Does BB choke up the filter media(biohome) after it dies?

[Guo89]

Hi all,

this topic might have been discussed before, but I'm not too sure if its the same.

My question is can biohome media be reused? I've left it in my canister that has water in it, but not running. I understand that it will die, but will the dead bodies choke up the filter media?

To be more specific, the bacteria houses. If so, can i reuse them? Do i need to treat them or something?

Appreciate if you guys can help! Cant seem to get this info online.

[aquarius]

The reason why the pores of bio-medias get clogged up is because dirty water passes through the media without first going through proper mechanical filtration to remove the fish waste. All bio-medias can be reused. Just soak the media in hydrogen peroxide solution to de-clog the media and rinse it with clean water after that. You can buy hydrogen peroxide from Unity or Guardian phamacy.

Never leave medias in the canister or any filter without running it cos the bacteria will die off and the water in the canister will smell so bad that you'll want to throw the canister away.

[tetrakid]

I should think you can reuse the media rocks as long as you sterilize them first, eg. with H2O2 soak. My take is that even if the media is of porous material, the porosity itself does little to house beneficial bacteria. This is because beneficial bacteria require a goodly supply of oxygen to thrive and the pores of the porous material are too small to allow good water flow, the water being the oxygen carrier. It is the outer surfaces of the porous rock that is important for the bacteria to cling to, with the benefit of circulating water.

[vinz]

Errr... Actually, my understanding is that the bacteria cling onto the surfaces of the channels in the media. That's why they often advertise how much surface area (which is a lot more than the outside surfaces) they offer for bacteria colonisation. They only need a little (comparatively) O2. They are afterall microscopic size.

Also, read somewhere that they need dark places. Hence outside the media is not an ideal place for them to colonise. Which is probably why Eheim switch from the old white slightly translucent media baskets to dark grey opaque ones.

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[tetrakid]

Lol

Errr... Actually, my understanding is that the bacteria cling onto the surfaces of the channels in the media. That's why they often advertise how much surface area (which is a lot more than the outside surfaces) they offer for bacteria colonisation. They only need a little (comparatively) O2. They are afterall microscopic size.

Also, read somewhere that they need dark places. Hence outside the media is not an ideal place for them to colonise. Which is probably why Eheim switch from the old white slightly translucent media baskets to dark grey opaque ones.

You have a good point there, Vinz.
While it is technically true that porous material do offer much more interior surface area when new, the spaces are easily clogged with dirt buildup after a while, which presents a difficult condition for beneficial bacteria to thrive, thus turning anaerobic in time.. As to the colour of the media itself and the trays, it does not really matter what colour they are, since the inside of a canister is dark anyway.

[vinz]

If it's clogged, better to get new media since they are not providing enough surface area anymore. Overtime, partially remove old media and replace with new media. Whether clogged or not, its easy to tell. Just dunk a bag full in a pail of water and then quickly lift it out. Observe how much water flows out while holding it up. Does not really apply to superfine pore stuff like ceramic rings, though.

As for colour, I was only referring to the media baskets, not the media itself. The Ehiem canister filters have transparent body and used to have white slightly translucent baskets. Light does get in.

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[jyn1989]

do you think we can use bleach to clean the media?

seachem purigen instructions uses regular bleach to renew it.

[tetrakid]

If it's clogged, better to get new media since they are not providing enough surface area anymore. Overtime, partially remove old media and replace with new media. Whether clogged or not, its easy to tell. Just dunk a bag full in a pail of water and then quickly lift it out. Observe how much water flows out while holding it up. Does not really apply to superfine pore stuff like ceramic rings, though.

As for colour, I was only referring to the media baskets, not the media itself. The Ehiem canister filters have transparent body and used to have white slightly translucent baskets. Light does get in.

Yes, clogged pores are a problem and it is a good idea to change to new media when that happens, but I prefer to use ceramic rings instead. I always go for the smallest ceramic rings I can find, as they offer much greater surface area for the same bulk. Ideally, I would use those tiny ceramic rings which are used as wire insulators inside some clothes electric irons. These are really small and are not easily available and understandably very costly too, but are excellent abode for bacteria.

For the translucent canister filters, it is not advisable to use them since light can penetrate in and possibly cause algae growth to block the media crevices too.

[BFG]

I doubt we could remove dead bacteria from the microscopic channels of the ceramic ring thingy . To me , changing to a new batch of media is still better , you'd get a fresh clean batch and the performance would be better than the current ones you have , only thing you need to do is to seed the ceramic media thingy 1st though . Changing the whole filter media might not be so good for the current tank resident .

[tetrakid]

I doubt we could remove dead bacteria from the microscopic channels of the ceramic ring thingy . To me , changing to a new batch of media is still better , you'd get a fresh clean batch and the performance would be better than the current ones you have , only thing you need to do is to seed the ceramic media thingy 1st though . Changing the whole filter media might not be so good for the current tank resident .

Abang is right about dead bacteria & dirt being hard to remove from the microscopic crevices of media. But changing to new media for that reason is rather pointless since the same thing will happen to the new media after a while, especially considering the cost involved.

I would prefer to reuse the existing old media even though the internal pores are clogged with dead bacteria/dirt, since they are 'seasoned'. Forget about the reduced surface area, as it may not affect.performance to a significant extent as thought. Thus, good old ceramic or sintered glass rings are a staple in any filter, as are media with rough outer edges eg. volcano rocks or old biohome.

[Guo89]

Thanks guys for your replies!

My understanding is that, the bacteria that was previously in the media will soon die off, and be washed away. What i did was i pour boiling water over the media and reused it. But at the same time, i got a new packet of media to add on. (just in case..)