Ammonia and nitrite are significant concerns in aquarium environments, aquaculture, and larger aquatic ecosystems, as they can negatively impact water quality and the health of aquatic organisms. These nitrogenous compounds are toxic at elevated concentrations, making effective conversion and removal essential for maintaining aquatic systems. Currently, a variety of bio-media are available on the market, each varying in cost and effectiveness. Aquarists and aqua culturists are continually seeking the most efficient and cost-effective media for nitrogen conversion.
To compare the conversion effectiveness of four types of bio-media (porous ceramic blocks [PCB], bio-fill [BF], plastic bio-beads [PBB], and 1” bio-balls [BB] plus a control [CNTL]) under different environmental conditions, we conducted a series of short experiments. Prior to the trials, all media were conditioned for 21 days in a common RAS to seed them with nitrifying bacteria. For each trial, three 68-L tanks were randomly assigned to each media type, filled with 60-L well water and its assigned media. Then the addition of a single dose of ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) was added to each tank to increase ammonia concentrations to 0.5 mg/L and baseline water samples were collected from each tank. analyzed for ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and nitrite nitrogen (NO2-N). Water samples were then collected daily to measure changes in NH3-N and NO2-N concentrations.
The results of this study will provide a comprehensive comparison of the ammonia and nitrite conversion efficiencies of each media type, contributing to the optimization of water quality management in both small-scale aquariums and larger aquaculture systems. This research will assist aquarists and aqua culturists in selecting the most efficient filtration media for their systems.