Reusing bio media

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T

tcarswell

Polypterus
MFK Member
Dec 6, 2008
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Main question If I boil or do something to used but mostly dried fluval bio max could I reuse it to near its full original potential?

Backstory

I got a fluval 404 from a guy with an aquarium it was setup but I had to drive several hours and because I am meticulous about cross contamination I dumped most of the water out. The bio media still looked fairly white. I plan on running two trays of bio (he had one) If I boiled and rinsed the fluval bio max could I reuse it? Either way it wont be used until im done with this perfectly good tank I have turned into a "project" lol
 
it will be 100%
 
no it was not the 80 on craigslist what made you think that? Just out of curiosity :P I figure your from the more local Dublin than Ireland lol Thanks for the reply I will keep all the stuff :) Boil it soak it rinse it soak it rinse it. Two trays of bio is always better than one right :)
 
tcarswell;2961435; said:
no it was not the 80 on craigslist what made you think that? Just out of curiosity :P I figure your from the more local Dublin than Ireland lol Thanks for the reply I will keep all the stuff :) Boil it soak it rinse it soak it rinse it. Two trays of bio is always better than one right :)
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lol, cuz there was a tank with fluval for hella cheap i tried to get but he never replied, and if i remeber correctly it was 80. lol in for pics though
 
i just rince it well under cold tap water... never had a problem...
 
Even if it's not up to 100%, it'd be pretty darn close. I would reuse it and not worry about it.

This is only my opinion for a scientifically proven fact, but personally I think all of the new ceramic/sintered glass/whatever medias are way overkill for what we actually need for biological filtration. My father ran aquariums for years with only that little black scrubby type thing that used to come in the old Tetra HOB filters for biological filtration, and he never had a problem. To me. . . I compare that to medias specifically designed to hold SO much more bacteria than those little sponge/scrubbies, and I think- These medias are designed to exponentially much more, yet we still use exponentially more media. . . Is that really necessary? It's great, because it makes it so you can remove some of the media at a time to clean, and there's plenty of stuff left over to keep the cycle going, but don't forget you also have all the gravel & every bit of decoration in your tank holding BB also. So, the more the better, and the more effective the better, but even if that biomax lost 20% or of its usability (and I'm thinking the most you'd lose is 1-2% by having clogged openings and/or crushed openings from cleaning it), I expect you'd never notice the difference. From what I've seen and experienced myself, that's one of the great things about all these new medias.
 
Great post rnocera. Thanks everyone it shall be used :)
 
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