ceramic rings

[Starfish]

Hi!!!
Where is a good place to put ceramic rings in an aquaclear 500....(with the
basket and sponge)
And how much of these rings would i need to hold enough biomass so that I
can completely wash out the sponge withough effecting it? Will this work
ok??

[NetMax]

"Starfish" > wrote in message
...
> Hi!!!
> Where is a good place to put ceramic rings in an aquaclear 500....(with
> the
> basket and sponge)
> And how much of these rings would i need to hold enough biomass so that
> I
> can completely wash out the sponge withough effecting it? Will this
> work
> ok??


Generally speaking, the filter types proximity to the dirtiest water
(earliest stage of the filter) is the opposite of the length of time you
want it to be undisturbed and kept clean. This means all chemical
filters, dissolving minerals and ceramics should be in the cleanest part
of the filter. You want the fractured ceramics to culture various
bacteria, but particularly a nitrifier which converts nitrates into
nitrogen gas, so you want the fractures to stay unclogged as long as
possible.

For your 2nd question, you're referring to the common bacteria which
slime coat everything underwater and gets established in 4-6 weeks.
There isn't any way to properly answer your question as there are too
many variables (ie: bio-load, % filtering margin, % water changes etc).

Note that the AC500 is a high flow filter. Great for re-oxygenating,
turbulence and pickup power, but not so great for bacteria (which would
like a slower flow rate to 'grab' stuff). With the AC500, I recommend
that you use 2 sponges, and alternate which you are cleaning (and
alternate their position after every cleaning). Basically, wash the
bottom one, push the top one to the bottom, put the cleaned sponge on
top. This makes better use of this filter's high flow rates and doubles
it's biological capacity for a few dollars. It also provides lots of
bacterial redundancy allowing you to clean one sponge at a time with
little danger of a mini-spike (which was your original question).

Depending on your application, you could put your ceramic rings in a
slower filter, such as a bio-wheel powerfilter dialed back, or a small
canister filter with it's intake high (cleaner water, less maintenance,
happier ceramic rings ;~).
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Aaron M]

They make Bio-Max inserts for the aquaclear line now.

Starfish wrote:
> Hi!!!
> Where is a good place to put ceramic rings in an aquaclear 500....(with the
> basket and sponge)
> And how much of these rings would i need to hold enough biomass so that I
> can completely wash out the sponge withough effecting it? Will this work
> ok??
>
>

[NetMax]

"Aaron M" > wrote in message
news:WQLRd.44652$Dc.20046@trnddc06...
> They make Bio-Max inserts for the aquaclear line now.
>
> Starfish wrote:
>> Hi!!!
>> Where is a good place to put ceramic rings in an aquaclear
>> 500....(with the
>> basket and sponge)
>> And how much of these rings would i need to hold enough biomass so
>> that I
>> can completely wash out the sponge withough effecting it? Will this
>> work
>> ok??


Check the pond supply section too. Bigger rings, cheaper, works better
for some applications.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Starfish]

Thankyou!!!!
I have never thought of using 2 sponges at once...

Sounds pretty good!
"NetMax" > wrote in message
...
> "Aaron M" > wrote in message
> news:WQLRd.44652$Dc.20046@trnddc06...
>> They make Bio-Max inserts for the aquaclear line now.
>>
>> Starfish wrote:
>>> Hi!!!
>>> Where is a good place to put ceramic rings in an aquaclear 500....(with
>>> the
>>> basket and sponge)
>>> And how much of these rings would i need to hold enough biomass so that
>>> I
>>> can completely wash out the sponge withough effecting it? Will this work
>>> ok??
>
>
> Check the pond supply section too. Bigger rings, cheaper, works better
> for some applications.
> --
> www.NetMax.tk
>