media for canister filter

[GeeZeusWoks]

So i am getting a 4 stage canister filter, been reading up on some threads saying that carbon is not necessary for the aquarium

i am planning to have from top to bottom :

bio-balls
ceramic rings
??? (suppose to be carbon) idk what to replace it with
and pads

any idea what i should replace the carbon with ?

 

[shellieca]

So i am getting a 4 stage canister filter, been reading up on some threads saying that carbon is not necessary for the aquarium

i am planning to have from top to bottom :

bio-balls
ceramic rings
??? (suppose to be carbon) idk what to replace it with
and pads

any idea what i should replace the carbon with ?

It was suggested to me to use poly fill or Seachems purigen, I'm going to go with poly fill & see how that works.

 

[Rivercats]

I have canisters with both 3 and 4 media baskets. I generally use Polyfill in the first filtration basket, the Purgen, and lastly bio-media. When I have 4 baskets I either use the 4th basket for more Polyfill or more Bio-media depending on what I feel is best for that tank.

 

[phin]

Chemi-Pure or Chemi-Pure elite as a replacement for carbon might be a good choice. it also depends on if you are keeping live plants. If you are, you don't want anything that will absorb nutrients. In a heavily planted tank, the plants act as the chemical filtration.

 

[blert]

I prefer using a coarse pad or sponge in the first basket and then polyfill, or a finer pad or sponge in the next. This helps keeps the finer material from getting clogged too fast.
After those, ceramic rings in the last basket.
If a fourth basket is available I usually leave it empty in case carbon needs to be added at some future date or I need to create some seeded media.

 

[Moobs99]

After reading this Iv realised iv got my backwards opps lol

 

[blert]

After reading this Iv realised iv got my backwards opps lol

It all depends on which way your canister flows, top to bottom or bottom to top. Stack in the direction of flow: coarse -> medium -> fine -> chemical -> bio. Some folks swap bio and chem around.

 

[Zimmanski]

It all depends on which way your canister flows, top to bottom or bottom to top. Stack in the direction of flow: coarse -> medium -> fine -> chemical -> bio. Some folks swap bio and chem around.

Even then you could switch it around even more, fluval for their 06s recommends coarse - medium - bio - chem - fine.

I ended up setting my 406 like the instructions said even though I'll probably change it now that I see everyone does it different haha

 

[MMantelli]

I have a 4 stage I do it coarse, medium, fine, chem, bio, fine in my 55 cichlid tank and it looks awesome I also just switched from carbon to chemi-pure elite and it was like wwIII in there for the first ten minutes after I kicked the filter back on lol we will see if it really does what it says it does

 

[MMantelli]

Update on the chem pure elite wow it doesn't even look like there's water in the tank

 

[phin]

Yeah, that stuff makes your water invisible clear. lasts a while too.