External Filter Media

[dalios]

I am running an internal and external filter, the internal which is the juwel compact has the course, fine sponge etc.
 
My external canister filter has bio balls ceramic rings and active carbon in 3 filter trays which all have white filter floss which i will need to change every 2months more or less.
I can replace the floss with the same as whats in there or i can change it for the blue course sponge which i shouldnt have to replace after that as they can be cleaned where as the floss needs to be changed after a short time.
 
Question is what would be better the floss or the course sponge and what is the difference in the two
 
I have a community tank 180L
 
Thanks

 

[Gruntle]

I wouldn't suggest changing your filter floss until it falls apart. Yes, it gets dirty and mucky looking, but it also contains the bacteria you need.
 
Just clean it as best you can in a bucket of water from your fish tank. I give mine a good squeezing under the water and then swish it for as long as I can.

 

[KirkyArcher]

I'd recommend you 1st dump the carbon (no need for it in a healthy aquarium) then I'd suggest you set your basket arrangement to do all the primary mechanical filtration in the 1st basket (sponge and single layer of floss) then the bio balls in tray 2 and then the ceramic rings in the 3rd both these trays should not require any additional floss, would also recommend that if your ceramics are quite shiny forms that you replace them with a more course and porous version.    

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have used floss in 18-20 tanks for many years. it is changed weekly. it is useless as a bio-media and pretty cheap. The floss is there to tray the finest particles. Course sponges will trap larger particles. The result is that floss is designed to clog. No matter how much your rinse it you wont get it really clean. Over time trapped organic continue to break down. ultimately this reaches a point where they are small enough to get out of the floss and back into the water and at that size they don't get retrapped.
 
Anything that traps and holds wastes is not a useful bio-media. If one doesn't use fancy bio-media but tends to rely on sponges (me for one), then different sponges are a good idea. Sponges have different levels of porosity (how much open space there is vs solid material to provide surfaces for the bacteria). Lower porosity, i.e. coarser sponges are better for mechanical filtration and those with a higher PPI (more solid surfaces per inch) are best for hosting bacteria. So in KA's example above, use the coarse sponges and floss in the first part of the flow and then use a finer sponge (higher PPI) next to host the bacteria.
 
No matter how well we try to make this all work one should be aware there will usually be some bacteria living in the coarse mechanical media just as there will be some gunk that makes it into the finer sponge used for the bacteria. nothing is perfect
 
For example of sponges/foam with varying porosity have a look here http/www.swisstropicals.com/filtration-shop/

 

[dalios]

I'd recommend you 1st dump the carbon (no need for it in a healthy aquarium) then I'd suggest you set your basket arrangement to do all the primary mechanical filtration in the 1st basket (sponge and single layer of floss) then the bio balls in tray 2 and then the ceramic rings in the 3rd both these trays should not require any additional floss, would also recommend that if your ceramics are quite shiny forms that you replace them with a more course and porous version. 

   

Hi thanks for the feedback, i was not sure what the active carbon was for but as it came with the canister filter i put it in there i will get rid of it if it is no use.
 
I will set it up as you say kirky soon as i order some of the sponge filters, when you say the 1st basket do you mean the first basket in the bottom or the 1st basket at the top?
 
Also is it worth me putting floss in the ceramic rings and bio ball baskets as i got a big roll of the stuff so wouldnt cost me anything?
 
Thank you

 

[KirkyArcher]

The 1st basket is the one that the water flows through from the intake, in the vast majority of externals that would be the bottom basket

Just stick with floss in this basket, floss above ceramic or Bio media baskets will encourage the pores getting clogged and these pores are there to be home for your nitrifying bacteria.

 

[dalios]

Thanks for the info matey will do that soon as i get the stuff.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I refine KA's suggestion in my filters and use two different mech media in the first basket. Solid wastes come in all sizes from larger things like big poop, bits of plants, lost scales etc, as well as finer particles as in organics partially broken down, small bits of uneaten food etc. Ideally, the first media would be a fairly course one such as a low porosity sponge or ceramic noodles such as Eheim Ehfimech which trap large wastes and allow for good flow through. This would go in about the first 50-65% of the 1st basket which would then be topped off with floss. If one has a well planted tank you can increase the use of floss by starting with another layer beneath a reduced amount of bio-media (less is needed because of the plants).


 
By trapping the coarser solids in the noodles, the floss is free for maximum trapping of what it does best, fine wastes. And by heading off the large stuff before the floss, it takes longer to clog up. I have also found it doesn't hurt to have another floss pad at the top of the final basket before the water exits the filter. Despite my best effort to prevent it, some finer stuff seems to make it through the filtration and this one last pad manages to grab a bunch of it before it can return to the water in the aquarium.

 

[dalios]

The 1st basket is the one that the water flows through from the intake, in the vast majority of externals that would be the bottom basket

Just stick with floss in this basket, floss above ceramic or Bio media baskets will encourage the pores getting clogged and these pores are there to be home for your nitrifying bacteria.

Quick question when i get my course blue sponge i get 3 of them, in the bottom basket should i have just one course and then the floss on top or 2 or even 3 course on top of each other then the floss, thought would ask.
 
Thanks