bio balls in HOB

[tropicfishman]

hey guys iu was thinking do you think its better to put a media such as bio balls before or after the cartridge in a HOB type filter or would it matter, I only have 3, two of them are really covered in bacteria you can see brownish stuff all over it and the other is new, I know alot people think having only 3 won't make much of a difference but i still like em lo lso anyways, what your thoughts

 

[rich311k]

Bio media should go in the bottom of the chamber on a HOB at least that is what I do.

 

[Japola44]

I have always been told to put bio media at the top so its the last thing the water touches before it back in the tank.

 

[rich311k]

That is correct. I could have it backwards been a while since I used an HOB. The bio media is last in my cannister.

 

[tropicfishman]

cool mines behind the media as the water exits, they just stay about halfway down, I figured that was the best way

 

[Lonewolfblue]

My HOB's, the water goes through the filter pad first, then through the filter media. That way all the gunk from the tank don't clog up all the ceramic rings, etc.

 

[tropicfishman]

the 2 bio balls I traded i had that were new i traded to a buddy for 2 that were about 3 years old and they have this blackish brown stuff on them , i washed them lightly in water and it won't go away i presume this is the bacteria growing

 

[Lonewolfblue]

yes...

 

[TomK2]

Biomedia always after some form of pre-filter. Keeps them cleaner and functioning better. Therefore, if they are last in line, they get exposed to the least amount of clogging debris. In my canisters I have prefilter sponge, then coarse filter ceraminc noodles, then filter floss for fine mechanical, then two baskets of ceramic biomedia. When I do maintenance, the biomedia just looks like new media that is wet.