Old and Clogged Seachem Matrix

[RichNJ]

I've had Seachem Matrix in my 3yr old canister for 2.5yrs.  All I ever do is rinse the matrix in tank water during regular filter maintenance, but now I suspect the matrix is starting to clog up since old and always caked with detritus when I rinse.  Filter performance in general is less than what it used to me, so I am doing a filter overhaul soon, including maybe replacing the impeller:  https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/37081-canister-filter-impeller-lubricant/#comment-354779

As for the matrix, what are the thoughts on recharging/cleaning (hot water, etc.) vs. outright replacement, either in stages say 50% each over two months?  The way I look at it is, either way I am killing vs. removing 50% of the bacteria.  So maybe the cost of new would save me the hassle and mess with the media cleaning, and ultimately be more successful at renewing the surface area.

@nabokovfan87 @Pepere

 

[Pepere]

On 2/29/2024 at 8:26 AM, RichNJ said:

As for the matrix, what are the thoughts on recharging/cleaning (hot water, etc.) vs. outright replacement, either in stages say 50% each over two months?

I am not sold on the benefits of rock, pumice ceramic hard media types…. I never put them in.  I put in nylon scrubbies instead.

In essence the marketing claim of the various hard media is their porous structure gives dramatic surface area for growth of beneficial bacteria.  I suspect that the functional surface area of such media is dramatically less than the calculated due to small pore size. Ie: once a biofilm forms, flow is impeded to the smaller internal pores.

 

The second marketing claim for these media types that the inner core of these products are anoxic and breaks down nitrate to nitrogen gas… which would require decreased flow…

My suspicion is that the nylon scrubbies give dramatically higher surface area than hard type media.

I dont have lab proof, but the hard media folk dont seem to offer lab results either…

 

We all get to make our own decision about such things.  Mine was to substitute nylon pot scrubbies over ceramics, pumices etc…

Edited February 29 by Pepere

[Pepere]

As an aside, I have no need of nitrate reducing filter media.  I do a 50% water change weekly and need to dose nitrates in the tank with fertilizer weekly as after water change nitrate levels are lower than 10 ppm.  I also redose midweek to next water change.

I also clean my canister filter monthly as per manufacturer recommendation, and not at 3-6 month intervals as some people advocate.  By cleaning the filter monthly it is not anywhere near the chore that it appears to be with 3-6 month intervals.  I suspect by cleaning it out monthly I am removing a lot of poo and detritus that would otherwise be decomposing in the filter and pumping out nitrates…

I also suspect monthly cleaning reduces waste organics in the tank that tend to facilitate algae growth.

[RichNJ]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:17 AM, Pepere said:

As an aside, I have no need of nitrate reducing filter media.  I do a 50% water change weekly and need to dose nitrates in the tank with fertilizer weekly as after water change nitrate levels are lower than 10 ppm.  I also redose midweek to next water change.

I also clean my canister filter monthly as per manufacturer recommendation, and not at 3-6 month intervals as some people advocate.  By cleaning the filter monthly it is not anywhere near the chore that it appears to be with 3-6 month intervals.  I suspect by cleaning it out monthly I am removing a lot of poo and detritus that would otherwise be decomposing in the filter and pumping out nitrates…

I also suspect monthly cleaning reduces waste organics in the tank that tend to facilitate algae growth.

agree on frequency...i try to do the same, although i don't do the WC as frequently or as big as your.  i do every other week of 25%-30% or so, and then do once per month canister filter rinse out to dump out the fish waste.  still debating on the matrix though and i do like the nitrate removing claim, although i have no way to prove that it works.

Edited February 29 by RichNJ

[Pepere]

I do 50% water changes in order to keep waste organics and algae fragments to a minimum.  It is a simple practice to decrease the incidence for Algae to grow.

Shortly after starting this practice I noticed significant reduction of algae growth and nitrate levels.

With a python system, it really doesn't take much longer to do a 50% water change than a 10-25%.

[RichNJ]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:45 AM, Pepere said:

I do 50% water changes in order to keep waste organics and algae fragments to a minimum.  It is a simple practice to decrease the incidence for Algae to grow.

Shortly after starting this practice I noticed significant reduction of algae growth and nitrate levels.

With a python system, it really doesn't take much longer to do a 50% water change than a 10-25%.

I see and your stock looks really manageable too

[Pepere]

On 2/29/2024 at 10:13 AM, RichNJ said:

I see and your stock looks really manageable too

A lot of them are hiding.

29 gallon

14 neons

12 lambchop rasbora

3 American Flagfish

8 Serpae Tetra

8 emerald Green Corydora

6 Kuhli loaches

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/29/2024 at 5:26 AM, RichNJ said:

As for the matrix, what are the thoughts on recharging/cleaning (hot water, etc.) vs. outright replacement, either in stages say 50% each over two months?  The way I look at it is, either way I am killing vs. removing 50% of the bacteria.  So maybe the cost of new would save me the hassle and mess with the media cleaning, and ultimately be more successful at renewing the surface area.

You can basically take some amount of the media out, add new media.  Go in and remove the black stones as they don't work as well as the white ones that have holes and tunnels.  The other thing a lot of people miss, especially in a strong HoB is that Matrix comes in different sizes.  Larger filters, look up pond matrix.  The reason being that a lot of media doesn't get cleaned properly and as it withers away you lose a lot of what you thought you had for surface area. 

Rocks might reduce in size something like 15-25% over time.  In a media bag you're clanking them around together, acting as abrasion surfaces for one another and you've got erosion from the flow pushing out the fines that break off.  It is a good idea to add more, replace, or remove the parts that have turned into basically nothing useful over time.

The most I would remove is 75% of the media at any one time.  50% is more typical.  New media gets seeded with strong, very active bacteria colonies.

 

On 2/29/2024 at 6:17 AM, Pepere said:

I also clean my canister filter monthly as per manufacturer recommendation, and not at 3-6 month intervals as some people advocate.  By cleaning the filter monthly it is not anywhere near the chore that it appears to be with 3-6 month intervals.  I suspect by cleaning it out monthly I am removing a lot of poo and detritus that would otherwise be decomposing in the filter and pumping out nitrates…

Can confirm.... this is mandatory and should be done.

[RichNJ]

On 2/29/2024 at 12:01 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

You can basically take some amount of the media out, add new media.  Go in and remove the black stones as they don't work as well as the white ones that have holes and tunnels.  The other thing a lot of people miss, especially in a strong HoB is that Matrix comes in different sizes.  Larger filters, look up pond matrix.  The reason being that a lot of media doesn't get cleaned properly and as it withers away you lose a lot of what you thought you had for surface area. 

Rocks might reduce in size something like 15-25% over time.  In a media bag you're clanking them around together, acting as abrasion surfaces for one another and you've got erosion from the flow pushing out the fines that break off.  It is a good idea to add more, replace, or remove the parts that have turned into basically nothing useful over time.

The most I would remove is 75% of the media at any one time.  50% is more typical.  New media gets seeded with strong, very active bacteria colonies.

 

Can confirm.... this is mandatory and should be done.

@nabokovfan87What are your thoughts on the frequency of replacing the matrix media?  1yr too short?  I am at 2.5yrs and just rinsing thus far.  it's pretty dark for sure, but will check during this Saturday's maintenance routine.

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:42 AM, RichNJ said:

@nabokovfan87What are your thoughts on the frequency of replacing the matrix media?  1yr too short?  I am at 2.5yrs and just rinsing thus far.  it's pretty dark for sure, but will check during this Saturday's maintenance routine.

It really depends. Let's say you have the bags they use in the tidals (you can buy matrix in that method just to get the bags), then you have something that will attempt to protect the media from being clogged with debris.  It isn't perfect, but it helps.

If you have a very coarse mesh bag, it's practically useless (aquaclear has some weird "media bags"), which just means that you would want to clean it off in a bucket or in a faucet whenever you clean the filter itself.  If you're seeing the media that dirty then just try to rinse it and go from there.  Start with a bucket of tank water and rinse it a few times like you would substrate.  See how dirty the media really is.

If you had to make me choose, I would replace the media.... or some of it.... every 1.5-3 years.  The better you care for it, the better off you are.  I have media that's been running for years at this point and it's perfectly fine, but I've also added new media to the system, lava rock hardscape rocks also helps, there's a lot of variables.

[RichNJ]

On 2/29/2024 at 12:47 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

It really depends. Let's say you have the bags they use in the tidals (you can buy matrix in that method just to get the bags), then you have something that will attempt to protect the media from being clogged with debris.  It isn't perfect, but it helps.

If you have a very coarse mesh bag, it's practically useless (aquaclear has some weird "media bags"), which just means that you would want to clean it off in a bucket or in a faucet whenever you clean the filter itself.  If you're seeing the media that dirty then just try to rinse it and go from there.  Start with a bucket of tank water and rinse it a few times like you would substrate.  See how dirty the media really is.

If you had to make me choose, I would replace the media.... or some of it.... every 1.5-3 years.  The better you care for it, the better off you are.  I have media that's been running for years at this point and it's perfectly fine, but I've also added new media to the system, lava rock hardscape rocks also helps, there's a lot of variables.

Thanks, no bags for me.  Just piled up in two canister trays and mixed with some ceramic rings that initially came with the canister.  Those rings are worn down a bit now too, so I suppose it's a good time to pick them out.  My other tray (the first one the water flows through) has filter floss and pads to scrub out the bigger debris.  I replaced those every few months once they thin out and breakdown.

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/29/2024 at 10:11 AM, RichNJ said:

My other tray (the first one the water flows through) has filter floss and pads to scrub out the bigger debris.  I replaced those every few months once they thin out and breakdown.

Filter floss would be at most every 14 days.

[RichNJ]

On 2/29/2024 at 4:59 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Filter floss would be at most every 14 days.

thanks, i use this stuff from Aquatic Experts.  I rinse it once per month and change it about every 3 months when it starts to break down and thin out too much.  after the blue stuff I use the Filter Pad next from them.  Sometimes the polishing pad too if I have enough.  Links below.  After these things, then I have the trays of the matrix, ceramic rings, and a dozen or so plastic filter balls too (that came with the canister).

Classic Bonded Aquarium Filter Pad - Blue and White Aquarium Filter Me – Aquatic Experts

Aquarium Filter Pad – FilterFirst Aquarium Filter Media Roll for Cryst – Aquatic Experts

Aquarium Filter Pad – FilterFirst Aquarium Filter Media Roll for Cryst – Aquatic Experts

Polishing Filter Pad - Superior Polishing Pad for Aquarium - Cut to Fi – Aquatic Experts

[Guppysnail]

On 2/29/2024 at 8:26 AM, RichNJ said:

As for the matrix, what are the thoughts on recharging/cleaning

If you have a small jewelry cleaning machine you can put it in there and it will clean.  Watch though if you leave it in too long it will disintegrate your media. 

[RichNJ]

@nabokovfan87 @Guppysnail @Pepere

 

Today was a canister maintenance day.  This is the what my matrix and ceramic rings look like before and after rinsing.  Do you think it is spent?  Again the matrix is 2.5yrs old and the ceramic rings are 3yrs old.

Before rinsing

After rinsing in tank water

Edited March 2 by RichNJ

[Pepere]

On 3/2/2024 at 3:27 PM, RichNJ said:

This is the what my matrix and ceramic rings look like before and after rinsing.  Do you think it is spent?

I suspect it is working as well as it ever has. But I might be wrong.

Again, I am just not much of a fan of it.  I personally think nylon scrubbies have much more functionally  effective surface area for the volume they take up than ceramic or pumice media.  I think foam has even more functional surface area, but scrubbies rinse out quicker and easier than foam…

 

I just am not sold on bioballs, bioring, biohome, matrix etc….  But it might be the Bees Kness and I might be all wrong…

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/2/2024 at 12:27 PM, RichNJ said:

Do you think it is spent?  Again the matrix is 2.5yrs old and the ceramic rings are 3yrs old.

Nope. Looks fine.

Keep it rinsed off and setup the filtration to filter out those fines. Please feel free to post details on setup and we can adjust the canister setup if there is any improvement to be made there.

On my 407, I run into the issue where theres a bit of an issue of bypass that causes the top media tray to get covered in some junk like yours was.  It's really annoying to clean if it's not in a media bag, but it does "rinse" very easily, thankfully.

As far as why it seems ok to me, it's because you have good size media there and the media doesn't look caked in gunk. It has some stuff in there, but with that stuff removed you can see that yeast colored layer, which is your bacteria.

Pull out the very, very small pieces that are in there as well as the black stones, then add in some fresh media to refil the tray. It'll last quite a few more years without issue.

 

[Galabar]

I think the caked on detritus is probably the best habitat for nitrifying bacteria.  So, I wouldn't bother cleaning it.  I've got Sicce Shark ADV filters set up where I never even open the upper compartment containing the ceramic rings.