fishinboots Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 In my filter I had those black granules but they always came out of the canister section. I replaced it with just some foam I got from the LFS. So now I have 2 of those sponge pads in the middle section, the hollow cylinders in bottom section; the foam on the top. This is within my fluval 303. Anyway, basically just want to know, is this ok and the order of the sections? I was thinking, the cyclinders and the foam was where all the bacteria form, cause of the surface area. The foam would be good for the mechanical filtration of particles..? does that sounds right? how often should I be cleaning it out too? What media do you guys use? (SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 When you say "black granules" i take it you mean the carbon?Anyway the set up you have in the filter is fine,a better way to go would be ceramic noodles and course filter pad in the bottom section,semi course filter pad with Ehfisubstrat(or similar biological media)in the middle section and more Ehfisubstrat in the top section with a fine filter pad on top.Ehfisubstrat is a sintered glass media made by eheim and imo is about the best biological media available.As to your question on how often the filter should be cleaned that depends on how many fish are in the tank and how big the tank is.A heavily stocked tank would need the filter cleaned at least monthly or sooner if the return flow rate slows.A mildly stocked tank would need the filter cleaned every 2 months or longer again depending on the return flow rate.Don't forget to clean any media you are using for biological filtration in some aquarium water from the tank,just siphon some water out of the tank into a large bucket and rinse the media out in that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishinboots Posted September 24, 2004 Author Share Posted September 24, 2004 great, thx for your advice! Btw, what does the carbon do ? Does it have some part towards the 'chemical filtration'? Also, the fine foam I put on the top, would it contribute much to the bio filter or just for mechanical? Last time it got pretty grubby... so I just replaced it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Yes "activated carbon" is a form of chemical filtration.Some people use it and swear by what it does and others don't bother with it.I use it along with "zeolite" in some of my filters,but it's use is short term and it must be changed regularly to do any good.What size is your tank and how many fish are in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishinboots Posted September 24, 2004 Author Share Posted September 24, 2004 3 foot tank 1x e.blue 2x e.yellow 2x mainganos 4x cabros planning to get get a few more yellows and blues maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilli Powder Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 fishinboots, Personally I would not use carbon unless you have some sort of medicine to remove from your tank. Carbon does remove impurities in the water. In your filter I would use fine dacron in the bottom cartridge, coral rubble in the middle with more dacron and finally the ceramic noodles in the top cartridge. The coral rubble is great for buffering the water and it has a large surface area for the bacteria to grow on. Some say it's ineffective because it decays and the bacteria obviously decays with it but it has worked for me and for a lot of other people Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.d.m Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 the danger with carbon is that after a period of time all the impurities and chemicals that it removes can be delivered back into the tank in one go, obviously with disasterous results, Arj is spot on as its really good short term for removing medicines and chemicals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 I use ceramic pipes in all my filters or simply a bag full of rough 5mm gravel. While sintered glass is indeed excellent, gravel or ceramic pipes seem quite good in most situations and is considerably cheaper. Carbon is fine - but listen to Arj, best to use it only for short term fixes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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