Filter Media

[KpT]

Hey everyone

Just a quicky

What filter media should i be using to replace inisd emy new hang on filter?
People say they usually come with rubbish ones and then you can go out and buy decent stuff.
But i dont know what that stuff is?

The filter is of the make CLEAR SEAL and is suitable for tanks 2ft to 4ft

It has a tiny rectangular bio sponge and also inside the main box is a slide in thing with a polyester pad attatched to it as the main filter media.

Im thinking i can stuff it full off a lot more media as that one will surely get full of **** quite quickly.

Any ideas please

Thanks

Sam

PS; Ill be going to get the media this weekend
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[Honeythorn]

If the tank is already running and cycled or cycling then replacing the media will destroy the cycle and remove all your beneficial bacteria. If you haven't set it up yet , then you can try and use something different. Ceramic media may work ( and are considered one of the better types of media because they provide a lot of surface area ) but without seeing a picture of the filter it's hard to tell. Don't stuff it crammed full either. You need the water to be able to flow properly over and through whatever you put in there.

 

[england]

as said dont cram it full of media, go by the guide lines
as it has to flow,,,,,,,sponges are good for media, but as stated again, is it already running?if so do not worry about replacing sponges as you only have to wash them out in a bucket<brought solely for tank use>of tank water,,,,,some media like carbon will need to be replaced as it loses it activeness, but i only have sponges and seramics in my filters
they say on the box to replace frequently but you do not need to do this

 

[webber555]

I have a question related to this, without starting a new thread... - my internal filter has two sections that have filter wool in them - I was going to replace one section at a time so I don't remove all the bacteria at once. Could I put sponges in instead of wool? The design is fairly simple and as I understand it won't really matter as long as the filter flows fine. Is this correct? will it matter that one half of the filter is filled with wool and the other half sponge?

 

[drobbyb]

I have a question related to this, without starting a new thread... - my internal filter has two sections that have filter wool in them - I was going to replace one section at a time so I don't remove all the bacteria at once. Could I put sponges in instead of wool? The design is fairly simple and as I understand it won't really matter as long as the filter flows fine. Is this correct? will it matter that one half of the filter is filled with wool and the other half sponge?

You can replace the wool with sponges.

 

[Honeythorn]

Yes you can replace with sponge. The half and half thing should work just fine. Wool simply filters the finer particles that the sponge can't trap. Both will house your bacteria.

 

[webber555]

thanks!

 

[KpT]

Hey

Everyone seems so eager to tell me that i shouldnt replace media hardly at all.

The way i see filter media is that youve got the sponges that do the hard work that you wash in ya tank water and put back in and keep doing so for a long time and youve got your polyester which yes i do have in bulk at the moment which you replace every week because surely once its gone completely brown its reached saturation or whatever you wana call it.

So basically im thinking i need these sponges and maybe some ceramic balls too

Thanks

 

[tenohfive]

Hey

Everyone seems so eager to tell me that i shouldnt replace media hardly at all.

The way i see filter media is that youve got the sponges that do the hard work that you wash in ya tank water and put back in and keep doing so for a long time and youve got your polyester which yes i do have in bulk at the moment which you replace every week because surely once its gone completely brown its reached saturation or whatever you wana call it.

So basically im thinking i need these sponges and maybe some ceramic balls too

Thanks

The rule with filter media is that you only replace it when its falling apart. Personally I squeeze mine out monthly in a bucket of tank water, which loses some of the worst of the gunk and keeps it flowing. But you don't replace normal filter media.

The exception is carbon which is used to remove chemicals and as said above, loses its 'activeness' over time. Personally I don't use carbon except after I've been using med's - carbon removes them after I've finished treating.

 

[Honeythorn]

Hey

Everyone seems so eager to tell me that i shouldnt replace media hardly at all.

The way i see filter media is that youve got the sponges that do the hard work that you wash in ya tank water and put back in and keep doing so for a long time and youve got your polyester which yes i do have in bulk at the moment which you replace every week because surely once its gone completely brown its reached saturation or whatever you wana call it.

So basically im thinking i need these sponges and maybe some ceramic balls too

Thanks

No. When it's gone completely brown you just swish it round in a bucket of tankwater to rinse it exactly the same as a sponge. There's no need to replace it until it is literally falling to bits and not useable.

 

[OldMan47]

A lot depends on what kind of media you have and how much of each KpT.
In my case I cleaned my XP3 yesterday. I removed and cleaned 2 coarse sponges and 2 fine sponges. Then I rinsed out 2 baskets full of biomedia, bioballs in one and pot scrubbers in the other. Then I decided to add somefiber type media to the spaces in the bioballs tray so that I could have easily moved media in that filter for future use. Next I removed the thin layer of filter floss polisher that had turned brown and cut it into 4 pieces. I put 2 of the pieces in each of 2 other filters to help get them cycled and replaced the floss in my XP3 with new. Finally I cleaned out the pump housing and impe3ller and put everything back together. I had to put it together 3 times because I kept misaligning one of the baskets and the lid didn't go on easily until I got it lined up. I put ther filter back in place, primed it by opening the valves from the tank and plugged it in. Next I went to my bucket of cleaning water and poured it into 2 of my 10 gallon tanks that I had just added the floss to. This stuff that came out of my filter should be rich with bacteria so I was using it as if it was some bactinettes to help get my new filters going. The net result is that I replaced maybe 10% or less of my media in that filter but I chose what to replace based on the impact it would have on my bacterial colonies.
You have the same kind of choices to make. You can change as much or as little of your media as you choose to do but you should keep in mind what the end result will be on your bacterial colonies. If you want to change a part and are sure the filter will work OK without that part of your biomedia, go ahead. Nobody wants to dictate how you do things and I would not like anyone dictating how I clean mine. I do what seems best to me.