Pot Scrubbers VS Ceramic Rings: What Bio Media is Better?

Comparison of Pot Scrubbers VS Ceramic Rings: What Bio Media is Better?

Bio media is required for cleaning toxic chemicals in aquarium water. Many different types of bio media are available, & they are used for special purposes, however, all of them have one common purpose i.e. to remove ammonia & nitrites. When you cycle your aquarium, good bacteria develop, & they grow in abundance over the bio media. This bacteria is responsible for the removal of ammonia byproducts.

Comparison between Pot Scrubbers VS Ceramic Rings

Many different types of bio media are available. However, in this article, we have only compared Ceramic Rings with Pot Scrubbers. Check out all the similar & unique features of each bio media below:

One of the advantages of pot scrubbers over ceramic rings is that they never break apart & deteriorate. The pores of the pot scrubbers do not clog and you can easily clean them. Unlike ceramic rings, pot scrubbers do not need frequent maintenance. Unlike pot scrubbers, the efficiency of the rings are reduced overtime. Ceramic rings need frequent replacement, as the pores once clogged will reduce the surface area. Ceramic rings are expensive & heavy. Both ceramic rings and pot scrubbers will purify aquarium water. Ceramic rings do not seem to provide heaps of surface area; however, there are numerous micro pores over the surface of the rings that allow colonies of good bacteria to grow inside. Ceramic rings allow nitrifying bacteria to grow over the surface that wipes out ammonia & nitrites. Ceramic media is porous which allows denitrifying bacteria to grow inside the pores. Denitrifying bacteria is used for wiping out nitrates. However, pot scrubbers can only wipe out ammonia & nitrites leaving behind nitrates. For removal of nitrates, I would advise you to use both pot scrubbers & ceramic rings in the same canister filter. For high surface area at low price, my recommendation is to buy pot scrubbers. For removal of nitrates, I would recommend you to use ceramic rings.

After installing pot scrubbers in my large canister filter for cleaning my 200 gallon overstocked aquarium, I never had any bacteria bloom, & cloudiness in my tank water. My aquarium water remained crystal clear for all 6 months without doing any filter maintenance.

Pot Scrubbers are long lasting. They never break apart and deteriorate. They do not clog easily and if they collect debris, you can easily wash them with aquarium water. You can use them for a lifetime. I had an aquarist using pot scrubbers for over 20 years and they still look in good condition.

Pot scrubbers offer very high surface area. They are made of fine medium that collect all the dirt & let clear water pass through them. They keep the tank cycled & purify water of my overstocked Cichlids aquarium.