# Cleaning BioMAX?



## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

just swish them around in some old tank water


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## tropicalfish (Mar 29, 2007)

Don't replace them. Just put it in tank water and shake/jiggle it around. Obviously don't do it in your tank, otherwise you'll get it dirty. Do it in your water change tank water, and don't ever wash it with the tap water, the bacteria will die that way.


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## Geobelle (Feb 28, 2004)

I always change half of it after one year. For every 3 months of cleaning, just rinse it with aquarium water.


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## scherzo (Jul 22, 2007)

I guess they are ceramic so they don't really degrade.

I already clean my foam filters by squeezing them out in tank water.....

My the sound of it... most people never replace them.. (except for..Geobelle )

Thanks..

-scherzo


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

I have the same media in one of my eheims that came with it 8 yrs ago. Still performs the same way. Gee, I wonder why they say to replace it?


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

It was obvious to me when I read the instructions what they were about when they said replace it every 3 months. They just are in this hobby for the money. My bio-max is 4 years old and NEVER been replaced. Never will either. Took a long time to grow the bacteria colony. Not givin that up for nothin. As has been said before, just siphon some water into a 5 gal bucket during w/c and drop your bio max in. Swirl it gently to get the major crud off and if it doesn't have any visual crud let'er roll and don't touch it. You can do the same, only a little more vigorous cleaning, with your sponges as they grow huge colonies of BB too.
________
Marijuana vaporizer


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## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

I place media in a large plastic jar half full of water,
I seal the lid and shake vigorously. I repeat this
two or three times until the rinse water goes from
dark silty brown, to a light clear brown. my best
jars are from bulk dry nut purchases at Costco,
but anything big, plastic, with a large lid - will do.
I use this for both ceramic and foam media inserts.


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

Spy, I respect your knowledge of plants and planted tanks. However, if it were my bio media, I would never vigorously rinse them in any way. I've been keeping fish a long time and bio filtration is bio filtration, no matter what kind of tank. A vigorous rinse of bio media WILL kill bacteria, no if ands or buts. Learned all of these lessons the hard way!
________
Paxil Settlement News


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## kzr750r1 (Jun 8, 2004)

He could be using tank water with the jar. Nothing stated he was using tap.


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## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

Tdon1md said:


> A vigorous rinse of bio media WILL kill bacteria, no if ands or buts.


perhaps our definitions of vigorous rinse are different,
but I've been doing it the way I described for nearly
2 years, and my media constantly repopulates with
mulm, and I have never suffered a nitrite problem,
and my water is crystal clear with no UV or polisher.

I even use cold tap water without bothering with declor.
I think people are a getting too paranoid about their mulm,
when it comes to something as basic as filter maintenance.

granted, in the first few Months when a filter is first being
biologically established, you should be gentle and cautious,
but once those tiny beasties are deeply entrenched in your
media's pours, it takes a lot more than a vigorous rinse to
significantly depopulate them.

I replace my media once per year, far less often then
media makers want us to. I wonder why they recommend
more frequent replacement :icon_roll
even then, I only replace half of any one type of media
at a time, so the remaining half stays biologically viable.

BTW, none of what I do is learned from anywhere else,
so I'm sure plenty of experts will disagree with me.
I simply fell into this cycle of maintenance,
and thus far it has served me relatively well.


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

Consider your experience noted Spy. I'm FAR from an expert but we do disagree. No biggy, I'll just continue to do what I know works and DOES NOT kill bacteria. BTW, you actually agreed with me when you said "SIGNIFICANTLY" diminishes bacteria populations. To me, killing any bacteria is not worth the risk. Bottom line, there is no need to kill ANY bacteria cuz a gentle swoosh more then removes enough crud to keep the media clean. And again, I've got 4 year old bio-max still going strong. Looks brand new in shape and size so no wear at all. No need to ever replace them unless they are defective from what I've seen.
________
Washington Medical Marijuana Dispensary


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## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

upon further reflection, it occurred to me that I might be getting away with reducing my mulm count because I always overspec my canister filter. for example I'm using XP3's on 30gal tanks, so even after I rinse away the loose mulm, there is still plenty of biological power left to neutralize my nitrites. perhaps if I had less filter power and media real estate, I would not be able to be so aggressive with my filter maintenance.


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