Double checking my media choices before starting cycle

I'm almost ready to start cycling a new 55 gallon tank. I'll be running (2) AquaClear70 HOBs and would like some advice on my media selection before I start the cycle.

AquaClear recommends I place their foam filter on the bottom, their carbon in the middle, followed by their BioMax ceramic rings on the top. In one of the filters, I'm thinking of replacing the carbon with a bag of Purigen. In the 2nd filter, I was thinking of replacing the carbon with a 2nd bag of the BioMax, giving me a total of 3 bags of bio-media for the tank (1 bag in one filter and 2 bags in the other).

Does this sound like a good plan?

In a fishless cycle, would it be better to leave the Purigen out during the cycle or is it ok to put it in?

Will a 100ml bag of Purigen fit in the AquaClear70?

Is there a reason to add 100-micron polishing pads or poly fill (filter floss) anywhere?

In addition to the extra filtration, I'm running two filters so I can rotate my replacements (never taking out too much BB). I know AquaClear is in the business of making money and would love for me to change my inserts as often as possible. Can someone tell me if their recommended replacement schedule is excessive or about right?
1. Foam Filter - replace every two months? How often should it just be rinsed in aquarium water and put back in? Weekly at each water change?
2. BioMax ceramic rings - every 3 months? Seems like this might be excessive if that's where most of the BB resides. Would adding a 100-micron pad just below the BioMax in the filter keep this layer cleaner for longer allowing my to lengthen the replacement schedule? For simplicity, I guess if I have 3 bags of BioMax going at the same time, I could replace 1 every month, which would always leave me with 2 fully seeded bags with BB.
3. Purigen - I'll just keep an eye out for the color change but Seachem says that 100ml bag treats up to 100 gallon for up to 6 months.

 

Sounds like a good plan. A 100 ml bag of Purigen should fit fine in an AquaClear 70. The foam should last quite a while depending on the demands of the fish. BioMax should last even longer than the pad. Both should be cleaned (depending on the camp, in fresh treated water or old aquarium water) on a regular basis. Don't clean too thoroughly to prevent removing beneficial bacteria. Purigen can be recharged using bleach so I'm not sure if/when to replace it.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks. Do you happen to know if matters whether Purigen is in or out of the tank during a fishless cycle? Seems like I'd want it in there as another surface for BB, but if it's going to be counterproductive by initially reducing my ammonia levels, maybe I should leave it out. I guess if I'm dosing ammonia, the Purigen won't be able to keep up anyway. Does Purigen actually remove ammonia or just the organics that produce ammonia?

 

Purigen does not directly reduce ammonia, Nitrite, or Nitrate. It removes organics which eventually become those.

I wouldn't put it in while cycling. There's no real reason to. If you have already gotten it wet, however, it has to be stored wet. (You can stick it in a bag of water.) Otherwise it damages it.

And yes, your media choices sound fine. The sponge does not need replacing until it falls apart. The BioMax media should not need replacing at all. They just want to sell you more products.

I would recommending rinsing the BioMax media with each filter cleaning. The way the AquaClears are designed, the filter basket has an overflow so water can flow back into the first chamber, and be refiltered, in theory. The idea is at slower flow-rates, it will clean the water better. However, lots of water bypasses filtering altogether and goes right out the output, i.e. right over the BioMax media. When I clean my filter elements, I find a ton of crud that would have been filtered out had it gone thru the filters first. I rinse mine in clean, treated water.

There is a modification for AquaClears which block this overflow vent, and force the water to be filtered.

My AquaClear 20 filters are the following, AquaClear sponge, polyfill batting/fiber (depending on what I have in there at the time), media bag with carbon, Purigen pouch, bioframe sponge from my Tetra Whisper 20 folded over (to provide additional biomedia space, and an extra filter if I need one for a new tank) and the BioMax media.

Yes, it all fits in an AquaClear 20.

 

Nope, the Purigen isn't wet yet so I'll keep that out during the cycle.

How often do you rinse your media/filter? Every other water change?

My AquaClear 20 filters are the following, AquaClear sponge, polyfill batting/fiber (depending on what I have in there at the time), media bag with carbon, Purigen pouch, bioframe sponge from my Tetra Whisper 20 folded over (to provide additional biomedia space, and an extra filter if I need one for a new tank) and the BioMax media.

What's your reasoning for using both carbon and Purigen?

 

Nope, the Purigen isn't wet yet so I'll keep that out during the cycle.

How often do you rinse your media/filter? Every other water change?




What's your reasoning for using both carbon and Purigen?

With my last filter, I replaced filter cartridges, and put new polyfill and carbon in each time (the biofilter was a separate sponge on a frame), once a month. With the new one, it's once per month, unless I see the water output decrease too much (meaning the filter is clogged.) With the new one, I rinse the sponge, replace the polyfill batting/fiber (the batting seems to be much finer, and gets NASTY after a month, it's unlikely it doesn't affect the water flow, and I have a huge bag of both, so no point in not replacing it), replace the carbon, and rinse my Purigen pouch and biomedia.

I cleaned them the other day, but didn't replace the carbon, when I replaced the carbon a few days later, I went ahead and cleaned the rest again, too.

Carbon and Purigen both have strengths and weaknesses. Purigen mostly gets organic waste out. It gets other things, too, but there are some things carbon removes that Purigen doesn't. Carbon supposedly removes metals, but Purigen doesn't. I think carbon is stronger on chemical removal than Purigen. It will also increase the life of the Purigen between regeneration (Seachem says this themselves.)