Marine Pure BioFilter Media cleaning?

[PapaBear941]

Hello,

Wanted to check in and see if others who use the Marine Pure products, do you clean the media, and how often do you? I have the 1.5" spheres running in the 2nd chamber of my Fluval 13.5, the tank has been up for about a year, but has only had corals in it since August. From February-August it just had sand and rock in it, no livestock, so there wasnt much of a bioload on the tank during that time. Just wondering if anybody rinses theirs or what to look for in the tank when maybe you should? Thanks in advance.

 

[tpirovol]

Following

 

[PapaBear941]

Any opinions...

 

[pecan2phat]

If your running any type of pre filter before the media, you should not need to clean the media too often maybe a few times a year if you find a lot of sludge adhered to the media.
If you do need to clean the media, probably the best way is when you perform a water change and use that water to dunk the media and aggressively swirl in the old saltwater and that's it or you will kill the bacteria.

 

[beehive124]

I never ever rinse media. IMO I think it's best to have the most bacteria possible to wipe out the nasties (ammonia + nitrites)

 

[PapaBear941]

If your running any type of pre filter before the media, you should not need to clean the media too often maybe a few times a year if you find a lot of sludge adhered to the media.
If you do need to clean the media, probably the best way is when you perform a water change and use that water to dunk the media and aggressively swirl in the old saltwater and that's it or you will kill the bacteria.

Thats what I ended up doing about 2 weeks ago. In all I had 6 of the 1.5" spheres in the bottom part of my chamber 2 media basket.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes, rinse Marine Pure spheres in tank water every few months to remove detritus, but don’t over-clean to preserve beneficial bacteria. Clean if you notice reduced flow, detritus buildup, or rising nitrates. If everything looks fine, no need to clean yet.

What do you think would happen if you just didn't return them at all?