Fish Fan..... Please excuse my ignorance, I am a newbe... But you said while cycling my new tank to "leave all that filter media out, (except for the biomedia). What exactly is the biomedia? Can you be very specific for me please? Should the biomedia be placed in the in tank sump? Or added directly to the tank water? I want to get this right... Please say "buy this brand of biomedia" and "add it to the tank water" or "place it in the in tank sump" Thank you.
The biomedia I was referring to is the ceramic rings you said were included with your tank. They are an example of biomedia, as are things like plastic bio balls or I literally use plastic pot scrubbies from the dollar store. These are called "bio" media because the beneficial bacteria that process ammonia can grow on these biomedias. These would go in your sump. You don't really *need* the biomedia because in reef tanks your rocks and sand also allow bacteria to grow, and the rocks and sand will be your main biofilter for your tank, but if you have the ceramic rings you can add them to your sump.
Next up is chemical medias. These are things like the carbon you have or media like Granular Ferric Oxide or GFO, as an example. These medias are called "chemical media" because there's a chemical reaction with the media and things in the water. These medias remove some dissolved organics, pigments, and coral toxins (carbon) or phosphate (GFO). You have carbon, you can place your carbon in your sump or even in your filter sock, you just want water to flow over the mesh bag. Even more efficient is some type of chemical media reactor that forces the water to flow through the chemical media, unlike just placing a bag of material in the sump or sock. You don't need to go and purchase a reactor, just start with the media in your sock or sump.
The third kind of filter media is mechanical medias like socks, sponges, and filter floss. These work to trap larger particles that are in the water. You want to swap out your sock (maybe have a backup or two) and/or your other mechanical medias every few days to a week or so. You want to physically remove the material that's being trapped by your mechanical media otherwise it's still just decomposing in your system.
Socks are good, but personally I find it annoying to clean them. For that reason, I like to swap the socks out for media cups, and then add filter floss to the cups. Specifically, I like to use Poly-Fil, which is exactly the same as aquarium filter floss, but much cheaper. You can find Poly-Fil at craft stores or the craft section of your local big box store. It's typically used to stuff pillows and things:
https://www.michaels.com/product/the-original-polyfil-premium-fiber-fill-bag-20oz-10509852
All that said, don't worry too much about any of this at this point. Right now you need to get your tank cycled, which can take a few weeks. To cycle your tank, all you really need is water, rocks, sand, and flow, as well as your bottled bacteria (Microbacter7, Dr. Tim's One and Only, Fritz Turbo Start) and an ammonia source (I like Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride, but you could use fish food or a piece of shrimp).
Here's some info about the nitrogen cycle and cycling your tank:
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cont...K17xA_wdt0J_9N2K4WMQ4IkvKTGPcWboaAo9TEALw_wcB
And here's a good write up about saltwater tanks if you're brand new:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/
I hope that helps! Please post back if you still have questions!
