# Cleaning bio media



## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

So the Eheim substrat media I use in one of my filters looks more like Cocoa Puffs (or, if you prefer, medium breed dog food). I don't exactly know how effective it might be any more or how to clean it. Boiling? It's easy enough to squeeze out a sponge. Thanks.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

We had a discussion about cleaning hard media a few months/years back as well. I tested some things after that and I now feel the best way to renew your media is chlorine (thin bleach). It eats away everything, including proteins and fat. Make sure you rinse it very well and to be safe, put it in a bowl with anti-bleach for 24 hours afterwards while stirring them from time to time to get all the bleach out the pores. Drying them afterwards should work as well


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

If you want to kill the bacteria in the media then bleach. This might be good if you are taking down the tank and want to store things for a while.
I just rinse in some water removed from the tank for a water change.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

I assumed he didn't wanted to safe any bacteria because he mentioned boiling.

Off course you don't want to bleach all your media at once if the tank is still running. You can do 25% every 2-4 weeks. This way after max 4 months, everything is as new again!


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Hard to tell the intentions. The post could be read either way. 
"It is easy to squeeze out a sponge" sounds like keeping the bacteria intact.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

My Eheim 2028 has a tray with the round bio media and one with the older 'chip' style. The chip style is older and is the top basket. My round/spherical media resembles light cocoa puffs (I got a chuckle out of that). Every month I put 3 gallons of tank water into a 5 gal pail and shake and swirl the media filled trays vigorously to clean them. I have never noticed any bad effects on the nitrogen cycle doing this. The media is almost as old as my teenage son. That being said, I suggest you start a thread in the Seachem Forum and ask them about the cocoa puffs.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

If it's just about rinsing them, take a bucket with tank water and shake indeed.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

But of course, if you think the bio media is getting clogged with stuck-on organic matter, like bio film, then bleaching will indeed remove this. But as suggested above, do this to no more than 25% at a time, so each portion has a chance to re-grow the bacteria before you bleach the next lot. I would soak in bleach (diluted?) overnight, then rinse, then soak in dechlor overnight, then rinse. If it still smells of bleach, then another soak with new dechlor. 
Do not use the newer 'splashless' or scented bleaches.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Oh, I've got plenty extra. I'm just assuming that the media is no good for its purpose if all the pores (and bacteria attachment sites) are clogged. Exactly how strong on the diluted bleach?


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

put it in a media bag and then in the dishwasher with no soap. that and the misses not home.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Why not try a few different dilutions and tell us:
Straight out of the bottle. (might work pretty fast- an hour or so??)
50/50 with RO or distilled (or reasonably low TDS tap water) (still should work pretty fast)
10:1 water:bleach (overnight)
20:1 water:bleach (overnight? 24 hours?)

I do not know how to test how well it worked, though. 
Water flows around each bead a lot faster than any flow through the beads, no matter how clean they are. 
Weight?


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## _Z_ (Nov 2, 2016)

You do not need any chemicals. Just use your hand and stir up the media really good in tank water in an appropriate size bucket. Every 6mo or so I clean my ehiem 2217. I do this on a water change day. I fill a 5g bucket about half way then I break down the filter, put media in the bucket give it a good mix with my hand. Then I pour the water in my garden. Then add more of my tank water and stir again. I repeat this until it's fairly clear after stirring it up. Hope this helps.

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## JustLikeAPill (Oct 9, 2006)

I would never ever bleach it, unless you want to nuke it and store it dry for future use later one. Just stir it up lightly until it rinses clear. 

If you feel you have to use some sort of chemical, oxidize embedded organic matter with some diluted KMnO4 or maybe add a bottle enzymatic product instead. But I wouldn't do any of that.....


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## Jeramy_Blair (Dec 1, 2016)

I am not sure I understand why you would want to kill the bacteria that you have worked so hard to build up. Put in a bag use the tank water from a water change and give it a good shake. This should dislodge the outer build up and leave most of your bio filtration intact. 
Only reason I could see bleach would be for storage. If you bleach it and put it back in an existing tank you are going to start your cycle over again. 
I know this is a old thread but just wanted to put my 2 cents in.

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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

On the Swiss tropicals site http://www.swisstropicals.com/faq/, they recommend cleaning a clogged mattenfilter by simply washing it with normal chlorinated tap water from a hose. According to the site, you can do this without killing all the bacteria, and what is left will quickly recolonize the filter.

I have always wondered about the "rinse it in tank water" advice. Brief exposure to the very small amounts of chloramines in tap water seems very unlikely to completely sterilize the media. I have cleaned biomedia in my hang on back and cannister filters in this way with no ill effects. Perhaps in over-stocked fish-only tanks this could make a difference, but in my densely planted tanks is doesn't seem to.


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

If I am re-using the media immediately I rinse is a bucket of tank water.
Use a small pump I have in the bucket to apply some pressure.
It is amazing the brown and slime that gets knocked off.
Between of unknown levels of chloramine that could be present in tap water I steer clear of it for these purposes.

For storage purposes, bleach and then dry it out.

Interesting recent dealings with substrate though.
We can assume all substrate is covered in bacteria, snails(very small), and many other living organisms.
I washed some inert substrate from one tank to place in a shrimp tank.
Being on the cautious side after rinsing I placed in a bucket for 24 hours.
NH3 readings over 2.0ppm now repeated rinsing and such are taking place.
Been a week so far and still not ready.
Always remain on the side of caution, apparently I killed lots of "stuff" in the substrate.

Old thread revival?


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

I usually do what the others do, I put the old biomedia in the sink and pour a gallon of tank water over it to loosen and rid anything that I want to rinse off. If it's a typical tank where the filter is small compared to the actual tank volume and it's reasonably well planted I don't think the bacteria in the actual filter is all that important. I think what's in the tank has far greater value than the actual bio-media housed in the filter.


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