Aquaclear 50?

Question

How often do I need to replace the bioligical pettets and the fram sponge? All I remember from before I lost the instructions is you change the carbon every month!

Answer 1

the pellets you dont really need to change, unless you treat your tank with heavy medication. I change my sponge every few months. To clean the sponge, I just rinse it off, it takes a few minutes to clean off the gunk, but the sponge is fine and still works. The carbon you do need to change every month.

Check out the manufactere's website. the first link is for the pdf version of the manual
http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/sub_category_psubtype.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=107&PSUBCAT=10701

this one is for the general fish section of their page and you can contact them for more information and swarranty stuff
http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/basic/index.cfm

Answer 2

The biological pellet,?I think you mean Ammo-rid. After the first three months you can do without it,altogether. The sponge should NEVER be replaced.It contains the bacteria that keep your fish alive. To properly maintain the sponge, siphon a gallon container about 1/2 full of aquarium water,then rinse the sponge thoroughly,repeat this a couple of times. When the rinse water is only a little dirty,replace the sponge in the filter and siphon the gravel in the tank until about 25% of the water is gone.Replace the water with treated water that is the same temperature as the tank. Do this every two weeks and your fish will live to a ripe old age.Change the charcoal once a month,but if it becomes too expensive, don't put charcoal back in for a month. It won't hurt anything and you can save a few dollars. Don't leave the old charcoal in the filter for more than 30 days.-------PeeTee

Answer 3

Once a month or so, you can take the pellets and the sponge and give them a little swish and squeeze in a container of dirty tank water while you're doing a water change. Don't use tap water because you take a risk of killing off the bacteria with the chlorine or washing it away with the force of the tap.

All you want is to dislodge the chunky stuff. You don't want either the pellets or the sponge to look white and new again; it's just not necessary.

Also, I don't use carbon in either of my tanks. It's expensive and its only purpose is to remove chemicals or discolorations from the water, like when you're done using medications for example.

Answer 4

The bio media is a course rock whos only purpose is to give benificial bacteria a place to colonize. Removing the bacteria would cause a huge jump in the amount of ammonia in the tank.

Bacteria break down fish waste (ammonia -->nitrite-->nitrate)
the first 2 are very toxic while the 3rd is far less toxic but builds up in the tank and will require regular water changes to keep in check.

The sponge at the bottom is just mechanical. rinse it with tank water when the filter isn't flowing well and the bacteria on it will survive. The middle chemical layer absorbs chemicals and will get changed about once a month or as needed.

In my opinion this is one of the best H.O.B. filters as you never have to remove the bacterial layer unlike some of the cheaper whispers. When doing maintance just place the bio media in clean declorinated water (tank water) and you'll never have large swings in the water chemistry. don't worry about it getting gunked up, thats the bacteria

Answer 5

You can probably change the carbon every 2-3 weeks. Clean the sponge part, but only replace it when it can't allow water to flow. The pellets will last very long, maybe a year. Don't replace all of them at once either.