Aquavital Polyfil is an interesting and promising biomedia made by Germany’s Aquarium Münster. We’ve seen quite an array of biomedia on the market — from bio balls, to ceramic media, to strips of plastic, to hair curlers, army men or scrubbing pads — and Aquavital Polyfil is definitely interesting. Designed for biological filtration in aquariums and ponds, the design creates plenty of surface area in a way that also prevents the media from becoming locked together.
A slightly rough surface creates a larger area for bacteria to grab onto and grow, plus the design allows for the dead bacteria cultures to peel away from the filtration media keeping optimal biological conditions. Besides preventing the media from locking together, it appears it holds its structure pretty well so it won’t collapse under the weight of water and flow. The product description notes it is easy to rinse these off to remove detritus and other large waste particles from the filter. I know we’ve shunned bioballs and other biological media in reef aquariums but products like this make us wonder if there is a good way to work effective biological filtration back into the mix.
