Alfagrog ?

[vanderdraay]

Hi im just wondering can i use alfagrog in my external filter instead of noodles , i know its extremely porous and have only read about it on marine tanks but could i use this in a tropical setup to harbour a good bacteria ?ive just found some on fleabay at a good price and seems cheaper than the biomax media... your thoughts would be appreciated...

many thanks paul

 

[mattlee]

i think it would be fine to use. it is however quite large in rough ball shapes if i remember right so it would leave lots of space between each ball. surface area is a great help with substrate and i feel it would be reduced by using alfagrog in an external. i know people that have used it in sumps so its use is no issue but i would be inclined to go foe smaller stuff for an external. eheim substrat pro is a good media to use, small bobbly balls that give great surface area

i guess it depends on the size of the external though....

 

[vanderdraay]

its a fluval fx5 and just trying to decide what media to put into it and what will work best .

 

[mattlee]

its a fluval fx5 and just trying to decide what media to put into it and what will work best .

i currently run a pair of FX5 on one of my tanks. i have filled 1 basket in each filter with fluval biomax the 2nd basket contains a mixture of eheim substrat pro and eheim biomech and the 3rd has a few cut up sponges incase i need to seed another tank quickly. i wouldnt bother with any floss or extra sponge or filter pads as they clog up very fast. i was cleaning mine out every week due to decreased flow as the floss etc became very clogged up...... the only sponges etc you should need are the 6 that come with it. i now can leave it a few months before i need to clean the FX5's

i dont really think that you would benefit from using alfagrog in an FX5 though as you wouldnt fit much in. although the FX5 is a big powerfull unit the media volume isnt that big compared to some of the other big filters.