Filter media

[TheGrza]

Just wanted to get some people's input on why they choose particular filter media and why. I have a Lake Malawi tank and a Lake Tanganyika tank and filter with 2 HOB filters and 2 Fluval canisters.

 

[Convict2161]

I use 2 AC110's on my 75g mixed African cichlid tank. I had a canister and hated it come time to clean it. Love my HOB's ease of cleaning and changing media right there on the spot. Very happy with them.

 

[TheGrza]

I use 2 AC110's on my 75g mixed African cichlid tank. I had a canister and hated it come time to clean it. Love my HOB's ease of cleaning and changing media right there on the spot. Very happy with them.

What kind of media do you use? In my canister I use sponges and noodles. In my AquaClear I use sponges, noodles and carbon. The reason I'm debating is weighing out whether or not to add filter floss as well.

 

[Convict2161]

What kind of media do you use? In my canister I use sponges and noodles. In my AquaClear I use sponges, noodles and carbon. The reason I'm debating is weighing out whether or not to add filter floss as well.

I have in one, sponge, purigen, bio rings and on the little area on the left on stuff poly floss.

Second one I do sponge, polishing pads and then bio rings. Same thing as the other one. Little area on the left I stuff poly floss in there.

Also I took the grey media rack thing out. It's useless and just makes things harder to change. Much better without it!

 

[jcolon]

What kind of media do you use? In my canister I use sponges and noodles. In my AquaClear I use sponges, noodles and carbon. The reason I'm debating is weighing out whether or not to add filter floss as well.

Personally speaking, you can ditch the Carbon. It's really only used by most members to remove meds from water. Aside from that, chemically it's not really removing anything toxic.

Filter Floss is a big . Like Convict, I'm running two AquaClears ... 70's instead of 110's. My media are the block foam sponge, Fairfield brand 100 Poly-fill I picked up from an Arts Craft store, and bio-rings on the top from my Fluval 404 I used to run ... and that's it. My water's clear, fish healthy and happy. Every two weeks I pull out the baskets to rinse out the foam block, and either rinse or switch out the Poly-fill.

 

[Ian086]

What kind of media do you use? In my canister I use sponges and noodles. In my AquaClear I use sponges, noodles and carbon. The reason I'm debating is weighing out whether or not to add filter floss as well.

Hey, in your canister you could try or research these;
1. Pillow Filling
2. Seachem Purigen
3. Seachem Matrix
1. The Pillow Filling, i buy a cheap $1 bed pillow. One pillow will last me about 2yrs!!. Take the stuffing out, which is basically the same as the polishing pads you buy for the canister. Keep an old pad and give the pad and filling a good rinse in old tank water..Fill the top tray with the filling and put the pad on top(this stops any loose filling clogging your canister)..Will help get/keep your water crystal clear..

2. Purigen, brilliant stuff. Will make your water crystal clear. Also helps with Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates.. Just put it in the top try, on top of the polishing pad. Can be re-used by recharging it...

3. Matrix, A bio-media that can be used instead of bio-balls, noodles. 1ltr of this is equivalent to 170 bio-balls(Seachems Claim). Quite cheap and will supposedly last forever!!!..

All three are very cheap, easy to use and will last a long time..As always, do your own research but they will make your water sparkle...I'm not familiar with HOB's, Convict is the man to help you with those but almost any filter can be customized to use any/all of the above..
Hope this helps...Ian

 

[T1KARMANN]

I'm my eyes the eheim media is the best by far


In my sump the first and second parts are filled with jap mat which is a very course sponge type

Then in the main section I have 150 litres of eheim efimech and 100 litres of eheim substrate pro

It works great

 

[dornblaser1]

i have the aquatop cf500uv canister filter
4 trays
bottom tray: blue coarse sponge w/ filter floss packed on top of that.
next tray up: filter floss then ceramic rings.
next tray up: filter floss then ceramic rings.
and next tray is a bunch of filter floss havent really figured out what to do with it yet lol if anyone has ideas throw in (not trying to steal a thread though)

 

[Ian086]

i have the aquatop cf500uv canister filter
4 trays
bottom tray: blue coarse sponge w/ filter floss packed on top of that.
next tray up: filter floss then ceramic rings.
next tray up: filter floss then ceramic rings.
and next tray is a bunch of filter floss haven't really figured out what to do with it yet lol if anyone has ideas throw in (not trying to steal a thread though)

I would do the bottom 2 trays with sponges, coarse, then fine. Then Rings/Balls or Full Tray Matrix. Next do a full tray of floss, with a piece of cloth on top of it(stops any loose floss jamming the motor). Last of all 1/2 100g bags of Purigen. With the Purigen, you won't need so much floss. Your water will sparkle..Do you not find that all that floss slows down your flow rates and clogs very quickly. It seems a lot of filter floss. Have you run it like this from the start. Matrix is a good alternative to rings, balls. So much more surface area for the BB to grow(more BB=more fish. 1ltr of Matrix=170 Bio Balls/Rings...Do you use Purigen??... Just my 2 cents worth!!!

 

[dornblaser1]

i have only had it running a month it wasnt too gunked up it has a blue coarse pad that came with it for the bottom then fine pads but i just removed those because they were falling apart but the filter is huge its bigger than a 5 gallon bucket so i bought 4 boxes of ceramic rings and that still wont completely fill 2 baskets and i ran carbon for the first 2 weeks just to clear the water a little then i didnt know what else to get for media but the filter does 525gph and it is keeping the water perfectly clear not bad for a $150 filter

 

[Ian086]

i have only had it running a month it wasnt too gunked up it has a blue coarse pad that came with it for the bottom then fine pads but i just removed those because they were falling apart but the filter is huge its bigger than a 5 gallon bucket so i bought 4 boxes of ceramic rings and that still wont completely fill 2 baskets and i ran carbon for the first 2 weeks just to clear the water a little then i didnt know what else to get for media but the filter does 525gph and it is keeping the water perfectly clear not bad for a $150 filter

As long as it does the job for you, that's the main thing...You should still do a bit of research on Seachem Purigen, Seachem Matrix. Both are options you could run with your existing media....

 

[dornblaser1]

thanks man