Filter And Media Set Up ?

[Fishythekid]

ok i have a 75gal. with a fluval 305 on it and my question is what kind of media should i use and how should i stack it. also can i add some finer filter cloth to it or not. any other useful tips would be great also thx

 

[Fishythekid]

anyone? or do i have the wrong forum

 

[*Fishkies*]

Be patient, sometimes it takes a while to get a response. Well it is a fluval canister, so i would stick to the basic fluval materials until you understand how it all works. It also depends sometimes on how many fish are in your tank for what kind of media and how much of it you need to use.

 

[dc3]

Hi
When you say finer cloth - you mean Fluval's water-polishing pad, right? I've contemplated getting it too (got a 304) - right now I've for the hexagonal bits in the bottom layer (used to remove heavy debris from what the box said) and the top two layers are all bio media. I'm not a fan of activated carbon, so I am not running any.
My LFS treats Fluval like it was the spawn of the devil, so from what I've seen you have a couple of differnt media options

1) Activated carbon (black granules)
2) Ammonia remover (white granules)
3) Phosphate remover (good for handling algae problems)
4) water polishing pad
5) bio media
6) pre filter media (hex bits)


I guess in the long run, I'd like to experiment stuffing plain ole filter floss into the bottom baskets where the hex-bits are now - but I don't appear to have any fine particles to catch for now

 

[rdd1952]

First off, one Fluval 305 isn't enough filtration for a 75 gallon tank. It is only rated at 265 gph and the minimum is at least 5 times the tank volume which would be 375 gph. I am running 2 304s (the previous version) on my 75 gallon tank. For a 4' tank i ersonally think it is better to have dual filters and heaters to provide better circulation and temperature control.

The only media I use are the 4 sponges and the ceramic rings although I did add some of the Matrix Bio-Max too. I don't use carbon as it has to be changed too often and is primarily a chemical filter anyway. I would stay away from any type media that says it "removes ammonia, nitrite and nitrate". If it removes ammonia and nitrite, your tank won't cycle as there will be no ammonia and nitrite for te bacteria colony to feed on. And if it is removing nitrates, you'll never know if ammonia is being processed properly as there will be no nitrates. Also, if you have live plants, they will need nitrate to feed on.

 

[Fishythekid]

well i knew my filter wouldnt have been enough so i guess im getting another one but when it comes to water i am lost ive been testing it alot and my amonia is off the chart even tho ive changed at least 65 gal. of water out of it in the past 3 weeks if not more and they still read high i have no idea whats going on

 

[rdd1952]

Part of that is that the filter can't process the water enough and that you don't have enough bacteria either. To lower the ammonia, you need to do daily (or twice daily) water changes of 15 to 20 percent so the ammonia level get back at least under 1 ppm and preferable under .25. What fish do you currently have in the tank.