Seachem Matrix Bio Media 1 Liter

I use this in my fluval fx4 and it’s great

125 gal freshwater community tank. 2 Eheim Classic filters containing 10 yrs Eheim Substrat Pro round, sintered glass media that came when originally purchased and installed in aquarium. 9/19/2018 Added to each filter 250ml Matrix+Stability. Nitrate levels at 20-40 ppm Oct 2018 Continued using Stability at water changes and in between, levels down to 10-20 Dec 2018 Added 1 liter Matrix to each canister (each now have 1250ml), removed all of Eheim substrat pro, now only Matrix, continued adding Stability as before. Jan 2019 Continued adding Stability as before, Nitrates consistently measuring 10-20 ppm; then consistently 10 ppm. Feb 25 2019(Today) Success! Consistently Nitrate level at 10 ppm. Soon I will add another 250ml to each canister and I am pretty confident that it will be below 10 ppm Nitrate or Ill keep adding another 250ml Matrix to each until I get it below 10 ppm.

Dropped these into my tank and small HOB filter, waited for a couple of months and didnt notice a difference in nitrate levels til I gathered them up in a kind of underwater filter (used a plastic water bottle and poked some holes in it) connected to a 40 GPH submersible pump. (got the idea from king of DIY on youtube) About a week later the nitrates went down to zero from about 20.

I just got my order in , I had read these come pretty dirty but man I dont know how many times you neeed to rinse them but I must have gone through 50 gallons of water to get them relatively clean, Seems like the agitation of moving them around to rinse them actually cause the stones to grind up creating more dust. I got them in my filter now. Thankfully didnt cloud up with any dust particles. When I soaked them in a bucket some actually floated. These are definitely super porous and am optimistic they will help improve my biofilter.

This may be no better or no worse than any other filter media. Yes it is just pumice, but Seachem has tested it for pore size and reactivity, it shouldn’t alter water chemistry. 1 liter should be enough to fill one tray in a large canister filter.

In all my many years of keeping fish, many have claimed to have products to bring down nitrate levels, but none worked. This is the first product I have found that actually does. And it is cheap. I did use it in my canister filters as opposed to hob, after reading the reviews. Seems some had mixed results that way. But I am amazed at the results I have gotten. It is not immediate, it took some weeks to see it drop, but after two weeks out Im at 10 ppm. Will buy again.

This product allows me to fully pack some of the trays in my two Fluval 406 canister filters to provide maximum bio-filter capability for my 75 gallon tank that holds multiple 6 goldfish. With a tank setup like mine, there is a large amount of organic waste for the filters to process and this product does a great job for me. I find it works better than the cylinder shape products.

Ive only just added this to my canister filter set up...I have a SunSun 304B canister, and added this to my 2nd and 3rd trays. 2L of this was JUST enough to add into 2 trays. I probably should get one more liter and top off both trays. So 3L would probably be PERFECT if you have a similar filter and are trying to fill 2 trays. So far, so good...tank is clearing up. I also added some of this to my HOB filter for my turtle tank and the tank looks great! ONE TIP: Make sure you give these a decent rinse before you add this to your set up...they are pretty dusty out of the bottle, so a very quick rinse will clean that up! Im sharing a pic of the matrix in my trays BEFORE rinsing them so you can see the dust and also see how much two 1 liter bottles will fill.

Seachem Matrix is a great natural medium for colonizing both nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria so important for good water chemistry and the health of ones aquarium inhabitants. I noticed many users have complained about receiving an adulterated product, and frankly I thought I had received one as well. I called Seachem and got the scoop. Heres what I found out: Matrix is a natural, mined product. The mineral has natural variations in size and color. When mined, black Obsidian is sometimes included in the take. The Obsidian is removed by hand before packaging, but some slips into the container from time to time. The packaging does not have a tamper-proof seal beneath the lid. When you open the jar, you immediately see the product. Matrix is sold by volume and not by weight. A minimum weight is listed in the literature (e.g.: 1 liter of Matrix = 400 gram net weight) but this is required by law, and has nothing to do with the actual weight of the product, which can vary greatly due to Matrix absorbing moisture from the air, for example. The 1 liter of Matrix I received weighted 967 grams out of the jar. When you receive Matrix, expect it to vary in color, size, and that there may be a few dark or black rocks in the jar. Now for the actual use. Matrix provides a tremendous amount of surface area. The outer surfaces and crevices provide a very hospitable environment for the aerobic (oxygen consuming) nitrifying bacteria that make up the bio filter so critical to breaking down Ammonia to Nitrite, and Nitrite to Nitrate. Its benefit doesnt stop there. At the end of the aerobic portion of the Nitrogen Cycle, nitrate is left to build up in the water column, and is one of the major pollutants that dictate the frequency and quantity of water changes. Nitrate can be reduced to Nitrogen gas - but this is an anaerobic (oxygen deprived) process requiring another type of bacteria. Nitrate laden water seeps into the core of Matrix after having been stripped of oxygen by the aerobic bacteria on the mediums surface. This oxygen-poor environment is perfect for colonizing anaerobic bacteria that consume Nitrate and release inert Nitrogen gas. This final step in the Nitrogen Cycle helps control the buildup of Nitrate in the aquarium, contributing markedly to the long term health of its inhabitants.

Its works well