Two Questions

[Bit.Fishy]

Hey all.
Now...I bought myself a new external filter the other day,a Tetratec EX1200,it has a spray bar and i have both taps on intake and outlet tubes fully open and my tank is just a mass of tiny bubbles lol,I know to adjust the taps to slow the flow rate down but my question is: do i have to adjust both the taps? i.e if i turn the outlet tap down to ease the spray bar should i also turn down the intake too?

other thing is i left the bags of activated carbon media out of the filter and i am replacing it with another media. i currently have a basket of ceramic rings,with a big black sponge on top,basket of those plastic balls,and 2 baskets with just sponge...i bought some fluval (biomax?) media today thinking they were ceramic rings but on opening the box it seems they are made of a crumbly substance,sort of like compacted washing powder. are these any good? it says on the box that they help to eat ammonia and nitrates, can i use these while im in my fishless cycle stage?

thanks for your help

 

[OldMan47]

If you want to throttle the flow from any pump, it is best to use the outlet when you have a choice. You just need to be aware that the water cools the impeller bearings so you need enough flow that it runs cool. I try to never cut my flow by more than half for that reason.
The biomax needs a good rinse before you put it into the filter and will need something to keep any small particles getting into your impeller. I have some of that for my filters that I just haven't used yet but it looks to be a decent biological media. The porous nature of the chunks gives more surface area for the bacteria to grow on. I think the ring shaped media is efimech or something like that. Who knows where these names come from?

 

[backtotropical]

This is taken from the Fluval website

Fluval BioMax ceramic rings have a complex pore system where beneficial bacteria can thrive. With more capacity than most biological filter media, BioMax helps reduce ammonia and nitrite. Plus, the rings allow ideal water movement throughout the media, to ensure optimal contact time for efficient biological filtration. Replace BioMax every 3 months. For freshwater and marine environments.

IMPORTANT: Replenish only half at one time to allow proper seeding from older media to new.

Although it appears from the text to have magical powers to remove ammonia and nitrite, I think they are inferring that it helps by having more capacity for bacteria, rather than chemically removing the toxins. Cleverly worded though, almost makes you think it does something which it actually doesn't.........

The reason for my post however is to say please don't replace 1/2 the biomax every 3 months. It is unnecessary expense and effort and will possibly cause ammonia spikes in your tank. Unfortunately lots of manufacturers recommend the practice of replacing the media at regular intervals, when it actually does more harm than good.

Keep an eye on the biomax and if it starts to fall apart or anything, by all means replace it slowly, 1/4 of the media every month, but if it doesn't fall apart or become irreversably clogged, don't replace it at all. I expect that it will last somewhere closer to 3 years than 3 months.

Hope that makes sense.

BTT