Aqua Clear Filters

[poopsy]

I,ve got 2 aqua clear AVC800 cannister filters running on a 100 gallon tank. Each one pumps out 800 litres per how. I have 3 medias in there. The first one has biostrate. The second has Bio Balls and the third has Noodles. Can someone please explain to me what each media does and do i need to replace each media and if i have to replace them how often should they be replaced.
Thanks.

 

[TKOS]

Noodles and bioballs are just simply pieces of media with a large surface area, good for growing bacteria on. You should never have to replace them, though you should clean them off with a good rinsing every so often. I am not sure how often though. In my hang on back filters I do it every couple of weeks, but you could probably get away with once a month or so, depending on how much waste flwos through the filters.

 

[oztun]

The bigger media like bioballs and noodles traps bigger particles to keep them from clogging up the smaller media. When you rinse them make sure you don't use tap water if your on the city supply or the chlorine will kill your bacteria.

 

[poopsy]

LFS told me i should replace some of the media around every 1 month. Also I have 3 sponges 1 for each media. should they need replacing or do they just need cleaning aswell.

 

[TONO]

If you replace all of them at once you will get an ammonia spike, unless you have almost nothing in the tank. It's better and cheaper, if you just clean them with de-chlorinated, or old tank water.

 

[TKOS]

Just clean everything out. Since you have more than one filter, clean one at a time and you should be fine. 1 filter the first month, the next the next and so on.

 

[poopsy]

Can someone tell me what the biostrate media does and how do i know if i have carbon filter.