Hello fellow Oscar parents!!!

[Hugo&BossMom]

Hi!! My name is Samantha, and I'm a brand new Oscar mom!!! I got my 2 babies at the end of May 2022. They were only a 1/2 inch long. They are now over 5 inches!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!

I have some questions though. I've never had a canister filtration system before, and I purchased a Sunsun 303B 4 stage filtration system. I was curious what others use for media, chemical and otherwise. There are so many options out there I don't know what to chose for media. I am using the standard sponges coarse, medium and fine. I've been using Seachem products only and so far so good, but there's so many to choose from?!! HELP!!!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF

I use these in all of my filters, they last practically forever, and are easy to rinse: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HHSG5M/?tag=ff0d01-20

You'll need mesh bags to keep them together, I use the nylon mesh bags you get at the grocery store that have fruits/veggies in them...or the mesh bags on Butterball turkeys...just make sure to wash thoroughly first

 

[Colin_T]

Hi Samantha and welcome to the forum

The only filter media/ material you need is sponge. Most other types of media are gimmicks or unnecessary additions.

Carbon is a black granulated substance used to remove chemicals and heavy metals from water. If you have chemicals and heavy metals in the water, you want to filter it through carbon before adding it to the tank, or drinking it. Carbon can be used if there is an accidental poisoning in the aquarium (eg: someone drops a chemical into the tank). Apart from that it doesn't need to be used.

Ammogon/ Zeolite is a white granulated substance used to remove ammonia form the water. It interferes with the development of the beneficial filter bacteria and should not be used unless there is a sudden increase in ammonia. Then the quickest way to fish that is by doing a big (75-80%) water change and gravel cleaning the substrate.

Ceramic beads/ noodles, bioballs, etc are simply used to hold bacteria. A sponge does the same job and traps gunk too, so is a better option.

Filter floss/ white filter matting is simply used to trap fine particles that haven't been caught by the sponges. It's not really necessary if you do regular tank and filter maintenance.

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Established filters should be cleaned at least once a month. The filter media (sponges) can be squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and the media re-used. The bucket of dirty water gets poured on the lawn outside.

Oscars are messy fish that have a high protein diet. This increases the number of disease organisms in the water and their tank needs to be cleaned regularly otherwise they get health issues. An Oscar tank should get a 75% water change and gravel clean once a week to help keep nutrients and disease organisms at low levels. You should also monitor the nitrates in the water and if they go above 20ppm between water changes, do water changes more often (2 times a week).
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.