safe. Its very cheap, and it seems like it would be perfect.

Joey, I'm using the fluval ceramic rings in the small canister filter on my 40 gallon. is it ok to break these into smaller pieces like you can the lava rock? i have been reading that people typically remove the broken pieces, but my filter canister is so small that it seriously limits the number of rings i can use. if I were to break them up I think I could use almost twice as much.

I'm changing to carbonless and I'm using Seachem matrix and Purigen, I have Goldfish so I need to take precautions. What's your opinion? So far half of my filters since I have double filtration again bare in mind I have Goldfish. Please advise so far so good and is been 3 months.

Man you just saved me some money! Thanks a lot

Can i ask you if i use lava rocks in filter media bag then placed underneath aquarium substrate... is it feasible... and will be placed on the aquarium & will be covered by the aqua soil or substrate... hope to hear from you about this... thank you very much...

Great video! Thanks man!!

New to the hobby and was wondering instead of having the cartridges being replaced in the "hang on the back filter" using a mix of polyester and lava rocks. Assuming i could get it to flow properly with the pump it came with how long before i would need to change the polyester. Also would i need to rinse the lava rocks weekly/monthly?

Hey, Joey! I wasnt able to find natural lava in my country, and import would maximize the total cost. Do you have any project of a DIY natural lava media alike?

Can I use media in my Eshopps 75? Lava rock? Thank you!

Great infomatnal vid Joey

Joey can i Ask if Coal is a Good Idea as an Filter Media?

brilliant video

i was going to buy ceramic rings to place in the fluval c3 chemical filter basket but good to know that the lava rock is a nice alternative.. unless any of you guys said that ceramic rings are superior, btw any ideas on what i should buy as a substitute to the fluval C-nodes in the C3 trickle filter?

awesome, you always have the answers to my questions, thanks a lot!!!

Hey so I want to start using media so I want to know how I can cycle it for my aquarium?

ThankYou for the advice

Hello, I have commented on your other video but now I saw this one where you said it is better to use lava rocks. I need one for my crabs, it is a 10 gal tank but I will have it water and land. how much lava rocks should I use and also since I am not filling the whole tank can it go laying down? Thank you

hey Joey I was wondering if you ever tried sea sponge as a filter media or what you thought about using it

Hi , i am from sri Lanka and i am watching all your videos . Tks for sharing good ideas . Keep up the good work . 👍 .

How do you feel about old-school charcoal filters? When I was a kid, aquarium kits came with a corner air bubble filter with room for charcoal and fiber filling as well as an under-gravel filter with air stones. I haven't seen either in a number of years.

morning! I am curious to ask as i am in the midst of building my very first tank. my tank has 2 chambers for fish. Those fish being betta splendor. my tank has been fitted with a rear sump with a number of baffles. from chamber 1 the water flows from the bottom of the chamber, raising up through a filter media, over its first wall, under then again over where drawn up through 2 sponges and is air lifed to a resevour where the water flows into chamber 2 via means of a another water fall, then over flowing back nito chamber 1 via yet another waterfall as to where the process starts over. my question is knowing each of these fish don't eat much and generally are quite clean, what would be the best filter media's to be used within each part of the process. I would prefare it all to be gravity fed, but i am uncertain to how to incorporate the likes of a bell syphon or any other type of processes to move water from A to B without the aid of any mechanical instrumentation. I was always led to believe you can't make water go up hill. my dad however once upon a time showed me that the affects of Air pressure on the surface area of his pond alone could make a fountain some 4ft tall with quite the water pressure. but without that surface area, what methods could be potentially used and how could they be incorporated, i do so which i had asked him how he managed to have several spray bars spraying over different media types, but no electrical or air pumps

Thanks for the video. It's great to learn of the cheap media's to use. Have you done a video on diy submerged filtration system using the blue 44 gallon plastic drums?

Hi Joey! Writing from Chile! I had a question, what do you think about carbon media for fresh water tanks? I've noticed that many filters in the market include this feature, but i'm not sure how it works or if it is useful/beneficial at all. Ps: Your videos are amazing and very helpful! Thanks a lot!

Great video but can you tell me if you have a video with the pros and cons of using each type of filter. I have three turtles in a 75 very tall tank and im not sure its gonna work out for them but can you explain the uses of a trickle filter?? These guys produce lots of waste. I currently have two canister filters and a wisper 20i i shoved all the wat to the bottom and turned into a in tank filer.

Hi Joey,Long time subscriber. I need your honest opinion with straws for BIO media? What do you think and do they work similar to the medias that you have shown in this video?

Hi Joey! Thanks for the video! I'm always learning something new from your channel. I currently have a 10 gallon tank and I made one of your water bottle filters. I couldn't find K1 so I am using some bio media from National Geographic instead. After seeing this video I want to head to my local rock yard and purchase some lava rocks. I'm still cycling my tank (been about 7 days) so maybe i'll wait...

Hi Joey, do you have any experience using expanded clay (i.e. hydroton, hydrocorn) as emerged filter media? If so, what are your thoughts? Great, informative video btw.

I made my own DIY canister filter in right now I'm using lava rock and polyester filler what else can I use for a filtration system to go inside of my canister to get the final particles

Lava rock vs eheim substrat Which one is better? Thank you for the response.

awesome video man, its nice! i was wondering about sponges. there are certain situations where you need a sponge over the polyester filling, like for a sponge filter for example, or for some diy artificial fry raising. i wish you wouldve included a safe sponge we can use for these situations. most sponges in the cleaning section are unsafe for aquarium as mencioned in the packaging. i was wondering if there is a readily available alternative? maybe the foam you find commonly with the polyester filling?

Lava rock is my go to substrate for trickle filters. And makes a great bulk for under your substrate/ gravel so you need less of expensive substrate like Flourite / Eco-Complete to make those hills and valleys..

Great vid. Does the lava rock need to be treated in any way before using in salt water aquarium? Does it need to be cured in anyway? Does flow matter when placing this rock? This reminds of a cheap alternative to Marine Pure.

Hi, will the pumice stone do as well..as it seems to be highly porous

great tips for people on budgets. Definitely gonna use some of these

if I have a multi-layer canister filter(cascade1000) Which basket would the lava rock go into? I have three and they filter from bottom up? Is charcoal lava rock the same as lava rock? Lastly what else would you recommend in the other baskets? or just all lave rock?

Interesting, looking into this. Fired Up!!!

Thanks for all these great and informative videos through out the years. Today at the aquarium store; I mentioned I was thinking of removing gravel from our 5 gallon tank. I was told me that having gravel was good, because the bacteria helps to filter the system, our tank is small and we have one of the traditional filter on. Do you recommend switching filter, to any of the above options?

Hey Joey, where can I buy your shirts? I really want one of this :) Greetz from Germany

What do u suggest for over head filtration system? Do u think lava rocks will be good enough to be place in the trays? Will lava rock affect the flow of water?

Could you do a combination of plastic pot scrubbies and lava rock in your sump to create better bio media filtration? Have the pot scrubbies as your wet/dry and your lava as your submerged media?

That was fast, tanks. ✌

Lava rock is all I use in my filters, I find there's more surface area the most ceramic rings

I've been watching your videos for a long time now, so this is old news. Lol

Can a loofah be used in a marine fowlr sump as a mechanical filter the corse sponge at lfs is expensive and they never have it in stock

what pump would I need for a 90 gallon tank to have a good flow rate?

Hello, awesome video. Question, can you use lava rocks in a saltwater tank?

Can all of this great info be used in turtle tanks? Your videos are VERY informative and easy to understand. Thanks

My canister filter came with bioballs. Do they work well as submerged media??

I agree, I saw a Video with you and Gold Fish girl lol sorry, forget her name... But, you mentioned the "Biggest Mistake or Learning Curve" for you was your Nitrogen cycle... I would like to see a video of you explaining the cycle, or all cycles. I think it would be appreciated by all beginners. Thanks Joey, as always this video was a huge help.

Saved me $200 or so. Thanks so much

Been using pumice or Lava rocks thats sanded down using my Drexel for my aquariums. That and a busted and sanded down terracotta pots works awesome too

Joey do you ever use activated carbon as a form of filtration? If so, why or why not?

thank you!

hey King? is the lava rock safe for a reef tank? is there any additives? why am i nervous?. lol

What do you think of Growstone for a trickle filter

thank you so much :)

Can this stuff effectively replace both bio-balls and those little cylinders/white-tubeshape-things? Also, if I use those little scrubber-sponge things does that mean I don't need to buy those annoying flat white mesh/floss pads? I would appreciate the feedback, I am just getting ready to move my turtle from a 20-gallon with a weak filter into a 60-gallon tank with a cannister. I am on a budget, and would like to not have to buy the special media or meshes for the filter :)

hi pls can you tell me what size of submersible pump i need for 25000 liter fish pond . I'm using trickle filter tnx in advance

It can also be purchased crushed into pieces about a 1/4" size. Garden supply places can order.

Can I use lava rock in sump instead of fluidised sand filtration, please help

this guy is too smart for KZfaq. Subscribed.