swifty Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 Heya again I think ive chosen the correct forum this time. With relation to canister filters in planted tanks and this issue which was going on about me adding another filter. Ive wondered with so many different medias out there to use, i almost get lost in it and just Keep it simple. Basically in my canister im holding -Blue sponge -bio gran -filter floss Very basic (lol) This brings me to the topic of carbon in freshwater tanks. A go or a no go? Ive heard it can have effects with certain trace elements needed for plant life. But i have too heard it can help the water. So what are some things i should be looking at (general FW planted tanks) Maybe if i could get some opinions on a few speciatly products ive seen around, but ill keep that for a bit later Thanks for any help Rob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katanaone Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 i don't know if this helps(but maybe it might inspire others to answer your post) but i'm trying to steer away from using carbon in my filters due to its short usage/life period and also because often it has to be removed when medicating the tank. cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Generally, carbon is great when you're trying to pull meds or something else out of the water, else don't bother with it. If you really want to use it, use it to clean the air being sucked into the tanks - lasts for ages and pulls all the nasties out of the ambient atmosphere. When you're choosing carbon, please don't use 'coconut carbon' as it's only good for atmospheric filtration. It's potentially bad in immersed conditions (toxins produced by burning coconut husks are water soluble and somewhat nasty - the chemistry of it evades me right now but I recall it was really bad). The media packs in my cannisters are: [1] super coarse foam [2] filter floss [3] ceramic cylinders [4] bio-balls. The floss that comes with most cannisters is pretty pathetic, so I add a few more layers over time so that it catches more gunk and provides more total surface area for bacterial colonisation as the tank matures and the bioload increases. When the lower layer(s) begin to become too shabby, I remove those and replace with an extra layer on top of the stack. After about six months, one ends up with a nice fat floss layer. Total flow rate will reduce a little, but the biological filtration will be of most excellent quality. HTH. Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Other Ed Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 What sort of bio-balls fit in a canister? Do you have a pic? Ed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 re bioballs ina cannister Little ones! No pic until I disassemble again on the weekend. They are black and about half-ish the size of the blue ones that come from Aquamail / Lams / everywhere. Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Other Ed Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 and where do they come from please. Ed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlyme Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 One of the best things I ever put in a cannister was a scrunched up roll of fishing line. Craig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nornicle Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 swifty, with a planted tank there is generally a very low fish load and a very high plant load. Whatever biological action you need will probably occur in the sponge area I used to load my canisters out for planted tanks with coarse blue sponges followed by fine filter wool I usually add purigen (Seachem) to polish the water to a clarity that makes the fish look like their floating on air.. and its doesnt release toxins or pull out the good stuff like carbon.. I use it to get rid of tannins as well I now use matrix (biogran type stuff) because I like to think there is *some* anaerobic action going on.. but i doubt it. I don't use carbon cos its bad! especialy if you are lazy to clean canisters like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swifty Posted June 9, 2004 Author Share Posted June 9, 2004 yeah im just using the carbon at the moment to remove nutrients from the water to help the water clarity. Maybe ill decrease the amount of porous rocks and just have lots a blue sponge, about a 1cm layer of porpous biogran and pack it with filter wool and a purigen bag ontop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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