Also in the canister filter I can use the carbon pellets as opposed to the carbon in the bags?? Seems less cost effective to buy the pelets that aren't in the bags any special procedure to take? And ammount to put in the baskets? Its a 4 layer basket the top three are where the BB pellets are and the bottom two are where the catbon go. All the baskets are split in half also. Any advice on that woild be greatly appreciated
I forgot to mention - the carbon should be the last thing the water sees on its way out. In my canister the water goes into the bottom and is pumped through the media to the top where it goes to the aquarium. If yours is like this, you'll want the carbon in the highest basket. If yours goes the other way, reverse it. Somewhere in there you should have some mechanical filtration though. In mine (an Eheim), the first is ceramic rings, then coarse sponge, then bio media, then fine sponge/floss (polishing), then carbon. You can always move stuff around to whatever arrangements you prefer, but I'd use the carbon last.
Also, knee-high pantyhose are your friend - they're cheap nylon bags, essentially. You can use them for all your loose media. I have my ceramic rings, bio-beads and my carbon all in separate bags. They're made in such a way that you don't even have to tie them off - the top of the nylon will shrink around the media. But if you prefer, it's easy enough to tie them in a knot. And they're fine enough to hold anything you're going to put in your filter. The only thing you'll have to watch is the gunk on the nylon itself. You can rinse it or just change the bag (which is what I do) when it too clogged up.
More like "Everything you never knew you wanted to know about carbon"
Thank you for that!
Although I only use it if I need to remove meds, I thought its primary intended purpose is the removal of ammonia!! I may need you to set me straight on Purigen also.....
Glad it helped! I do have a tendency to go on a bit ...
Unfortunately I know very little about Purigen as it's a manufactured product made specifically for the aquarium industry. Not my speciality, I'm afraid, lol. I do plan to test it out though, at least get it under a microscope. It sounds a bit like a miracle cure, but people seem to like it. If I ever get some of my own data, I'll be sure to let you know.
