Brightwell
Brightwell Xport BIO Brick
Brightwell Xport BIO Brick
Get Superior Performance with this Ultra-porous Biological Media Ceramic Brick
The Xport BIO Brick was designed to be used in marine and hard freshwater aquariums with a pH of 7.5 or over. It has the highest porosity and largest usable surface area per unit weight or volume of all filtration media available in today’s market. The BIO Brick also provides ample aerobic and anaerobic surface area for efficient bacterial colonization.
Features:
- Laboratory tested and provided over 71,000 square feet (6,596 square meters) of surface area per liter of medium. One brick has about 100,000 square feet of useable surface area for bacterial colonization.
- When properly colonized and used as directed, it will reduce toxic ammonia and nitrites to near zero in ponds and all aquariums, marine or freshwater.
- It also reduces phosphate significantly and dissolved organics.
- Works excellently as the only filtration medium for the aquarium or pond.
- Includes Aragonite to buffer pH at the bacteria level, preventing acid buildup, which eventually would kill the bacteria and reduce capacity.
Size:
Approximately 9" x 4.5" x 2.5"(each brick is hand-casted, and dimensions may vary slightly)
Instructions and Guidelines
Use one XPort Bio Brick for every 1,000 U.S. gallons (3,800L) of system capacity, and more for heavy bio loads. Do not use more than one brick per 100 gallons of tank capacity. Bricks may be cut in half for smaller systems. Rinse material well with aquarium water or purified tap water to remove any dust. For superior results, seed the material using only the specific bacteria product that you are using in the aquarium. Place XPort Bio Brick in a plastic container, fill it with aquarium water, and then add the bacteria to that container. Allow to stand overnight, and then add the seeded XPort Bio Brick to your system. Use a sponge, fine filter floss, or other mechanical filtration ahead of XPort Bio Brick to prevent clogging with organic material. For maximum results, also provide a good carbon source for growing bacteria.
Recommendation:
Do not use different bacteria products in an aquarium, particularly during startup! When an aquarium is new, the available nutrients for bacteria to consume are scarce. If the kind of bacteria you introduce requires organics, they will likely not be available, and the two different bacterial cultures can fight each other. Also, do not introduce foreign strains of bacteria such as "live sand," pre-cultured dry man-made "live rock," etc. It is okay to use rocks from other aquariums that have already cycled and live rocks purchased from stores. All forms of man-made or natural live rock (except dry pre-cultured), aragonite, and marco rock will work fine. If you introduce the wrong strains of bacteria at the wrong time, you can slow down the whole process.
Additional Information:
For a smaller than 100 U.S. gallons system, cut the brick in half with a hack saw. To cut the brick, we recommend wetting it first and placing it on a piece of wood to support it fully. If you hang it over an edge, it may break unevenly. For nitrification, or ammonia and nitrite removal, employing the brick aerobically or above the waterline will provide maximum results. To do this, mount the brick in the air, above the water level, and run a small stream of water through the brick. It is not necessary or desirable to run the whole flow of the main system pump through the brick. A flow of about 40 to 80 liters per hour is ideal. An adjustable flow control is recommended. It will allow you to adjust the water stream to flow through (and not around) the brick. On the other hand, removing nitrate is an anaerobic process, and limiting oxygen to the brick as much as possible will maximize the nitrate removal. In this case, mount the brick beneath the water surface in the sump in a shallow flow area, if possible.
To use one brick for both aerobic nitrification and anaerobic denitrification, mount the brick below the water surface and provide medium flow around it. The bacteria growing in the top 1/4" of the surface of the brick will be aerobic and will use up all the oxygen so that the inside of the brick goes anoxic or anaerobic. Anaerobic denitrifying bacteria will then colonize the internal surfaces of the brick, and you will get both nitrifications on the surface and denitrification in the internal parts.
While the BIO Brick will perform both nitrification and denitrification, if your need is primarily for denitrification, you should purchase the Xport NO3 Brick instead or in addition.
One important criteria in marine systems are gas exchange. Xport is the best bacterial media globally, but it is not good at gas exchange. Bio balls are the best for gas exchange, so any system will work better with a small stack of bio balls placed in the main flow (in the air).