Aquarium Bio Balls Filter Media — Biochemical Filtration for Tanks

The invisible engine of a healthy tank — a home for the bacteria that keep your water safe.

Your filter doesn't clean the water — the bacteria living inside it do. This mixed media pack gives those bacteria somewhere to live: a blend of over 10 different porous ceramic and mineral media, each riddled with microscopic pores that pack an enormous amount of surface area into a small space. Colonise it and you get a stable, working nitrogen cycle — ammonia and nitrite converted before they can harm your fish and shrimp. Drop it in your canister, HOB, sump, or straight into the tank in the included mesh bag, and it does its job quietly for years.

Why Aquascapers Choose This Media

• 🦠 Powers your nitrogen cycle — houses the nitrifying bacteria that convert toxic ammonia and nitrite into far safer nitrate
• 🕳️ Deeply porous structure — a huge internal surface area means a much bigger bacterial colony per litre of filter space
• 🎲 Mixed media blend — over 10 media types (ceramic rings, porous cubes, lava rock, bio spheres) for varied pore sizes and flow
• ♻️ Effectively permanent — it doesn't get "used up"; it lasts until it physically crumbles
• 🔧 Fits any filter — canister, hang-on-back, internal, sump/top tray, or simply hung in the tank
• 🎒 Mesh bag included — keeps the media contained and makes maintenance a 10-second job (250g & 500g sizes)

⚠️ Never rinse it in tap water. Chlorine and chloramine kill the bacterial colony you've spent weeks building — and a dead colony means an ammonia spike. When flow slows, rinse the media gently in a bucket of old tank water (from a water change) and put it straight back. That's the single most important rule with any biological media.

⚗️ Note for shrimp & soft-water keepers. Mixed media packs like this typically include mineral-releasing types (calcium, magnesium, iron). In most community tanks that's a non-issue — but if you keep Caridina shrimp or run a deliberately soft, low-pH tank, test your GH/KH and pH after adding it. If your parameters creep up, use a pure inert ceramic media instead.

💡 Pro tip: Put mechanical media (filter floss/sponge) before the bio media in the flow path. The floss catches the debris, so your bio media stays clear and keeps flowing — and you'll almost never need to touch it.

Where It Goes

The media works anywhere water flows through it:

• Canister / external filter — fill the biological media basket
• Hang-on-back (HOB) filter — sit the bag in the chamber behind the sponge
• Sump or top-tray filter — layer it after your mechanical stage
• Internal filter — pack it into the media chamber
• Straight in the tank — hang the mesh bag in the flow (ideal for hospital tanks and quick boosts)

Choose Your Size

As a general rule, fill your filter's biological chamber — more media means a bigger colony and more stable water.

Specifications

What's in the Box

• Bio ball filter media (weight as selected: 100g / 250g / 500g)
• 1 × Mesh bag (250g and 500g only — the 100g size ships without a bag)

Pairs Well With

• Filter Floss / Sponge — the mechanical stage that goes before your bio media
• Canister or Sponge Filter — the home your media lives in
• Beneficial Bacteria Starter — seed the media and speed up cycling on a new tank
• Water Test Kit — confirm ammonia and nitrite are at zero once your media is established

Your Top 5 Questions — Answered

1. What do bio balls actually do?

= They don't filter the water themselves — they house the bacteria that do. The deeply porous surface gives nitrifying bacteria an enormous area to colonise, and those bacteria convert toxic ammonia into nitrite, then into far safer nitrate. That's the nitrogen cycle, and it's what keeps your fish and shrimp alive.

2. How much do I need for my tank?

= The practical answer is: fill your filter's biological chamber. As a rough guide, 100g suits nano tanks, small filters, and topping up existing media; 250g fits most small-to-medium canisters and HOB filters; and 500g suits larger canisters, sumps, and heavily-stocked tanks.

3. How do I clean it — and how often?

= Only when flow noticeably slows, and never in tap water — the chlorine kills your bacterial colony and can trigger an ammonia spike. Instead, swish it gently in a bucket of old tank water during a water change, then put it straight back in the filter. Don't scrub it, and don't replace it all at once.

4. Do I ever need to replace it?

= No — unlike carbon or chemical media, bio media doesn't get exhausted. It works until it physically breaks down or crumbles. If you do want to refresh it, swap out only a portion at a time so you never lose the whole bacterial colony at once.

5. Will it change my water parameters?

= Mixed media packs usually include mineral-releasing types (calcium, magnesium, iron), which can nudge GH, KH, and pH slightly upward. Most community and planted tanks won't notice. But if you keep sensitive soft-water species — Caridina shrimp especially — test your parameters after adding it, and switch to a pure inert ceramic media if they drift.

Ships within 20–25 business days.