{"id":53394,"date":"2025-01-28T14:32:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aquarium\/gaia-reef-changes-the-game-by-offering-biodegradable-filter-roller-mats-reef-builders\/"},"modified":"2025-01-28T14:32:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:32:00","slug":"gaia-reef-changes-the-game-by-offering-biodegradable-filter-roller-mats-reef-builders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394","title":{"rendered":"Gaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Gaia Reef recently came to market. The first biodegradable filter roller mat. As of now it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaterial Detail:<\/p>\n

\u2013 1:1 replacement of common 200 micron equivalent filter fleece.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Meets\u00a0EN 13432 standard on material compostability<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0TUV<\/a>\u00a0Certified material<\/p>\n

\u2013 Four-star OK Bio-based certification demonstrating highest percentage of renewable raw materials<\/p>\n

\u2013 Disintegration process occurs in 10 weeks (into compostable material level break-down). \u00a0In-situ reef system testing has revealed degradation in structural integrity in approximately five days. \u00a0The material should not remain stationary in a roller filter for more than five days. \u00a0Any tearing is easily remedied by manual resection and re-feeding into mat collection spool. \u00a0(I discovered this myself in testing due to an ATO failure leading to overflow of the roller filter.)<\/p>\n

\u2013 A finishing binder is made from\u00a0PLA biopolymer derived entirely from the sugar extracts of annually grown plants (corn). \u00a0The PLA meets the food contact requirements for the hot beverage industry and is compostable according to the EN13432 standard. \u00a0Further 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\u00a0bacteria might utilize these food sources.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0Mixture of abaca fibers, cellulose and PLA. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2013 Abaca can be sustainably farmed and is sourced for and per TUV certification standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0Abaca \u00ees salt water and rot resistant unlike conifer sourced products. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0Abaca is made up of about 60% cellulose, 21% hemicellulose, 12-16% lignin, and 1% pectin<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2013 There is no chemical bleaching of the product<\/p>\n

\u2013 200 micron filtration equivalent (organic fibers are expected to expand and slightly increase filtration level. \u00a0We 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.)<\/p>\n

\u2013 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. \u00a0While evidence of impact of micro and nano-plastics is known to cause irregular growth and influence epigenetic expression in human brain tissue \u00a0https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-4991\/11\/2\/496<\/a>), lager impacts across coral reef ecosystems is highly likely and under study by several organizations.<\/p>\n

Per NIH\u00a0https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC9023018\/#:~:text=Responses%20seen%20in%20corals%20include,effects%20on%20health%20and%20fecundity.<\/a>;\u00a0Responses seen in corals include\u00a0increased mucus production, reduced feeding rates and increased particle handling\u00a0[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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Image of the material<\/p>\n

I have stumbled across a decent amount of literature on the effect of microplastics on corals in the past. Thus, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Overall, this type of innovation is extremely welcome in the industry and represents a quantum leap towards sustainable consumables\u2014a problem few, if any, have taken steps to solve.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in purchasing this product you can do so here. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gaia Reef recently came to market. The first biodegradable filter roller mat. As of now it\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12040],"tags":[9179,10323,9981,31032,1256,6545,5831,14531,1294],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-53394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquarium","tag-biodegradable","tag-builders","tag-filter","tag-gaia","tag-game","tag-mats","tag-offering","tag-reef","tag-roller"],"yoast_head":"\nGaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gaia Reef recently came to market. The first biodegradable filter roller mat. As of now it\u2019s 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 […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-28T14:32:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-27-235028.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Gaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-28T14:32:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394\"},\"wordCount\":717,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-27-235028.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Biodegradable\",\"Builders\",\"Filter\",\"Gaia\",\"Game\",\"Mats\",\"Offering\",\"Reef\",\"Roller\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Aquarium\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394\",\"name\":\"Gaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-27-235028.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-28T14:32:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-27-235028.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-27-235028.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1365},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Gaia Reef recently came to market. The first biodegradable filter roller mat. As of now it\u2019s 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 […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-01-28T14:32:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1365,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-27-235028.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Gaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders","datePublished":"2025-01-28T14:32:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394"},"wordCount":717,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-27-235028.jpg","keywords":["Biodegradable","Builders","Filter","Gaia","Game","Mats","Offering","Reef","Roller"],"articleSection":["Aquarium"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394","name":"Gaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-27-235028.jpg","datePublished":"2025-01-28T14:32:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-27-235028.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-27-235028.jpg","width":2048,"height":1365},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=53394#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gaia Reef Changes The Game By Offering Biodegradable Filter Roller Mats | Reef Builders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53394"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=53394"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=53394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}