biomax

[fishboy87]

How often do you guys replace the biomax in your 405 filters??

 

[mfdrookie516]

never. unless it literally falls apart, which I believe the filter would quit before the ceramic falls apart.

 

[roydooms]

never. unless it literally falls apart, which I believe the filter would quit before the ceramic falls apart.

+1

 

[Fdsh5]

Never have replaced mine yet. Don't plan on it until it falls apart as well.

Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium

 

[Fishguy2727]

The only reason I would replace it is to switch to Seachem Matrix, which has more bioavailable surface area. Other than that just rinse it with tank water whenever you open up the filter (which should be at least once a month).

 

[fishguy1]

You should be opening up a canister more than once a month? What for?

 

[fort384]

I rinse out the mechanical media about every other week, and rinse the rest about every 4-6 weeks.

 

[mfdrookie516]

To clean it! Mine get cleaned every 2 weeks... Otherwise, nitrates build up big time... and potentially ammonia problems if you get a ton of waste in there

 

[Fishguy2727]

At least once a month, as in not every other month or every three or six months or more. Some people actually recommend not opening it until flow is visibly slowed, but the waste building up eventually breaks down eventually creating excessive nitrate concentrations. A filter simply collects the debris for you to remove, if you don't remove it the water quality will suffer.

 

[fishguy1]

Well, I suppose if I didn't have 2 canisters per tank (each one could support the tank) I would have to clean it twice as often.

 

[Fishguy2727]

Not necessarily. Even with many times the filtration you need, they all need to be cleaned at least monthly. Whether it is one or five filters, barely enough filtration or 10x what you need, the waste breaks down in the filter. Without removing it the water quality will go down.

 

[fishguy1]

Maybe the next tank I get will come with a test kit...

 

[fort384]

If you don't have a test kit now you should get one. Testing for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are a requirement for responsible fish keeping... Especially in the beginning stages of a tank.

 

[fishguy1]

No, I don't need a test kit. My tanks are all well established and healthy. From what I've seen, most people with tanks that have been running for years do not test them unless there's a problem. Excellent filtration, large regular water changes, compatible stock and feeding a high quality food are the keys to success....

 

[fort384]

I disagree. How do you know your tank is healthy? If you aren't cleaning out your canister filters regularly, I would wager your nitrates are high, but how would you know?

 

[Fishguy2727]

You at least need a nitrate test kit. Nitrate is usually the only way of determining your water quality. Nitrate generally correlates with all the other bad things that build up (unless you have live plants that remove nitrate but not all the other bad things). Fish can be visibly healthy as ever but if the nitrate concentration is not kept under 20ppm before water changes you are causing harm long term. The results will be subtle things like not doing AS well, not living AS long, not being AS colorful, of this in comparision to how they would have done if the nitrate concentration is kept under 20ppm. Testing your nitrate periodically will tell you if your current water change is truly adequate long term.

 

[fishguy1]

The fish demonstrate great growth and color, behave normally and have never been sick. It's been working well for several years, so I'm going to keep doing what works.

I do clean the mechanical media regularly - just not as frequently as some of you do.

 

[Fishguy2727]

I understand, but what can happen eventually is you get what I call 'old tank syndrome'. This is when a tank did very well for a long time (years) but the water changes weren't enough. Eventually the water quality gets so bad that all of a sudden most or even all of the fish in the tank get sick. It may be one disease or many, but the water quality has gotten so bad that they all get sick at about the same time, usually without hope of recovering them. It can also simply cut years off of their life.

With the possibility of saving your entire tank from crashing (which does happen) for the price of a nitrate test kit it is worth the few bucks.

 

[fishguy1]

Yes, old tank syndrome is something to look out for. I change at least 50% of the water every week - more in the heavier stocked tanks. Every so often I do an 80% change. It's not that I don't think it's important to test the water, I just think it's more important to have a good maintenance routine and to religiously stick to it.

 

[Fishguy2727]

Agreed. If you have that aggressive of a water change schedule then you should be fine. It is more important to have a good water change schedule, but the reason for that is to guarantee high water quality.

Anyone reading this:
Testing nitrate concentration is the way to make sure that the water changes you are doing are actually keeping the water quality high enough. If the nitrate concentration before a water change is 20ppm or less then you water change schedule is adequate.