Now I've done it. Hacked my brand new HOB

[Steves55]

Bought a new 10 gal tall to use as a planted tank 3 weeks ago. Came with a Top Fin PF10 Silentstream HOB filter.
Added a prefilter to intake tube. Kind of big but blends in with my black background. That was installed at start up. Had it in a box of stuff.

Then I removed that puny cartridge filter & plastic perforated plate & installed this Fluvial media I had laying around today.

After trimming length, width was perfect. I was afraid these 2 filters were too course but tank is crystal clear. Says flow is suppose to be from egg crate side to smooth but I installed in reverse. Not sure it matters.

Here's what it looks like now.
Tank is cycled, I tossed the old cartridge in back of tank on bottom for now. I might cut apart & put the media less carbon & frame in filter. Or not......
Should I turn that pad around? Should I cut up that old pad & put in filter or leave it? Thoughts.

 

[Autumnsky]

I would think that having the dip/wavy side at the inflow side, would help trap gunk coming in. But if you have the pre-filter which will catch a lot of it before it gets there.

You are smart to keep the filtered pad of course. You could put the old pad part in or leave it under/ near the outflow for the BB to have good circulation and O2. I'm of the practice to have as much filter media as possible. So maybe keep it in the tank add more to the back of the filter and wait for it all to build BB and cycle up all the way.

What fish are in the tank or if not, you need to be feeding the BB.

What are you going to keep in there?

 

[Steves55]

Right now- tank has 4 neon tetras I put in a few days ago. I did a fish cycle with a couple of baby koi from my pond. They are back in the pond now. I'll probably add some fancy male guppies later but it will be a planted tank mostly. I've never had much luck with plants but decided to give it another whirl. I've had it planted since day one which I read it helps with cycle. I have a small amazon sword, a couple Java ferns, couple Windelov java ferns, and a few Anubias. The sword will probably get too big & if it does- maybe I'll dive into a bigger planted tank with CO2 later & move them. The sword and one of the Anubias already has a couple of new leaves. So this morning, I pulled the old filter pad, cut it up saving the floss & sticking it in the HOB.