hi, so i recently purchased a fuval 306 canister filter for my 36 gallon fresh water tank. Does anyone have suggestions on how often to change the bio media and charcoal packs . And can i rinse the foam filters out and reuse ? the buffering pads I know i cant , but how bout the more course pads. any thoughts would be great .
I also have the 306. The bottom tray is ceramic tubes, the next tray is course foam, the top tray is fine foam topped with a layer of floss. The side tray has four vertical sponges in, probably original.
I clean the filter when the flow rate is noticeable reduced, the movement of plants and food is a good indicator. There is no set time period as there are so many variables, stocking levels, feeding etc.
Everything is rinsed in a bucket of tank water, not too clean, just to remove the gunge. The floss is replaced.
I would ditch the carbon and replace it with another media that can be rinsed out, keeping to the principle of course media at the bottom going up to fine media (floss) at the top.
For water clarity I have a pouch of Purigen on top of the floss, which I highly recommend, but it is a bit pricey. It can be recharged with bleach but I choose not to do that.
The only advice i have about the filter itself is to make sure that you push the top of the filter down squarely when fitting it together and not to use the side clips to pull the two parts together. When they are fitted together, then secure the side clips. If you use the side clips to pull the two parts together it can fit slightly skewed and it may leak. This has only happened to me once but I have read about someone else having the same problem.
Having said that, it doesn't give me any problems and is a cracking good filter.
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