Marineland Emperor 280 filter

[Msradell]

I've been using the above-mentioned filter on my 30 gallon aquarium since setting it up about 6 years ago. I've always used the standard E size filter in the 1st slot and a media container with charcoal in it for the 2nd slot. I've recently been rethinking my set up in the filter. What kind of setup does anyone else use?

One of my thoughts is to use Seachem SeaGel or Purigen in place of the charcoal.

 

[xwing]

A canister filter is the best hey handle more media move more water per hour and therefore keep a tank crystal clear.

The bad part of the behind the back filter is they don't move enough water and the cartridge is were the bacteria live so when you change them out you throw away all your good bacteria

 

[Msradell]

It's my understanding that with the Emperor series filters the bacteria actually lives on the wheel and isn't disturbed when you change media. Since I'm disabled I just don't want to mess with the problems of canister filters and I have plenty of flow in the 28 for a 30 gallon tank.

 

[Fresh2o]

In the media container swap out the carbon with ceramic media. Either the noodles or large granules (Fluval, Ehiem, etc). At some point if you decide to remove the biowheel, the BB will be residing in the ceramic media. Or leave them both in place.

Rinse the floss cartridge frequently since it will serve primarily as mechanical filtration. You can use a strong flow straight from the tap to remove the debris.

I ran an emperor 280 for a few years but it got too loud so I switched to the Fluval aqua clear series.

 

[xwing]

The problem with the emperor series is yes it's true some bacteria stays in the bio wheel but you still lose bacteria when you change the media

Also no matter what I always filter at Least double what I need say I have a 40g I buy something rated for a 70g and here is why all filters have a gph they say or claim meaning gallons per hour. This are commonly over stead but even if they were accurate they get slower with time so if you start higher than you need you will run to fewer problems .

Now back to the canister vs a behind the back i don't service my canister but every 3 months or so and even than I don't throw away the bio balls or anything else I just rinse it in tank water throw away the water in the filter and I am good for at least another 3 months so while it seems they are more expensive in the long run they are cheaper and don't make hardly any noise

 

[dmolavi]

I use 2 Penguin filters on my FW tank. I got rid of the biowheels (they really don't add anything to the mix, read this: Do Bio Wheels really work? Bio-Wheel Review ). I use a 50 micron polishing pad, some coarse filter floss, Seachem Matrix, and Seachem Purigen in the boxes of my filters. The water is pristine. At each water change, I rinse the polishing pad and filter floss in old tank water to get rid of the build up, but that doesn't kill the BB living in them.

I've been doing this for about 2 years with zero negative side effects.