What is ceramic bio media?
Description. The Imagitarium Ceramic Filter Media Rings allow beneficial bacteria that aids in the reduction of algae to thrive. These aquarium water filter rings work in freshwater and saltwater aquariums, maximizing efficiency of sumps, canister filters and power filters.
What are ceramic bio rings used for?
Ceramic rings are biological media that provides a very large surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow and live. This bacteria on your ceramic rings is required to complete the Nitrogen Cycle in your tank, which converts harmful ammonia and nitrite in to the less harmful nitrate.
What is a biological media?
Biological media is anything inert that provides housing for nitrifying bacteria that break down nitrogenous pollutants to a less toxic form. This is a media that should not be replaced unless it has become too clogged to function.
How long does ceramic media last?
Even the manufacturers don’t agree! Fluval, for example, recommends that ceramic rings be swapped out every 6 months. Marineland, another ceramic filter manufacturer, states that the rings should never be replaced.
How effective are bio balls?
Bio balls provide a place for all the good nitrifying bacteria you need in your tank to live. This is why they have grooves and spaces, as this allows more bacteria to cling to the ball, making these more effective compared to simple spheres.
Can I use bio balls and ceramic rings together?
Bio balls should only be used for biological filtration only. They simply exist to trap and remove waste. Ceramic rings will ultimately trap more bad stuff, but your bio balls will ultimately do a better job of denitrifying bacteria.
Which biological media is best?
Let’s move on now, and see what the 5 best bio-media filters are for your aquarium:
- Biohome Ultimate Filter Media. This is the first pick on our list.
- Seachem Matrix Biological Media. This is the second item that’s worth checking out.
- Eheim Substrat Pro.
- Fluval Biomax Filter Media.
- BrightWater Aquatic Bio Media.
How do you clean biological filter media?
Unless biological media is really dirty, you should leave it well alone. However, if you need to clean it, handle it very gently and never deep clean. Rather, you should carefully swish it around in aquarium water until all surface dirt is removed. Do NOT use brushes or sponges to clean biological media.
Do bio balls need to be cleaned?
If you periodically rinse them off and keep them clean, nitrate and bio-balls woes should decrease, as long as this is the sole source of the nitrate problem in the aquarium. Cleaning them requires only 30 minutes or less.
How long do Bio balls take to work?
However, if you’re setting up a new system entirely, then it might take a little longer for bacteria to establish itself and stabilize. Most new aquariums take 3-6 weeks to fully cycle, meaning that the nitrogen cycle can successfully process ammonia into nitrates.