Best Media To Use Inside Canister Filter

[hernanhr]

Can anyone help me find the best combinations of media to use inside a Cascade 1500 canister filter?

I recently purchased a Cascade 1500 filter for my 150 Gal tank, I trying to find out what would be the best combination of media to use in the baskets.
My idea is to put.
Basket 1) 3 Floss
Basket 2) Bio-rings
Basket 3) 1 Floss and 1 Ammonia remover pack (We were told the water had a lot of ammonia)
Basket 4) 1 Floss and 2 Charcoal packs (Small packs of charcoal, came with the Fluval)
Basket 5) 1 Charcoal pad and 1 Charcoal pack (Large charcoal pack came with Cascade 1500)

Is this a good mix? What is the best combination?
Someone told me not to use carbon in the filter all the time, they said that charcoal should only be used for a month or so and then remove it. Anyone know why? I’ve used charcoal for over a year in my 38 Gal tank using a Fluval 405 filter. We’ve never had any trouble. We about 50 fish, some big and some small, our fish measure about 90inches total.

Thanks for the help

hrh

 

[SJ2K]

Carbon wont cause problems, it just wont do anything useful after a while.

Sounds all good to me Id replace all that carbon with more bio-rings though.

 

[hernanhr]

So are you saying
Basket 1) 3 Floss
Basket 2) Bio-rings
Basket 3) Bio-rings
Basket 4) 1 Floss and 1 Ammonia remover pack (I was told our Ammonia was high)
Basket 5) 1 Charcoal pad (The pad came with the filter)
Or
Basket 5) Bio-rings

Seems like a lot of bio-rings, maybe I should have some more floss or something else to help clear the water? Your thoughts?


hrh

 

[n3ont3tra]

Not sure if you know this, but there's 3 kinds of mechanical filtration.
Mechanical, which is usually sponges, floss, pads, etc to help keep debris out of the water. Don't need to be replaced very often.
Chemical, which is usually unessecary. There's many different kinds... zeolite, carbon and charcoal are examples. Usually should be replaced at least once a month.
Biological, which is the most important. It is where most of the good bacteria lives, which converts ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate. This is things like biorings, bioballs, foam, and ceramic media. These things have a very large surface area for the bacteria to grow on.

If it was me, I'd only use sponges. But if you've already had that stuff in the filter for a while, you'll want to switch it out slowly, over a few weeks/months.

 

[Iron Man]

old fashioned style nylon pot scrubbers like you buy at the dollar store 3 for a dollar are the best biological filtration media that exist. There was a study done on it years ago and I've tried to find it since but I can't. Ever since then I have kept a coarse sponge at the bottom of my Eheim 2217, followed by 9 pot scrubbers, followed by some polyester pillow stuffing. Works like a charm, and water crystal clear forever. It loves you long time.