Branded biomedia vs simple lava rocks

Are the branded biomedia like biorio from ADA and seachem matrix really worth it or plain lava chips would do the same in beneficial bacteria colonizing them. I was told that ADA BIORIO has some sort of bacteria spores on them which will quickly start the process of recycling as soon as the filter has water flowing through them. Is this true.
My second query is if we take some aquarium substrate from an old established tank and keep them in say a wide mouthed claypot or a wide mouthed jar that sinks into the new aquarium bottom and the new aquarium filled with fresh water will the live bacteria from the old aquarium substrate hasten the recycling process of the new aquarium. Just this thought occurred to me and if it does hasten the process of recycling after a few weeks the substrate in the Claypot can be removed

Don't know much about ADA but I've heard of many people using lava rocks.

There's a lot of marketing hype in this space because the products have such huge margins, but reality is very simple.

1. Bacteria grow on surfaces. The more surfaces you have, the more bacteria can grow. Bacteria can stack on top of each other, but only to a very limited extent because the top layers will get most of the oxygen and the bottom layers will die off. Any substrate with lots of surface area, including biomedia with pores, will support bacterial growth assuming the surface does not contain high metal content - which can be toxic to bacteria. "Natural" surfaces do not support more growth than "unnatural" surfaces. Sponges, made from petroleum, support lots of bacteria and are the cheapest medium.

2. Assuming two substrates have the same surface area, the one with higher oxygen content will support higher bacterial growth. Sponges can support more bacteria than media with fine pores because more water will move through them, carrying oxygen with it. Rings allow more water movement, but have far less surface area. The maximum level of oxygen saturation in fresh water is ~30 ppm, so oxygen availability is proportional to water flow.

3. Our environment is saturated with bacteria floating in the air, from ground level up to the troposphere. The moment you stop sterilizing the tank, bacteria starts to fall in. If it falls into an environment that conducive to growth, e.g. wet, warm, with nutrients, it starts to grow. Without doing anything, it'll take 3 - 4 weeks for a tank to cycle. You can add a slug of bacteria, either by moving substrate from another tank or using a commercial preparation (I'm partial to Dr. Tim's) and reduce the cycling time to ~1 week. Some people are concerned about potential pathogens from another tank - which is an extremely unlikely event. If so, then I'd recommend a commercial preparation.

Personally, I just move a sponge over and get instant cycling.

Good luck, Willie

You can use your established sponge filter and place it in the new tank. Also remove some gravel from a establish tank and place it in a nylon stocking, place the stocking in the new tank, remove the stocking when the tank is ready.

Cliff

Thanks cliff I too thought the same that by removing some substrate from an old established tank and filling them in a nylon bag and hanging them in a nylon stocking on the side of the new tank bacteria will begin to form in the new tank