Canister filter questions

I recently bought a used fluval 205 for my 30 gallon cichlid tank I'm starting up. I was wondering what the best combination of media to use for the baskets. There are 3 trays plus 2 spots for foam pads

I'd go with coarse media, like the ceramic noodles or the media that looks like gravel. This will be your biomedia to support bacterial colonies, and the foam will be mechanical filtration to trap debris. If you have a greater need for mechanical media then use filter floss in one of the trays.

TankGirl wrote:

I'd go with coarse media, like the ceramic noodles or the media that looks like gravel. This will be your biomedia to support bacterial colonies, and the foam will be mechanical filtration to trap debris. If you have a greater need for mechanical media then use filter floss in one of the trays.

I use Biomax ceramic media in every tray. Works very well. You want to have at least two trays with bio media in them so that when you have to change it out you won't completely lose your bio filter. I prefer all three trays be filled with bio media to allow a little more time between changes and cleaning depending on how quickly it gets dirty. I use polishing pads before each tray to help filter out any fine particles that might plug up the bio media. Seems to work great on all my canisters.

I would also like to add that if you use a pre filter on the intake tube of your canister it will help immensely. It catches all the larger mechanical type debris and gives you a good visual indicator of when it needs to be cleaned. By keeping all those larger debris out of the canister it won't get clogged so much and will really cut back on the need to replace filter pads. All you have to do is rise one tray of bio media in the old tank water after a water change once in awhile. My filter pads stay fairly clean and I can keep them in there till they are ready to fall apart!

sea chem matrix is also good, along with the eheim stuff is super good but expesnive. you want a cheap media? lava rock. yes lava rock it will work you can go to lowes or home depot and by the 2-3mm size grains of lava rock and break them down small, and use it as media.. nitrobacter and nitrosonomas will cling to the lava rock... there you go good bio media with out much money spent.. so more money for more stuff for your aquariums

There are definitely lots if combinations. Is carbon ok to use? I bought a box of carbon and biomax ceramic rings and something called clearmax

yes carbon is okay to use.... some people don't use it because it can strip out medication, or aquatic plant ferts from the tank...

Once carbon has become saturated (with adsorbed particles from the chemical filtration process) it will re-release these compounds back into the aquarium. This makes it useless, unless you change it out religiously with fresh every couple of weeks or less.

TankGirl wrote:

I'd go with coarse media, like the ceramic noodles or the media that looks like gravel. This will be your biomedia to support bacterial colonies, and the foam will be mechanical filtration to trap debris. If you have a greater need for mechanical media then use filter floss in one of the trays.

Awesome info!!