So Does This Biological Media Need To Be Washed?

Take a look at this. This is the third level in my trickle filter. I have 2 lifter pumps pumping water up to the top of the filter, where it goes through polyester fiber and filter floss on the first level, then bio balls and plastic pot scrubbies on the second level, then lava rock and bio rings on the third level, what you see in the picture. I have literally not cleaned the 2nd and 3rd level media since I made the filter, about 2 months ago, slightly more.

You can see the green slime, which used to be more brown (algae?). From MOST of what I've read this kind of stuff can gunk up the bio media, making it harder for bacteria to colonize there/stay colonized there. However, I've seen some indications to the contrary. One example I saw a guy talking about that brown stuff (now green in mine) actually being the beneficial bacteria, or housing them. Like when he would take a filter out of an old tank to cycle a new one, he would want the dirtiest, brownest looking one, as that is likely the one with the most beneficial bacteria.

In any event, I just thought I would confirm that I should wash that gunk off them before I do so, do not want to wash away beneficial bacteria! Thanks!

P.S. very weird to me that this gunk is on the third level, with the bio rings and lava rock, but not really the second level, with the bio balls and pot scrubbies. Is this an indication that the bio rings and lava rock (or one of the two) work better than the bio balls/scrubbies?

Thanks!

 

 

Bio needs to be rinsed so it does not become clogged or a nitrate factory .Rinse it in old tank water in bucket during water change.
Can't say what is what with order you have ,I am the sponge guy .Easiest bio to clean I have found so what I use after decades of rinsing medias..
I would think the accumulation of sludge is due to low flow and dead spots so to speak.The is making it through your mechanicals easier then the bio ,the bio media just doesn't help water flow through . I would think bio and ceramic rings would be most efficient submerged not wet dry ??? Bio balls are meant for wet dry and will become nitrate factories.It should not be in direct enough light to grow algae IMO. Dark is good for media..

 

Looks like algae to me. mulm is brown. The only time I got anything "green" in my filter was some cyanobacteria at the edges of the water surface. It stunk and was because I had light shining into a stagnant pool of water in my sump. Some hydrogen peroxide and removing the source of the light fixed that problem within two days.

 

Do you have any mechanical filtration like floss or sponge?

I rinse my bio with old tank water, but I actually never replace it. It is important to keep it free of mulm though, rinsing it in old tank water would not remove too much beneficial bacteria. The comment about light reaching the media is a very good point. If you keep it dark, you shouldn't have algae growth in the media.

 

Thank you coralbandit, bigdreams and angelcraze! Definitely going to rinse all the bio media. Questions and thoughts:

1. I will definitely paint the clear parts to make it so light can't shine through. Question - should it be darker only to eliminate/minimize algae, or does it being dark also help the beneficial bacteria grow and do their thing?

2. angelcraze, yes, the first level in my trickle filter is polyester fiber on top of filter floss, which is replaced every so often. See picture below. Should I use something that I don't have to throw away, like a sponge, instead of polyester fiber and filter floss, which I throw away pretty often? I figured I would have more than enough other bio media for bacteria to settle on the 2nd and 3rd levels, bio balls, pot scrubbies, lava rock and bio rings. But thinking about it more, it would make sense for the beneficial bacteria to equalize over all the media. So over time maybe 1/5th of the beneficial bacteria will live in the polyester fiber/filter floss. Then when I throw those out there goes 1/5th of my BB. Better to use sponges for this reason?

3. coralbandit, I couldn't quite tell what you are saying - that bio balls/pot scrubbies are better in a submerged filter, while ceramic media and lava rock is better in a trickle filter, or vice versa? Why would one be better in the other and reverse for another one? It would seem to me the greater oxygen would either help or hurt the bacteria, no matter the media. Very interesting!

Thanks!

 

 

I think it's fine to replace the floss, although I just rinse mine most of the time tbh. I believe there is enough BB in the other media and that more BB might set up camp in the bio media designed to house it. Purely my own thoughts, but many aquarists regularly replace floss.