Crystal Bio

Dylan Grech · Apr 6, 2017

Hi everyone,

After reading a lot on this site I decided to go ahead and ask my first question.
I'm in the process of setting up a reef tank for the first time, it's currently being converted from fresh water to SW and here in Malta(European Island) I didn't manage to find "Marine Pure" rock however the closest thing I got is called "Ogata Crystal Bio" which from the product description seems awfully close to "Marine Pure" even though Crystal Bio is only advertised for Koi ponds.

Did anyone here ever use Crystal Bio and was it successful as a submerged merged media in a low flow zone for anaerobic bacteria (Gas exchange)?

Marine Pure: http://www.cermedia.com/marinepure.php
Crystal Bio: http://www.ogatakoi.com/eng/dry_goods/crystalbio/

Jisko · Apr 6, 2017

I'm so confused why not just use dry rock? 0_O

Dylan Grech · Apr 6, 2017

Ok let me explain further... This will be a ±1100ltr system
630ltr display, ±500ltr sump.

In the display tank I will go for Pukani dry rock which I will seed with a bit of LR however in 1 of the BRS 160 series he explains how Pukani can hold approx 240g of water per kg while "Marine Pure" holds approx 2.4kg of water per kg of rock. This in turn means if I would place 1kg of Marine pure in the sump it would be as if I had an extra 10kg of Pukani.

Now since these are in low flow zone of the sump in means anaerobic bacteria will be able to turn some nitrates into nitrogen gas. Everyone understand why I would want low nitrates no need to explain that hehe.

Jisko · Apr 6, 2017

Dylan Grech said:
Ok let me explain further... This will be a ±1100ltr system
630ltr display, ±500ltr sump.

In the display tank I will go for Pukani dry rock which I will seed with a bit of LR however in 1 of the BRS 160 series he explains how Pukani can hold approx 240g of water per kg while "Marine Pure" holds approx 2.4kg of water per kg of rock. This in turn means if I would place 1kg of Marine pure in the sump it would be as if I had an extra 10kg of Pukani.

Now since these are in low flow zone of the sump in means anaerobic bacteria will be able to turn some nitrates into nitrogen gas. Everyone understand why I would want low nitrates no need to explain that hehe.

ok now I understand haha

personally I have zero experience with this but I've been thinking about it. My sump is filled with live rock and its honestly beyond ugly and leaves me no room for cheato or anything for that matter. I'd love to pick up some of the bio rock stuff and get rid of the live rock in my sump over time. This will prolly just be another project for the next build honestly because all my energy has been focused on my frag tank build i'll be working on over the summer

Dylan Grech · Apr 6, 2017

It's a super interesting product due to it's size and cost. Live Rock in my country sells for 16EUR a kg which translates to $8.5 per pound and it's not just that... Live Rock comes in many various types I personally could go to a local rocky shore and pick up tons of it since Malta is a tropical island but to give you a perspective...

For every 1kg of local LR is like 200grams of proper Pukani rock which means I would need way too much local rock to handle an average bio load

With a product such as Marine Pure I can just place 1 cubic feet in the sump and that would be enough to handle all bio load so then I'm free to make my rockwork in the display minimal and eye pleasing.

Jisko · Apr 6, 2017

Dylan Grech said:
It's a super interesting product due to it's size and cost. Live Rock in my country sells for 16EUR a kg which translates to $8.5 per pound and it's not just that... Live Rock comes in many various types I personally could go to a local rocky shore and pick up tons of it since Malta is a tropical island but to give you a perspective...

For every 1kg of local LR is like 200grams of proper Pukani rock which means I would need way too much local rock to handle an average bio load

With a product such as Marine Pure I can just place 1 cubic feet in the sump and that would be enough to handle all bio load so then I'm free to make my rockwork in the display minimal and eye pleasing.

I just used left over rock I didnt use for my aquascape haha

and gives more money for corals

corals are what love is made of haha