2 filter media questions
- Thread starter kwantz
- Start date
The frequency of media change will depend upon the individual conditions within your tank. Specifically, the number and size of fish, frequency of feeding, etc. However, for the sake of discussion, I run two Rena XP3s on a well stocked 150 gallon Dat tank and disassemble and clean the filters approx. every month. Sometimes I let them go for 6 weeks. I abandoned carbon about two years ago and have never looked back. I use coarse/medium/fine mechanical pad filtration followed by biological filtration media, consisting of Efhisubstrat Pro. 1/3 of the internal filter volume is devoted to mechanical media and 2/3 to biological media.
Like brianp said it goes by individual tanks and filters.
Use only used tank water to clean the media (it contains ammonia and nutrients necessary to keep the bacteria alive while the filter is down).
But you only clean/change mechanical filter media, never the Bio-material (you can gently rinse the bio-material if it gets excessively dirty, but the pre-filter should have caught that).
Sponges, scrubbies & bio-balls are bio-material and the latter two should always have pre-filters before them.
Resins are done according to manufacturers spec.s if you want to stay out of trouble.
Charcoal 2 wks to 2 mo.
Dr Joe
.
Use only used tank water to clean the media (it contains ammonia and nutrients necessary to keep the bacteria alive while the filter is down).
But you only clean/change mechanical filter media, never the Bio-material (you can gently rinse the bio-material if it gets excessively dirty, but the pre-filter should have caught that).
Sponges, scrubbies & bio-balls are bio-material and the latter two should always have pre-filters before them.
Resins are done according to manufacturers spec.s if you want to stay out of trouble.
Charcoal 2 wks to 2 mo.
Dr Joe
.