how often should i change filter media?

[ecoman]

I am in the cycling process with a 75 gallon tank, running a magnum 350 convertible canister filter, a seaclone 100, 2 maxi-jet 1200 power heads. I loaded the filter with ammo carb to start with. How often should I change this and should I buy the ammo and carb separate and mix more of one then the other?

 

[ecoman]

also, I am currently using 2 - 4 foot flourescent plant & aquarium bulbs. Is lighting important for live rock?

 

[pallan]

Originally Posted by ecoman
also, I am currently using 2 - 4 foot flourescent plant & aquarium bulbs. Is lighting important for live rock?
sorry i dont know anything about your filter but im worried these bulbs will cause algae to grow in your tank. wait for someone with better light experience to post but i think you have the wrong bulbs for a salt tank.

 

[usinkit]

I dont know what ammonia carb is ,but I dont beleive in putting anything in a tank that comes out of a bottle stated it will help your tank cycle. I would just buy uncured live rock and place it in the tank to begin your cycle. You can also put one or two fresh cocktaill shrimp uncooked in your tank to begin the cycle. Once your liverock or cocktail shrimp is in the tank start testing the water everyother day for ammonia , nitrites and nitrates. Your ammonia will spike and then will start to drop. After your ammonia drops to 0 you nitrites will begin to spike. After your nitrites come down to 0 you can do a 20 to 40% water change to get your nitrates down and then your ready for your cleanup crew. Add your clean up crew. Wait 1 week and add one fish. After the first fish wait about 2 weeks in between adding anyother fish. As for cleaning your media you dont want to clean all of the biomedia at once if you do not have liverock. The biomedia is where your bacteria grows to keep your tanks waste(ammonia) at 0. You can clean any mechanical filter such as sponges,filter floss and change out carbon every week so they dont become nitrate traps. HTH

 

[ecoman]

amoo-carb is simple.. carbon and ammo chips (ammo removes ammonia levels). Comes mixed together or you can buy separate and mix yourself.

 

[teresaq]

check those ammo chips. most of those are for fresh water. if you are just starting to cycle your tank, you should not use anything. just let nature take its course and let your tank cycle like it should. it just takes time, and the ammonia will go away by itself as your tank cycles. my tank is established, and i use purigon to take care of anything in my canister filters along with regular water changes
there are several sites on line that i order my supplys for my tank. I have catologs to compare prices.

 

[ecoman]

what type of media is in your canister filters?

 

[nemo's mom]

I have a Magnum 350. I use black diamond carbon. I change it about every 3-4 weeks.

 

[usinkit]

You should have some pebbles or cylinder type ceramic looking things in the canister to let the bacteria grow on if you dont have any liverock in your tank.