Aquaclear Filter Media

[Tim13]

Hey, I just want to know If I take out the carbon and replace it with another sponge will I lose a significant amount of bacteria initially and see an ammonia spike?

Thanks,

Tim

 

[K-Holed]

unless you have a heavily stocked tank, you should be fine. The extra bacteria you will soon gain on the new filter media will far outstrip the initial loss form the carbon.

 

[bitteraspects]

The carbon is not biological media, and unless you are removing meds from the tank, is not necessary.
You're better off replacing it with more biomax pellets, or a combination of filter wool and biomax (or whatever bio-media you already have lying around)

 

[Faythee]

Are you using the Biomax ? If so, that should prevent a mini-cycle. Are you talking about using 2 sponges instead of 1 ? If so.....no problem at all.

 

[bitteraspects]

Also, it depends on the model. I believe the ac50 will still have space for biomedia even with two sponges, while the AC110 does not. 2 sponges will take up the entire basket.
If you're looking to add more mech media, you're better off going with jap mat, filter pads, or filter floss. If you're looking to save a buck, quilt batting is both effective and inexpensive.
If you're looking to add more bio media, you can add more biomax, ceramic rings, or bio balls. And again, if you're looking to save a buck on bio media, plastic scrubbies are your best bet.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree that it might depend on which model of AquaClear and how big the layer of carbon is. While its true that carbon is best at being a chemical media rather than a biomedia, it will indeed be populated by the bacteria and will contribute some percentage of the biomedia capacity. If its obvious that the sponge and/or biomax/ceramics are a much larger percentage of the media volume then the carbon could probably all be removed at once and the mini-spikes while the biomedia caught back up would be too small to measure. If the carbon seems to be 50% or more of the overall media volume however, it might be wise to remove it in two stages with a week in-between. The usual guideline for removing biomedia should roughly follow the same one we use for donating mature media: don't remove more than 1/3 at a time from the donating filter.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Tim13]

Thanks Everyone, its a aquaclear 30 btw

 

[bitteraspects]

I agree that it might depend on which model of AquaClear and how big the layer of carbon is. While its true that carbon is best at being a chemical media rather than a biomedia, it will indeed be populated by the bacteria and will contribute some percentage of the biomedia capacity. If its obvious that the sponge and/or biomax/ceramics are a much larger percentage of the media volume then the carbon could probably all be removed at once and the mini-spikes while the biomedia caught back up would be too small to measure. If the carbon seems to be 50% or more of the overall media volume however, it might be wise to remove it in two stages with a week in-between. The usual guideline for removing biomedia should roughly follow the same one we use for donating mature media: don't remove more than 1/3 at a time from the donating filter.

~~waterdrop~~

Regardless of the model, the carbon makes up 25% of the media volume at most. However at the same time, do to its composition (or rather the composition of the other included media), it makes up maybe 5-10% of the habitable surface area for beneficial bacterial colonies. You will notice no difference in the nitrogen cycle by removing the carbon, even in an established filter.
Though you are absolutely right about removing only 1/3 of the media when dealing with bio-media.