Biomax ceramic rings

[KINGMED]

I was wondering if there are any cheaper way of buying these for the AC Filters besides going through petsmart and petco on line, perferrably in bulk or something else similar that will do the same thing? I just put my other AC110 on my 55 gallon tank so that bacteria will seed, my 55 gal. has now 2 filters on the tank. I was also curious if when I change out the charcoal in the other AC 110 if I can replace the charcoal with the ceramic rings for better filtration, I also saw the AquaClear Ammonia Remover Filter Inserts and wondered if this may even help more. One other question to ask, can I put an AC 110 with the AC 50 on my filtered 29 gallon tank to help remove some of the tannis in the water or would this hurt the fish due to much filtration and water movement?

[labnjab]

I'm no expert and others will offer more help, but from what I've learned you can't have to much filtration, its better to have more. My 55 has enough filtration for a 160 gallon tank and my 30 has enough for a 100 gallon tank. As far as ceramic rings, I bought them at my lfs for around $10 a box.

[PUNISHER VETTE]

Just do water changes to get rid of the tannins.

carbon just eliminates some of the odor and doesn't filter all that much so the bio rings will probably be better.

Although i bought them for my FX5 filter i've been reading that some people buy those scrubby pads you use on dishes and put a bunch of those in the filter. Plenty of surface area for bacteria to grow and provides some filtration.

[PUNISHER VETTE]

Here's a picture of what i'm talking about

http://www.wernersponds.com/scrubbies.jpg

[KINGMED]

Here's a picture of what i'm talking about

http://www.wernersponds.com/scrubbies.jpg
wouldn't these have soap or other type of detergent stuff on them to harm fish? I guess if others have used them in there tank I suppose not.

[labnjab]

If their brand new they shouldn't have anything on them, unless the packaging says other wise.

[bushwhacker]

just to be safe i'd drop em in a pot of boiling water for a few min then a weak bleach bath and rinse em real good

[Mvjnz]

Personally I would replace carbon/charcoal with a coarse foam sponge, rather than ceramic noodles. The sponge will provide extra room for bacteria to grow, while the noodles will just distribute the water differently in the filter, which doesn't really do much if your filter is already working the way it's supposed to.

[Ty]

I have those scrubbers in my filter, But I have no idea if they are working, lol.

[Lady Hobbs]

The biomax should never need replacing. You just rinse them off in tank water but they can be bought in boxes and you buy the bags. Since they never need replacing, it's just as easy to buy them bagged up or save some onion bags to put them in.

I have removed all my bio-wheels and use a bag of these in all my filters.

I'd scrap those scrubbie pads. Since they are only plastic, there's nothing there for the bacteria to adhere to. They are a chunk of plastic. No boiling or bleaching is necessary IF you use them and boiling may even melt them.

[Commodore 64]

No boiling or bleaching is necessary IF you use them and boiling may even melt them.

Minor nitpick , the melting point of nylon is 150C and water boils at 100C so you can't melt a scrubbie in boiling water. You could however, melt the scrubbie on the bottom of the pan.

[Lady Hobbs]

OK. I wasn't sure but thought it might be a possiblity. Thanks.