Bio Max?

I have an aqua clear hanging filter. it came with the carbon, the foam, and this stuff called "biomax". What does "biomax" do?

 

sounds like its just a fancy name for floss haha.

 

I have an aqua clear hanging filter. it came with the carbon, the foam, and this stuff called "biomax". What does "biomax" do?

'Bio-max' is Hagan's name for their ceramic rings that provide a great home for all the bacteria for your bio-filter. While some bacteria will colonize the foam, it'll also get clogged eventually and need to be replaced, losing the bacteria that live in it. The bio-max rings don't get clogged (since they're after the foam in the filter stream), and can be rinsed in aquarium water to clean them off (not tap -- the chlorine in tap water will kill the bacteria). You don't necessarily need to use the carbon all the time, but you should always have the foam and the bio-max in the filter.

 

It's also a great medium to move to another filter to seed it with beneficial bacteria if you need to.
Carol

 

I have read that the carbon is what takes out oders (sp?) discolorations and such. if I take out the carbon, will my water become cloudy and smell? If not, when would I put the carbon in and take it out?

 

There's a lot of debate about whether to use carbon all the time or not here. Some say you should only use it to take meds out of the water, and take it out otherwise. Others say it does no harm to keep it in, so long as you're consistent in changing it every 2-4 weeks so it doesn't start leaching the absorbed toxins back out into the water. I won't get into the long arguments for either position (just search on 'carbon' if you're curious) -- I'll just say that it's a personal choice for now and leave it at that.

 

If you are performing regular tank maintenance (doing regular partial water changes), not having the carbon in your tank should not result in cloudy, smelly water. The decision to use it or not is a personal one. Carbon does pull a lot of disolved pollutants out of the water. The down side is that it can only absorb so much, after which it begins leaking the pollutants it has absorbed back into the water. Therefore, if you choose to use carbon, you need to be diligent about replacing it regularly. Many on the board recommend every 2 weeks, though I generally run mine for a month before changing and have not had any problems. The other potential problem with carbon is that it does not discriminate in what it removes from the water...meaning if you ever find yourself needing to medicate your tank for any reason, the carbon will be leeching the medication out of the water nearly as fast as you put it in and your fish will not benefit from the medicine. Therefore, you would need to remember to remove the carbon before using any medications.

 

Thanks! I am gong to be putting in some ich meds soon (white "saltish" spots on fish) and would have left the carbon in if I hadn't asked! thank you so much!

 

We don't run carbon in our filters and the water is clean and without odor.

Do you have a liquid testing kit? You should test the water at least 24 hours after a partial water change and be sure the ammonia and nitrites are 0. Often those 2 toxins can be the cause of cloudy, smelly water.

How often do you do water changes and what %? We're doing 25-40% weekly and recommend that.

I killed my little blue-eyed Betta, Sora, because I forgot to take carbon out while treating him for parasites back when we ran carbon in our filters. I've not seen any negative changes since we stopped running it all the time, but it's one less thing to worry about on maintenance and less expense. If you do use carbon, I'd recommend the Marineland brand - I think it's the best carbon and keep a container of it for when we need to clear a tank.

The main way to treat Ich is to raise the tank temperature slowly to 82-84F and keep it there for 2 weeks, doing partial water changes and substrate cleanings as often as you feel good, but at least every 3 or 4 days probably. Meds aren't really necessary for treating ich, but there is 1 thing we recommend - a product called "Ich Attack". It's safe for your tank residents and won't harm the good bacteria in your tank.

Thanks! I am gong to be putting in some ich meds soon (white "saltish" spots on fish) and would have left the carbon in if I hadn't asked! thank you so much!

 

right now I have feeder fish in my tank, and was wondering if it would be okay to bring the temp up for them because I have heard that their temp tolerance is in the high 70's max. is this right? if I am to treat ich for these guys, should I do the same thing or different?

 

Same thing -- water to 82°, add aeration because the oxygen levels are lower as the temp goes up.

 

Okay, Thanks!

 

see my post in fish diseases about ick. High temp and aquarium salt. There is a link to an article there.