just got a new fluval 204 help with media

[875mill]

I just got a new Fluval 204 for my 29 gallon tank was wanting some suggestions on what kinds of media you guys like to use. I currently have bio rings in the top section and nothing in the middle or bottom two. Was thinking of adding bio ring to the second compartment, but wasnt sure if that would be over kill. Is there something i could add to the middle or bottom for water polishing?

Thx in advance.

 

[crazycat]

use the bio rings in the bottom compartment. you can use filter floss in the top compartment for polishing. the water enters from the bottom up, so you want the heavy duty filtration at the bottom and the floss at the top. be sure to rinse the floss out often, cuz it can get very gunked up depending on your bioload. the more gunky it gets, it can cut down on your flow. you could use bio rings in both bottom compartments--more surface area for you beneficial bacterial.

i personally use crushed coral in one of mine, but that's cuz i need to raise my kh for injected co2.

hth

 

[Zezmo]

You can also buy the sponge that Fluval makes to go in there. I have 2x 304's
In one I have rings in the bottom, Lava rock in the middle, and a sponge on top. The other has rings in the bottom, half rings and half sponge in the middle, and sponge on top.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

You can add more biorings, as well as lava rock media. All works good, and don't need replacing. And floss is also good in the upper basket as was mentioned above, works good to polish the water. I have the XP3 and use 2 floss pads in my upper basket. Works great.

I use 4 sponges in the lower basket, rings and lava rock in the middle basket, and in the upper basket, the lower half has bio stars, and the upper half has 2 floss pads.

 

[crazycat]

are those sponges that you put in the baskets in addition to the sponges that get inserted on the side of the baskets?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

On the XP3, there's no sponges on the sides of the baskets. But you can have more in the baskets if you want, as well as other media.

 

[875mill]

The fluval has one big sponge on the side takes up half the canister, so I think I'm good there. The instructions that came with the filter says you should always keep the bio rings in the top because you want the water to be as clean as possible when it get to them to prevent all the pores from clogging with crud. It also says to never put floss in the top to help prevent any strands from getting into the impeller.
Which is the opposite of what you guys are saying. So I'm thourghly confused now.
Btw what is the lava rock for is like a bio media to?

 

[CGGorman]

I've been running floss in the top basket of my Fluval 304 since I got it (several years, don't remember exactly when). I AM considering putting the bio media on top instead, though. Makes sense to have the cleanest water going through that section...

My experience with the Fluval sponges is that they allow a HUGE amount of material to bypass them. I seem to catch more solids in my floss than I do in the sponges.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I have the floss in the top as well, as the sponges do a pretty good job of removing most of the crud anyways. All that's left are the smaller particles that the floss will remove before going back to the tank.

Yes, the lava granules are another type of media like the ceramic rings and cylinders. But with the lava granules, you need to rinse off well before adding, as they can be very dusty. But they work great, and you never have to replace them. As for the ceramic rings, if you get a few rings that look clogged, you can either rinse them out or replace the clogged rings. It won't hurt the cycle, as if you replace, you'll just be replacing 2 or 3 rings out of a whole basket full. Personally, I would just use a tooth pick and poke through and then rinse the crud out so it's not clogged any more. But as long as I've been using them, still have no clogged rings, going on 10 months in my Emperor 280.

 

[mrzap]

Right now I have the charcoal packs it came with in the bottom and bio rings in the upper two baskets. I am going to replace the charcoal with more biorings.

I hope I don't make a mess when I disconnect things to replace the media

 

[Lonewolfblue]

You shouldn't have a mess. It should go pretty easily...

 

[Zagz]

Another cheap alternative to bio balls or ceramic rings are pot scrubbers,the plastic ones work great! Filter floss can be purchased at places like Walmart as 100% polyester pillow stuffing. Same stuff but far cheaper!

 

[mrzap]

wow that was effortless lonewolf, fluval has a good design there. I took out the charcoal packs from the bottom, put prefilter ceramic things in the bottom basket, left the bio media in the second tray, and a few more bio rings that I had leftover plus some extra prefilters in the top tray. I figure the more surface area for bactera the better.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Sounds great. Good job....

 

[Lonewolfblue]

That's how my XP3 was when I did a practice maintenance, but to see how it would go. Was effortless. Took under 5 minutes for a full maintenance.

 

[dscount]

Actually the Fluval 204 has water INTO the large filter sponge section (4 pads) that take up 1/2 the canister. Then I've got Characoal in the bottom, followed by BIO's and then another Characoal. Then in the top (3rd Basket) I have another small characoal bag. It's got a half tray as well SO I'm thinking less characoal and maybe fill that top (Of three) tray with LR instead. Water flow I "Think" goes from top to bottom on the three trays. Main reason since the outbound water flow is above this section.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I'm not sure how the Fluval is, but on the XP3, it goes up the middle, sponges being at the bottom, then my other media in the middle, then my floss in the top. I personally use no charcoal, just ceramic cylinders, lava granules, and bio-stars for my media. And I'm thinking yours goes from bottom to top as well, through the sponges first, then gets drawn up from the bottom through all the baskets and out the top.

 

[dscount]

Yup. Sounds right. I sometimes find large particles in the sponge (Baby Bristle worms) and nothing in the three baskets from bottom to top. (Coal, Bio's, Coal and empty 1/2 tray in basket three).

 

[mrzap]

From the looks of the diagram on drfostersmith it goes around like a U

 

[LindaC]

I've been reading this thread with interest, I'm currently thinking about purchasing a new filter for my 29 gallon planted tank. The filter I currently have on there is a Tetra whisper 40, HOB and I don't think it does as good a job as it should. I took it off the tank last night to clean it and as I was removing it from the tank, all this gunk came out of it and out into my tank, it was horrible. I clean it totally at least once a month and I clean all the tubing on it regularly. I had put a charcoal filter in there to remove the fertilizer that I had recently added to my tank, because I thought it may be causing the algea problem I was having, and when I took it out, it was so dirty, it almost disintegrated in my hands. I now have a huge piece of cotton fiber filter medium in there. Is Fluval one of the best filters that I can purchase and is it pricey? I just purchased an Aqua Clear 20 for my 10 gallon. The filter that came with that tank is also a Tetra Whisper but it's a very small one and you can turn down the water flow.

Would people suggest that I get a Fluval? Do they sell them in LFS or are they only available online?