Aqua Clear
- Thread starter HaWk16
- Start date
i dont really change my media except for the carbon i replace the carbon every 2 months and i have the sponge media that i simply swish in the tank or if it is too grimmy i just rinse it out in a small bowl or bucket with fishy water, i also have the ceramic inserts but those only need a quick swish in the tank water and they are good to go. i have had my tank up for almost a year now and only have changed things once due to my other filter breaking. MEMO! dont let your filter run dry!!! it kills it. i found out the hard way.
I dont use carbon in my tanks unless its specifically to pull a smell or a medication etc out of the water.
The normal filter floss I dont change except maybe once or twice a year. Swish it in water that you took out from a water change to get the big gunk off...NOT in chlorinated water! Dunking it in the tank doesn't do anything except put those chunks back in the water to get sucked into the filter again... I've never felt the need to change my ceramic cylinders...again just rinse once in awhile.
The normal filter floss I dont change except maybe once or twice a year. Swish it in water that you took out from a water change to get the big gunk off...NOT in chlorinated water! Dunking it in the tank doesn't do anything except put those chunks back in the water to get sucked into the filter again... I've never felt the need to change my ceramic cylinders...again just rinse once in awhile.
I use the sponge, filter floss and the noodles. Everything gets dumped into the bucket during water changes, swished/squeezed and replaced back into the filter. When the floss gets nasty looking, I replace it (I get the bag of floss at Walmart in th ecraft section) The sponges and noodles never get replaced. I don't use carbon either but always have some packets of it handy.
What do you think about sponge biological capacity vs. a bag of biomax? I cut my sponge into think pieces because
1. itll have mores surface area 2. itll be easier to clean.
I dont like how it combines mechanical and biological since then its hard to get either done well. Is an extra sponge= to a bag of biomax?
Currently I have a sponge prefilter made of the AC sponge cut in half, then a thin layer of sponge pads, a AC 110 biomax bag, and then a thick layer of floss held down by a smaller bag of biomax.
1. itll have mores surface area 2. itll be easier to clean.
I dont like how it combines mechanical and biological since then its hard to get either done well. Is an extra sponge= to a bag of biomax?
Currently I have a sponge prefilter made of the AC sponge cut in half, then a thin layer of sponge pads, a AC 110 biomax bag, and then a thick layer of floss held down by a smaller bag of biomax.
Turtle, I've asked that same question before. If you believe the manufacturers, the biomax should be much better, but they have a tendancy to exaggerate things...
In either case, I believe the biomax would be better. It is possible to get a lot of surface area out of something if it is designed for it. So, No, I don't thing an extra sponge would give you as much bio capacity as biomax would. In my case, I have biomax and two sponges. A single sponge and two bags of bio would most likely be better, but I'm already well over what I need, so it would be pointless gross overkill
In either case, I believe the biomax would be better. It is possible to get a lot of surface area out of something if it is designed for it. So, No, I don't thing an extra sponge would give you as much bio capacity as biomax would. In my case, I have biomax and two sponges. A single sponge and two bags of bio would most likely be better, but I'm already well over what I need, so it would be pointless gross overkill