quack Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 someone was telling me the other day that scoria rock is really good for bio media and its really cheap, like $5 for a bag from a garden shop how would this work compered to noddles and other products thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 yes i've read that on line as well but it mite have trace of heavy metals. i use small bits of pumice as its just as cheap. i would think that bio balls and ceramic noodles would still be the best stuff to use as thats what they are designed for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 I use ceramic bio rings. The store told me never to replace these & if I want to clean them I should only rinse them inside the tank & not in a sink as this washes the bacteria off. Is this good advise? anyone know for sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 I use ceramic bio rings. The store told me never to replace these & if I want to clean them I should only rinse them inside the tank & not in a sink as this washes the bacteria off. Is this good advise? anyone know for sure? You can give them a quick rinse, but certainly don't wash them. I've heard tank water recommended before, but must admit I just use tapwater quickly before hooking it back up, just because of convineince reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi_man Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 you are meant to use tank water because the tap water many have chlorine in it that will kill the bacteria? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quack Posted July 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 yeah thats what i thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowndsie Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 ive been rinsing the sponge of my internal fluval with tap water for years with no ill effect... thats in my amazon biotope tank. I've heard the arguement that there's enough "good" bacteria on the inside of the tank (gravel, glass and ornaments) to support a tank if its not over stocked. But then having said that....I only ever rinse the bio balls in my cannisters with the tanks old water!!! dont know why I do that... guess i just like contradicting myself.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 ive been rinsing the sponge of my internal fluval with tap water for years with no ill effect... thats in my amazon biotope tank. I've heard the arguement that there's enough "good" bacteria on the inside of the tank (gravel, glass and ornaments) to support a tank if its not over stocked. But then having said that....I only ever rinse the bio balls in my cannisters with the tanks old water!!! dont know why I do that... guess i just like contradicting myself.. The sponge filter is a mechanical filter not biological so washing it does don't as much harm. It does of course have some bacteria on it but its not its primary function. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowndsie Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 The sponge filter is a mechanical filter not biological so washing it does don't as much harm. It does of course have some bacteria on it but its not its primary function. so if tanks can run off an internal filter with no problems and little bacterial benefit, would it be fair to say that rinsing bio media in tap water would also have little negative impact? Just curious myself.... I only shake the bio media in tank water so its no extra effort for me and I have nothing to loose by doing it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 The main concern with tap water is very hot or very cold water wil kill any bacteria in the media and so will chlorine in the water (if your water supply has chlorine in it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi_man Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 if you have another filter running on the tank then you can rinse one filter's media in tap water at one time, i have done this before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi_man Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 if you have another filter running on the tank then you can rinse one filter's media in tap water at one time, i have done this before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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