Filtration materials

Filtration Materials: Essential Supports for Reef Balance

Filtration materials play a central role in the stability of a reef aquarium. They provide both mechanical filtration, by capturing suspended particles, and biological filtration, by serving as a substrate for the bacteria responsible for the nitrogen cycle. Foams, perlon, porous ceramics, bio-balls, or synthetic media offer colonization surfaces adapted to the needs of the tank.

Historically, the first aquariums primarily used simple filter media such as foams and gravel. With the evolution of modern reef systems, highly porous materials have been developed to increase bacterial surface area while minimizing space requirements.

Today, these supports are used in sumps or refugiums to optimize the transformation of nitrogenous waste and contribute to effective, sustainable, and well-controlled filtration.