Seachem Matrix

[Ian086]

Hi, i was thinking of purchasing some Seachem Matrix. I just wanted some opinion/advice on an idea i had. I was thinking of replace all my bio-media with it. I have a Tetratec EX700 canister filter. It has 4 media trays inside. The usual sponges and plastic bio balls and small ceramic cylinders. Obviously i'll be leaving the sponges in but replacing the rest with Matrix. I will of course do this slowly, so as not to lose my BB. I will mix them in with the existing bio-media bit by bit. Does anyone think this is a good/bad idea..Thanks, Ian

 

[phin]

I removed all the bioballs from my C360 canister filter and filled it will seachem matrix. I had ceramic rings and bioballs, so I kept the rings and replaced bioballs with matrix (all at once).

I recommend it. I've seen a decrease in my nitrate levels since switching, however thats not the only change I did. Matrix will last a lifetime, so its only a one time purchase.

 

[Ian086]

I removed all the bioballs from my C360 canister filter and filled it will seachem matrix. I had ceramic rings and bioballs, so I kept the rings and replaced bioballs with matrix (all at once).

I recommend it. I've seen a decrease in my nitrate levels since switching, however thats not the only change I did. Matrix will last a lifetime, so its only a one time purchase.

Hey, so you kept the ceramic rings, is there a reason why you didn't replace the rings also. You mentioned "thats not the only change I did". What other changes did you make??...Ian

 

[phin]

Hey, so you kept the ceramic rings, is there a reason why you didn't replace the rings also. You mentioned "thats not the only change I did". What other changes did you make??...Ian

I bought 1 L of matrix (which Seachem claims has a biologically available surface area equivalent to 170 L of bioballs). That filled up less than one tray in my canister filter. I added some of the already established rings mixed in that tray to speed up be bacterial colonization of the matrix substrate.

I still had a tray full of ceramic rings so I kept it. If I had the $$ (or could find more matrix around) I would replace the rings with matrix.

At that time I started running 100ml purigen as well as doubling my usage of chemi-pure elite from one bag to two. I replaced all my regular activated carbon with 500ml Seachem Matrix Carbon, which is a spherical carbon, that is supposed to be of higher quality and more efficient.

I also added 1 qt of API ammochips. Since I run my tank overstocked, I'm not worried about retarding my biological filtration by absorbing ammonia and removing it from the biological process. Enough ammonia gets to my biofilter to keep a healthy cycle. The ammo chips are there to absorb the ammonia that doesn't get immediately converted to nitrite. Basically I'm trying to remove what eventually will become nitrate before it gets there.

Most people will tell you not to use ammo chips, and I only use them on this tank because it is so highly stocked. I run no risk of negatively impacting my bio-filter by using only 1qt of chips and have a high bio-load in my tank.

I've been able to bring my nitrates down from 80ppm+ each week with 50% water changes to 20ppm-40ppm nitrates with two 30% water changes each week.