Mechanical filtration

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josh120775

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 8, 2014
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3
Looking to get some opinions on the need for mechanical filtration. I have a canister filter, marine land c360, and I'm wondering if I can do biological only filtration? I currently have the course black foam type filters in the bottom and the fiber filter floss type material in the top. The rest is plastic balls and seachem matrix biomedia. I have no issues with water quality at the moment and I regular, usually weekly, 25% water changes on my 75 gallon.
 
Looking to get some opinions on the need for mechanical filtration. I have a canister filter, marine land c360, and I'm wondering if I can do biological only filtration? I currently have the course black foam type filters in the bottom and the fiber filter floss type material in the top. The rest is plastic balls and seachem matrix biomedia. I have no issues with water quality at the moment and I regular, usually weekly, 25% water changes on my 75 gallon.

The problem with bio-media only is that all the chunks of organic material will tend to clog and damage your filter, plus the leftover chunks will break down into dust that causes a nitrate spike. Chemical filtration is the only one that I really consider optional. You might be able to counter the nitrate spike with 50% weekly changes, especially if you're vacuuming the gravel well and cleaning the filter every week, but it's definitely easier maintenance and extends the life of your filter to keep the mechanical filtration foam layers in there.
 
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