Hi everyone,

I'd like to know what's the best combination for my 3 layer canister filter. i've got a 4ft tank that holds about 350L water with a lot of plants and 40 fish (tetras, guppies, clown loaches, cat fishes, swordtails).

I bought the filter 2nd hand and found there's some active carbon in it. should i through them away, as i don't know how long they've been there?

thanks heaps

Carbon only lasts 4-6 weeks before it starts putting its absorbed contents back into your water....so I would throw it out. I just have sponges and ceramics (small ones and big ones) in my filter (have a Fluval 303, Jebo 819 and Jebo 810).......carbon seems to a waste of time and money, unless you are removing medication after treating fish.

those eheim bio ball things last practically forever, and i use them cause they have a legendary surface area cause of their micro structure.

broken ceramic tiles are good too..

scouring pads etc can be used too.

rough/coarse gravel can work too.

thank you so much. that's really helpful.

Funny you should mention scouring pads....I know someone who used those old fashioned curlers (as in the ones that go in hair) in their filter....have not been too keen to try that though!

those eheim bio ball things last practically forever, and i use them cause they have a legendary surface area cause of their micro structure.

broken ceramic tiles are good too..

scouring pads etc can be used too.

rough/coarse gravel can work too.

Sponges are quite good too. They don't last forever, but they have a good surface area for the bacteria.

filter wool and bio noodles

those eheim bio ball things last practically forever, and i use them cause they have a legendary surface area cause of their micro structure. .

I second that. Got that in all my 20 or so eheim and aqua one filters. They cost a bit but are well worth it.

ron

IMO you cant beat Sera siporax for your bio media, apparently it has the greatest surface area per volume of all the brands.

I use ceramic noodles for the bottom stage, bio fibres and/or coarse sponge in the second stage, siporax on top.

what is siporax?

Siporax is a trade name for some of the ceramic noodle media. Another is Ehfisubstrat (or something) by Eheim. I use both and would have one layer sponge or filter wool and the others with ceramic noodles. Scouring pads, hair curlers, straws etc all work too but have nowhere near the total surface area the ceramic rings have so are less efficient.

Plenty of good suggestions. The only one I wouldn't do is use filter wool. Clogs up to quick, to easily. Once the outer layer has collected a dirt layer water just shots around it, rendering it a waste of space.

Frenchy

You can get ceramic noodles on TM cheap, less than half what the shops charge.

I have four media trays in my filter, 1 of sponge, 1 of bio balls, and two baskets of ceramic noodles.