How long for Bio-Max rings?

[Dub-Dub]

I've have a Fluval 204, and am using their BioRings in my filter... It seems though that I have lots and lots of little white specks in my water. Wondering if it might be the bio-rings breaking down.

Any other ideas. The water has a cloudy look... hazy almost (when looking the long way (29g)).

[Blinky]

The hazy water sounds like it could be a bacterial bloom - these are pretty common, especially in newly set up tanks. They often resolve on their own as things balance out. If the water has noticable pieces of waste etc. floating around, some fine floss in the filter should catch it and clear the water.

[Dub-Dub]

Still have the haze, but now I seem to have black specks in the water.

What is a good interval to change the charcoal bags and biorings... just in terms of a good schedule.

I used to have really clear water, but for the past month it has been hazy... thinking I need a better routine.

[falcon]

You don't really need to replace bio rings unless you see ring deterioration or might be getting constant spikes in nitrate indicating that biological filtration is not working properly.

Charcoal bags - not too many people use chemical fitltration on continous basis as there is no need for it.

[anonapersona]

If you see solids in the water, you need to clean the canister. You may also need to clean the tubing. Canister filter tubing needs to be cleaned about every 3 to 6 months. You can push to 6 months if you flush the tubes as you do a water change.

To flush the lines, while you are draining the tank and cleaning the filter, put both tubes into a large bucket and open the valves to shoot water into the bucket. The high flow should peel a bunch of bio-slime (bacteria) off the inside of the tubes. Throw that bucket out, then get another bucketfull this way that ought to be rather clean, use this water to wash the filter media.

Eventually you will have to disconnect the entire setup and take the tubes out into the yard to shoot water through them, and at least annually you will have to take the entire thing apart, get the hose off, all end caps and fittings, then run a hose cleaner brush through the whole thing. A very messy job.

Just blowing the lines out during a water change will help a lot, pay particular attention to the return line, as slime that breaks off there will go straight to the tank. If you ever clean the filter and upon startup it blows a cloud of mess into the tank, then your return hose is nasty. If you flush the line, that mess goes into the bucket, not the tank.

[anonapersona]

Those ceramic rings are nearly forever, that's not it. I only have this problem on planted tanks, where plant bits get into the filter from too-low intakes. Intakes probably should not rest on the gravel like I have them.

Otherwise, you may be getting too much food sucked into the filter. Try turning off power when feeding. I leave the cabinet door open whenever main power is off, so I know to turn it back on!

[Blinky]

If you see solids in the water, you need to clean the canister. You may also need to clean the tubing. Canister filter tubing needs to be cleaned about every 3 to 6 months. You can push to 6 months if you flush the tubes as you do a water change.

Eventually you will have to disconnect the entire setup and take the tubes out into the yard to shoot water through them, and at least annually you will have to take the entire thing apart, get the hose off, all end caps and fittings, then run a hose cleaner brush through the whole thing. A very messy job.
I did this today - there were teeny bits floating around my tank that the filter didn't seem to be clearning out, and I thought of this post. I had cleaned out the canister several times, but the bits didn't go away. Today I took the filter tubing off the tank, and took it apart to clean it out - holy COW those hoses get dirty! I can't believe the amount of gunk I pulled out of the hoses with the brush; it was in all the tubing, the intake, the outflow and the spraybar.

Dub-dub, if the problem remains and you haven't tried cleaning out the hoses yet, I would try that. I thought my hoses looked fairly clean from the outside (they're clear), but I was wrong. It can't hurt, and it might solve the problem :)

[Dub-Dub]

Nice. I will add that to my list. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Dub-Dub]

So, upon the recomendation of my LFS, I replaced the charcoal bags in my filter, which were about 3 months old, with carbon sponge looking material.

Voila! Under a day later water sparkling again... so building off the "you don't have to use charcoal" thoughts/threads, does this mean I should... or is it just treating another problem that I have not identified?

Was kind murkey with a white-ish haze...

[Karnaaj]

Carbon works great for removing meds from the water after a course of treatment. Other than that they are a great way to make the owner of your lfs wealthy. They will tell you to replace the carbon frequently because they make so much money off of it. In a planted tank it can actually remove the ferts you are adding before the plants can get to them. Carbons lifespan in a filter can be measured in days and saturated carbon can leach toxins back into the water if your not careful. I have a Fluval 404 on my 65g and i just use filter floss in the baskets intended for carbon. Using floss by the way is an excellent way to polish your water.

[Dr_Woo]

What's filter floss?

[Harlock]

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this is a long post: Filter Floss (http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=24661;category_id=1965;pcid 1=;pcid2=).

[Dub-Dub]

So are you saying you think the haze was removed simply by the mechanical filtration that the carbon sponge offered... not by any inate quality of the cabon itself?

Not chalenging, just looking for clarification....

about a month has passed and still clear water... thankfully.