Hi discusnow, I was running the same bio media like you, then one day decided to remove all of it and just let the BCB's take over. I'm only 30 days in and all I can is that my take has never looked as good as it today, also went 10 days between the last water change. Also I did an Plenum per Salty Sphynx diy method in her video. Bottom line is that Dr. Novak's system works and I not an slave to my tank anymore. Check my video: https://youtu.be/cInaC-pXZm4