Seeding new bio media

[ThatguyTizzoni]

Hi,

I have an established reef tank in a reef max 250 and would like upgrade my old bio filter media to marine pure. I know you cannot change all the media out at once and have to do it in stages.

So far I have changed 1/8 of the media and am just monitoring the water quality. I was going to wait a month before changing another section out but not sure if I should wait longer.

My current filter media are 1/2 ceramic rings and 1/2 bio balls

My questions are, what percentage of established media can be changed in one shot and how long should I wait till the next change?

 

[OrionGirl]

I'd do half /week, so long as you test and don't see nitrite spikes, along with weekly water changes. The bacteria spread pretty quickly, and so long as you monitor, you can step up the pace.

 

[ThatguyTizzoni]

Sounds good. Thank you!

 

[FreshyFresh]

Agree. If the tank has been setup and healthy for years, you'll have lots of beneficial bacteria all throughout the hard and soft surfaces in the tank. Provided your bio load isn't too huge, you could swap a big portion of the old bio media for new.