Filter media

[jamesfoad]

I was wondering if there is a type of filter media where you put it a certain amount and you can keep adding a little more everytime you take it out so that way you always have colonized filter media.

 

[Mebbid]

There are plenty of types of media that you can do this with. Plastic pot scrubbers are the cheapest option (this is what I've started to use). Then there's bio balls, ceramic rings, pumice, gravel, filter floss, just about anything really. You could even cut pieces of filter pads up and stick them in a filter media bag if you wanted.

That being said, there really isn't any reason to be regularly changing your filter media. The only time you should be changing it is when the filter pad you have is literally disintegrating. I finally had to change mine for the first time after 9 months.

 

[wildroseofky]

+1 with Mebbid. You never change your filter media until it just falls apart. I changed mine for the first time after a year of use. Just take the filter pad or whatever you use out and give it a good rinsing out in a bucket of treated water or old tank water. You can beat sponges over the side of the bucket to get the gunk out. I have never changed my bio rings in two years. Every time you change your filter media, your tank has to rebuild the bacteria and it causes a mini cycle.