Works as advertised! There's so much internal surface area that if you drop one into a tank, it's gonna bubble for several minutes before being completely waterlogged all the way 👀

Best Bio Media Highly Recommend

I have a lot of fish tanks and when I discovered Seachem products, my fish keeping became a lot more successful. Matrix is one of those items that really helped my tanks balance and stay balanced.I use this in Aquaclear powerfilters and put only a sponge in the filter. I fill the rest of the compartment with Matrix and the media that comes with the filter in the big net.You can use Stability from Seachem if you don't want to wait for the tank to balance, but you also should have some Prime from Seachem handy to balance the tank out with ammonia through spikes to keep any fish safe.The biological filter grows well and keeps the filter going nicely. When I start a new tank, I move half of the matrix to the new filter, and replace with new matrix in the old so ... MoreI have a lot of fish tanks and when I discovered Seachem products, my fish keeping became a lot more successful. Matrix is one of those items that really helped my tanks balance and stay balanced.I use this in Aquaclear powerfilters and put only a sponge in the filter. I fill the rest of the compartment with Matrix and the media that comes with the filter in the big net.You can use Stability from Seachem if you don't want to wait for the tank to balance, but you also should have some Prime from Seachem handy to balance the tank out with ammonia through spikes to keep any fish safe.The biological filter grows well and keeps the filter going nicely. When I start a new tank, I move half of the matrix to the new filter, and replace with new matrix in the old so that it can easily seed itself. I use two filters for most of my larger tanks so it is not a big problem and won't upset the balance of the tank.I have no affiliation with Seachem, but I am an avid fish keeper who has had a lot of failures with tanks over the years and greatly reduced them with Matrix and other Seachem products.I hope Petco continues to carry Matrix, because I will keep buying it.

Best biological filtration media you could buy

What is there to say about this? Well...Seachem is one of the leading brands of the aquarium industry with research and development gone into the products they make. Matrix being one of their products. I have been using matrix for more than a decade and have not lost any fish from biological instability. Best media you can buy! Small enough to fit in any filters on the market for extra filtration! It doesn't hurt to over filtrate!

I would recommend it

Used to filter both fresh and saltwater ULNS systems the latter in conjunction with LR and a skimmer. Only downside is running high calcium levels remember to stir it around a bit from time to time as it will set solid as a rock .

Its better than plaster rings or plastic balls

This bio media is extremely porous and has a large range size of pieces which allows it to fill a space without lots of gaps. It should make an excellent media for bacteria to colonize. I also found small pieces of low grade black tourmaline in it which city drinking water plants use to improve the taste of the water because it slowly breaks down over time releasing minerals back onto the water. I did get about a tablespoon of useless white powder in each bottle (some cotton or something in the top of the bottles could have prevented the media from shaking around and breaking itself down).

Matrix, a great anaerobic bacteria media.

If you're buying this product to reduce nitrates, keep in mind it is not a chemical filtration media. This product is a biological filtration media that provides an excellent material for anaerobic bacteria to grow and flourish. The key to success is using three times the recommended amount for your tank size and limiting the flow of wafer thru the Matrix media to less than 25 gph. You must be patient, it could take as long as 2 months for your system to build up enough anaerobic bacteria to start lowering your nitrates. You must not disturb the media once it is set up, and remember, 25 GPH OR LESS! I would also suggest using a good quality protein skimmer. I have a 95 gallon saltwater tank that maintains a nitrate level less than 5 ppm with only a 5 gallon a month ... MoreIf you're buying this product to reduce nitrates, keep in mind it is not a chemical filtration media. This product is a biological filtration media that provides an excellent material for anaerobic bacteria to grow and flourish. The key to success is using three times the recommended amount for your tank size and limiting the flow of wafer thru the Matrix media to less than 25 gph. You must be patient, it could take as long as 2 months for your system to build up enough anaerobic bacteria to start lowering your nitrates. You must not disturb the media once it is set up, and remember, 25 GPH OR LESS! I would also suggest using a good quality protein skimmer. I have a 95 gallon saltwater tank that maintains a nitrate level less than 5 ppm with only a 5 gallon a month water change to vacuum the bottom of the tank. My system is set up using a prefilter and a canister filter with Pond Matrix, which is the same material, only slightly larger in size.

SEACHEM MATRIX

Having recently upgraded my aquarium filtration to an external canister I had spent my time researching the best media. Seachem Matrix is a product people rave about, I combined mine with a small bag of Seachem Purigren. I was not Disappointed with the result, I found the products cycle quickly and effectively my tank has over the last 6-8 weeks been the clearest I ever seen it. The only hesitation I had was the product claims very potetent efficiency for its volume, I'm only running a 90 liter tank however despite running a greater volume of media than recommended I've seen no negative effects.

So far, so good.

I bought two of these for my canister filter on my 65g. I decided on Matrix instead of lava rock or garden variety pumice stones because Matrix is proven to perform at a certain level consistently. I especially wanted to use a media that has a lot of interior surface area for anaerobic denitrifying bacteria to grow, even in a high flow environment. That's not always the case with lava rock, sintered glass, etc.

Well worth it

I wasn\'t sure as to the cause of my high nitrates. I have a 40 gallon all In one innovative marine cube. Only 2 fish but tons of corals. I use a ghost protein skimmer and filter socks which are changed out once every 5 days. I have way too many corals in that tank so perhaps they\'re excreting too much waste. Cut down my feedings and still nitrates were sky high around 80-100 ppm. I performed a 60% water change and used this item and wow what a difference. Within 2 hours post water change my nitrates were down to 10 ppm. Day 4 using it and my nitrates were basically nothing. This stuff really Works as works fast. I just put about 1/4 of the bottle in a sack and tied it with twist ties. I can tell It\'s working because my skimmer has a lot more junk instead of the ... MoreI wasn\'t sure as to the cause of my high nitrates. I have a 40 gallon all In one innovative marine cube. Only 2 fish but tons of corals. I use a ghost protein skimmer and filter socks which are changed out once every 5 days. I have way too many corals in that tank so perhaps they\'re excreting too much waste. Cut down my feedings and still nitrates were sky high around 80-100 ppm. I performed a 60% water change and used this item and wow what a difference. Within 2 hours post water change my nitrates were down to 10 ppm. Day 4 using it and my nitrates were basically nothing. This stuff really Works as works fast. I just put about 1/4 of the bottle in a sack and tied it with twist ties. I can tell It\'s working because my skimmer has a lot more junk instead of the clearer water. Great product cheap lasts a long time. Versatile as well. You can put this in your reactor. In your sump, filter or anywhere there is some flow in your tank. Will never use another product

Yes it is quiet

These air pumps have been around for soooo long! I decided to get one for a new tank just recently. I do not like noise.... at all.... coming from my fish tanks. This is why I have canister filters! Anyhow I was a little nervous since SOME NEGATIVE comments I saw about how loud it was. Guess what... NO, it isn’t! I was pleasantly surprised that whisper is still as quiet as it was back in the 80s! It is in my living room fish tank and it does not disturb anything with the super low decibel level!Of course if you set it on something that vibrates, well duh, yeah it vibrating the loose lid or whatever is where the noise is coming from. If one you buy is loud, then it is POSSIBLE the bladder dried out from old inventory OR the glue wasn’t put on right at the factory. ... MoreThese air pumps have been around for soooo long! I decided to get one for a new tank just recently. I do not like noise.... at all.... coming from my fish tanks. This is why I have canister filters! Anyhow I was a little nervous since SOME NEGATIVE comments I saw about how loud it was. Guess what... NO, it isn’t! I was pleasantly surprised that whisper is still as quiet as it was back in the 80s! It is in my living room fish tank and it does not disturb anything with the super low decibel level!Of course if you set it on something that vibrates, well duh, yeah it vibrating the loose lid or whatever is where the noise is coming from. If one you buy is loud, then it is POSSIBLE the bladder dried out from old inventory OR the glue wasn’t put on right at the factory. Easy to exchange at your local Petco. Don’t give up on it if you get a bad one!!! The price varies wildly with this product from company to company. Petco is a bit pricey..... HOWEVER, I would venture to guess their stock is NEW and not sitting around and going bad like other places. That made it worth the extra $10.All in all, this is a good, quiet air bubbler. I have mine switch on in the evening, to counteract my planted tank and CO2 production at night and dislodge poo so the filter tank take it. I may just add a power head for water movement as my canister filters are not that strong.