Due to its porosity, Biohome Ultimate is one of the most effective biological filter media available as it offers an abundance of surface area for the bacteria colonies that consume ammonia and nitrites as well as oxygen-less chambers for the bacteria colony that consumes nitrates.
So, how long does Biohome Ultimate last? You can find out in this guide from Aquarium Blueprints.
How Biohome Ultimate works?
Biohome Ultimate provides a place of beneficial bacteria to grow. The product actually does not add any beneficial bacteria. Instead, these colonies will naturally grow in your fish tank.
Ultimate does come with small traces of elements that will speed up the growth rate of the beneficial bacteria when you first add the media in the tank. You can also add live bacteria products, like Seachem Stability, to speed up the colonization.
How long does Biohome Ultimate last?
While the Biohome Ultimate won’t breakdown in your fish tank, its pores can get easily clogged up by the organic wastes in your aquarium. If these pores get blocked, then the beneficial bacteria living inside will eventually starved to death.
As long as you keep the pores opened, however, then Ultimate should last indefinitely.
How to properly rinse Biohome Ultimate
In order to properly rinse Biohome Ultimate without harming the beneficial bacteria living on it, we recommend that you take the following steps:
1. Take the Ultimate media out of the filter or tank and then put them in a water container or bucket.
2. Add tank water to the container or bucket that is holding Biohome Ultimate.
Make sure you add enough water so that the media is fully submerged.
3. You can then stir the media around.
The water pressure you created by stirring around the media will help known off most of the debris and mulm that are clogging up the pores of the Biohome Ultimate.
4. Once you are done stirring for a minute or two, pour out the dirty water from the container or bucket.
5. Repeat Steps 2, 3 and 4 again until the water you are pouring out looks clear.
6. You can then put Biohome back into the fish tank filter or directly in your aquarium.
How to recharge and regenerate Biohome Ultimate
Even with proper rinsing, the organic wastes may get deeper and deeper inside the pores of Biohome Ultimate if you have been using this product already for many years. This may make the media harder to clean by using the aforementioned tank water rising method.
As a result, Ultimate may become less effective unless you recharge or regenerate it with a more thorough cleaning.
To properly recharge and regenerate Biohome Ultimate, we recommend that you do the following:
1. Remove this filter media from the filter or tank and then place it in a ceramic bowl or stainless-steel pot.
2. Add hot water to same ceramic bowl or stainless-steel pot.
While the hot water will kill off the beneficial bacteria living on Biohome Ultimate, it will also unclog the pores as the heat will help breakup the organic waste buildup.
We don’t recommend using any bleach as this solution may end up leeching in your tank even if you thoroughly rinse the filter media. Hot water should be good enough to unclog the pores from any long-term buildup.
3. With the hot water poured into the ceramic bowl or stainless-steel pot, you can use a clean chopstick, or another utensil, to stir around the filter media.
The water pressure you create by stirring should help knock lose any waste buildup.
4. After stirring for a few minutes, pour out the dirty water from the ceramic bowl or stainless-steel pot.
5. We recommend that you repeat Steps 2, 3 and 4 multiple times to clear out as many clogged pores as possible.
6. Once you are done with re-opening the pores of Biohome Ultimate, we recommend that you let the filter media fully dry out.
7. Once the media has been dried, you should be able to add Ultimate back into your fish tank or filter.
8. It will take weeks or months for the beneficial bacteria to grow back on the newly recharged and regenerated biological filter media.
You can help speed up the process by adding live bacteria to your tank water. A product like Seachem Stability should work well with Biohome Ultimate.
