Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / December 2004

the relative low bio loads contained in typical hobbiest tanks along with
the high effeciency of just about any media plus the fact that the ssa is so
different between media and the different styles of filters with higher and
lower effeciency and higher and lower flow rates make the math all but a
wild guess, now if this is a serious sized tank then ive got plenty of
formula's that will allow you to guess, better. however as a wild estimate
300sq ft of bio media is good for about 100lbs of fish in warm temps. just
as a reference 1 cubic foot of standard 1" bio balls is 160 sq ft, but 1.5"
bio balls are like 90sq ft.

Richard Reynolds
Richard.Reynolds@usa.net

Are you asking about specific surface area of media required for a
given fish load? What size tank? IME, the amount of water moved by
the filter is more important than the actual amount of
media....within reason, naturally. You wouldn't use a Q-tip-sized bit
of floss for a 55 gallon tank. <g>

Try visiting my site for answers to this subject.  Start
here:  http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html

Then: http://www.melevsreef.com

Happy hunting.

Marc