Canister filter media

Had a call from an aquaintance yesterday. She can't afford the filter media for the baskets in her Fluval canister filter. Her lfs guy told her there was no substitute for the fluval media, that she had to use it only.
I told her that in the baskets that don't have the ceramic media she could use filter floss and sandwich charcoal between it. This is what I'm doing and it's working great. She repeated what I told her to the lfs guy and he said I gave her bad advice and if she listened to me then her canister filter would fail. Now she's questioning my judgement which makes me feel like crud. Do any of you see anything wrong with what I told her?

nope that will work, in my opinion the worker doesn't know what he is talking about. want to know what the orenitals use... they use lava rock, and it works... i use lava rock and it works no problem.

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! You don't even need to buy aquarium filter floss - I use pillow stuffing from Walmart. It costs a dollar or two for a giant bag. Just be sure it is the kind that does not have any treatment for flame or mold, and is simply polyester fluff.

I don't use charcoal in any of my tanks. Just rigid media (ceramic, lava, coarse gravel) and floss.

Ooh, I'm going to look into that pillow stuffing! Thanks for making me feel better, it was really bothering me.

Ridiculous!!!! I haven't purchased brand-specific store-bought media of ANY kind for a long time. There is nothing magic about Fluval's (or any other brand's) foam or micro pads etc.... Some people prefer the ease of pre-cut-to-fit stuff and don't mind spending all the extra $s / some people don't mind spending a few creative minutes to come up with much more affordable alternatives.

LOL, that guy is just trying to make a sale
I havent bought precut media either in years or charcoal, I just wash my media and keep using it.

That LFS guy is on crack. She needs to ask him to name any natural spot that has fluval products in the water to naturally cycle it. I have yet to hear about Lake Fluval on National Geographic. Bacteria aren't label whores; they'll settle where there is any surface area to settle. Be it polyester filling, lava rock, poret foam; we use these because it provides the most surface area in the smallest space provided in filters. Filter manufacturers just happen to make these things too because they conveniently fit in their filters.

Ask your friend what brand of cosmetics she uses. After that ask her if she bought that same brand of cotton balls, that same brand of brushes and makeup sponges and cotton swabs--right down to the same brand in towels that she dries her face with. If no, then she should be asked what the reasoning behind her thought process was and whether it is not affecting her beauty. If yes, then she's a consumer ditz and no amount of explaining is going to get her to understand. She shouldn't be complaining about money if she's wanting to buy all the brand name products, and she definitely shouldn't be attacking you especially since you offered advice to a cheaper alternative and she doesn't want to hear it. At the same time you need to be making up some fake products in her preferred brands to sell her and make some money off of stupidity.

I'm usually not this snarky.

fishface30 wrote:

Bacteria aren't label whores....."

I agree wow... the only thing that is more or less custom for those things is some of the thicker foam but even that can but subbed.

Only caution I would give about misc filter media is that if you use anything that has fine beads make sure it is in a bag of some short. I had a FX5 impeller die when little chucks of charcoal got sucked through a filter pad and into the motor housing.

Outside of that... just about anything works as filter media. Fluval makes lots of "special" media but I mean if you added in ceramic whatever to there it won't matter who makes it. Lava rocks and well almost anything porous works great, heck pot scrubbers even work!

Sounds like a sale to me... point your friend to this site and thread if she needs more proof. Ask her if that guy is getting paid to sell her something or if you have been doing this and it works for you!