"Fluval BioLife filter"

[George&Ade]

Hi.I purchased my tank second hand,and the previous owner included the above filter/heater.When i got it home and looked inside,everything seemed to be ok but when i looked at the instruction booklet,it states that i should be using something called "biomax rings"in the "trickle chamber" instead of the "cotton wool/wadding" that i pulled out.I understand that this is a very important part of the filters operation,so is it imperitive that i use these "biomax rings"?..thank you.

 

[EddieW]

George & Ade,

Biomax rings are a type of media with a large surface area for bacteria. Typically something like a rough ceramic with a very porous surface. This allow many more times the amount of bacteria to live in the media which helps with the biological load on your tank.

There are many types of bio-media like this on the market - to name just a few, in no particular order or preference:
Algarde Biohome Sintered Glass
Bioplast CeraPur Ceramic Filter Medium
Eheim Substrat Pro
Hagen Biomax

They all do much the same job - providing a large surface area for the nitrosoma and nitrobacter bacteria which are vital to the health of your fish.

If your tank has a low bio-load you might be able to get away with the filter wool, but, with the price of bio media being so insignificant compared to the well-being of your fish, I would personnally replace it with the correct type of media.

HTH, Eddie

P.S. Welcome to the forum