Gaia Reef recently came to market. The first biodegradable filter roller mat. As of now it’s design is patent pending. One size is available the Gaia Fleece 17 which has dimensions of 17cm W x 12 cm Dia x 4 CM (1.6ish inch) inner core. This filter roll can replace the ReefMat1200 or Large Bubble Magnus mats. Medium and small sizes are coming this year. The Fleece 17 retails for $45, the medio will run $30 and the nano will retail for $12.
When I became aware of this product I was intrigued. I reached out to the owner and creator of the product William August Hites for more information. He sent me the following information about the product.
“Material Detail:
– 1:1 replacement of common 200 micron equivalent filter fleece.
– Meets EN 13432 standard on material compostability
– TUV Certified material
– Four-star OK Bio-based certification demonstrating highest percentage of renewable raw materials
– Disintegration process occurs in 10 weeks (into compostable material level break-down). In-situ reef system testing has revealed degradation in structural integrity in approximately five days. The material should not remain stationary in a roller filter for more than five days. Any tearing is easily remedied by manual resection and re-feeding into mat collection spool. (I discovered this myself in testing due to an ATO failure leading to overflow of the roller filter.)
– A finishing binder is made from PLA biopolymer derived entirely from the sugar extracts of annually grown plants (corn). The PLA meets the food contact requirements for the hot beverage industry and is compostable according to the EN13432 standard. Further testing is planned to collect samples and compare any net polysaccharide chain introduction into the water column and, secondarily if any polysaccharides are measurable, to what extent prevalent reef/ marine bacteria might utilize these food sources.
– Mixture of abaca fibers, cellulose and PLA.
– Abaca can be sustainably farmed and is sourced for and per TUV certification standards.
– Abaca îs salt water and rot resistant unlike conifer sourced products.
– Abaca is made up of about 60% cellulose, 21% hemicellulose, 12-16% lignin, and 1% pectin
We explored bamboo and overall sustainability and environment impact is difficult to find certification for as well as known environmental damage from common international farming practices.
– There is no chemical bleaching of the product
– 200 micron filtration equivalent (organic fibers are expected to expand and slightly increase filtration level. We have not found consistent measurements of pore size reduction yet anecdotal findings indicate a slight increase in effective filtration during time cycling through a roller filter.)
– Last and most importantly; this product does NOT introduce plastics and plastic by-products not limited to micro and nano-plastics found worldwide in coral tissue samples. While evidence of impact of micro and nano-plastics is known to cause irregular growth and influence epigenetic expression in human brain tissue https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/2/496), lager impacts across coral reef ecosystems is highly likely and under study by several organizations.
Per NIH https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9023018/#:~:text=Responses%20seen%20in%20corals%20include,effects%20on%20health%20and%20fecundity.; Responses seen in corals include increased mucus production, reduced feeding rates and increased particle handling [79]. Overall, these responses are energetically costly to the corals, and may lead to reduced energy budget and have subsequent effects on health and fecundity.”
Image of the material
I have stumbled across a decent amount of literature on the effect of microplastics on corals in the past. Thus, it’s interesting to me that a company has finally taken up the marketing niche of being plastic-free. While the introduction of microplastics in marine aquaria at this point is likely inevitable due to how many different products contain plastics (nearly every piece of equipment), offering alternatives is a step in the right direction to begin decreasing the amount of plastics introduced to a system.
I am also curious if the chosen materials could leach any organic carbon sources into the system. Once the lab is up at the studio, I have some plans for testing how inert this product is.
Overall, this type of innovation is extremely welcome in the industry and represents a quantum leap towards sustainable consumables—a problem few, if any, have taken steps to solve.
If you’re interested in purchasing this product you can do so here.
