gilet.. is that spellcheck for filter
?
I mostly think carbon is a waste of space. I prefer to replace it with more biomedia or floss. If you want to use the cartridges, cleaning them is usually a matter of swishing vigorously in tank water and maybe giving them a good whack on the side of a bucket too. The frames inside many of them make it hard to squeeze them. They tend to get rather worn, as the layer of bonded floss that holds manny of them together isn't very thick at all and isn't intended to last very long. They want you to buy new ones.
What brand is the filter ? Most of them can be used with most media of your choice. You just get some sponge and fit it into the box, along with some bio media and floss on top. Floss can be replaced whenever you want, but I keep mine for as long as it works. It will turn grey, but unless it is falling to shreds, it still works. I prefer to be thrifty with it. I squeeze it out in tank water when I clean the filter, same as I do sponge, and don't replace until it IS falling into shreds, then I replace half of it at one time. Floss has huge surface area and hosts a substantial amount of BB, just like sponge and other biomedia do. You can use ceramic bio media, or just sponge and floss.. up to you really. Clean regularly though.. every couple of weeks or so.
The ammo carb you have.. that's a combo of charcoal and ammonia removing resins. The resins will eventually become exhausted.. that is, soak up all the ammonia they can and then no more. But unless you have a sudden spike that needs immediate attention, there's not much reason to use ammonia resins. They might allow you to overstock a bit, but if you are new to fish, that's dangerous to try. Better to get used to keeping a more normal stock level and normal water parameters first.
The manufacturers will tell you to change the cartridges often, but every time you do, you are tossing out all the BB that have grown on them. Even if you only change one at a time, it still means tossing half the BB out at one time. Safer to simply clean and replace media that last a long long time, like sponge or ceramics.
Ah, I'm assuming you have fish along with the plants here.. if not, the filter isn't nearly so important. Simple water circulation is about all you need for plants without any fish or other animals. If you do have fish, have you cycled the tank ?
