Help Me With Types Of Filters Please

[sjrose77]

Hello,

I am currently using an aquatech filter with the charcoal cartridges. I have found disadvantages to this though. I am always confused when I go down the filter aisle and see bags of charcoal and sponges and cotton stuff...how do you use all that stuff, can you make your own filter? I would like something where I could keep the beneficial bacteria in my filter instead of always changing the cartridge. Please enlighten me. I have read about the filters on here but I am still confused. What do you put the stuff in? what is a cannister filter? I have a 10 gallon tank. Thanks.

 

[Wills]

A cansiter filter is an external filter that sits below your tank and is typically quite large for example my filter is about the same size as your 10g tank

In a filter for your tank you want to have a mix of easy sponges, small bio rings and maybe some filter floss. Charcoal and carbon is only used to soak up medicine after a treatment it can also help to clear the water of tannins from wood but is generally not needed.

When you change your cartridges how much do you swap? If you swap all the media every time you will be starting the cycle over and over and over again and never get to the point where the tank will be fully safe. Also if your treating any illnesses in your tank with a filter full of charcoal and carbon the medicine will just be getting soaked straight up and not benefiting any of your fish if they are ill.

Wills

 

[sjrose77]

Typically when I kept fish before, I changed the whole cartridge...that is what they tell you to do! Now I realize why I had so many problems. I would have to change the whole cartridge, but what I am doing now is I put a sponge in too so that when the cartridge gets nasty I can change it but leave the sponge in. Would that work? I do not even know what bio rings and filter floss is. I will have to do research. My fish have ich and I am wondering if I should use medicine since this is a new tank, or focus on improving water condition (ammonia is high, new tank syndrome). I guess if i put medicine in I need to remove the charcoal filter, but then I am removing my beneficial bacteria. The sponge hasn't been in long enough. Please help!

 

[Shelby]

You can also rinse your cartridge out in old tank water and use it longer. Wait until it is falling apart and place it inside another cartridge instead of throwing it out.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Rose.
Do not let the filter cartridge sellers dictate how you maintain your filter. I also use cartridge filters on some of my tanks, although I prefer other filters. This is a cartridge that is typical for those filters.

When one of those filters gets dirty, I simply rinse it out well in used tank water and plop it back into the filter where I got it. I often leave the filter pump running while I clean the cartridge.
If you need to use medication, open the cartridge and remove the carbon,then return the fabric part to the filter. I can remove the clip on mine and just pour out the carbon but some are sealed and you will need to cut a slit to pour out the carbon. The carbon will not really need to be removed if the filter cartridge has been in use more than a few days. By that time the carbon filter effect is pretty much exhausted anyway and it will not remove the medication.



A canister / external filter is an entirely different animal. They can be large and quite complex to load. This is a picture of one of my Rena XP filters. intact and then partly disassembled for cleaning.

 

[sjrose77]

wow I had no idea that I could keep reusing these cartridges. I am happy to hear that because they are expensive and in the past I replaced them every month. My tank did not do very well. The cartridges that I have are black plastic on the back with blue spongy fabric in front, charcoal inside. So charcoal is not necessary? When do people use the canister filters, are they for larger tanks? I need to do a lot of reading on here but short on time with a two year old and 3 month old.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Hi sjrose - welcome to the forum!!! If you have a 3 month old and a 2 year old - go get some sleep! You don't have time to read the forum. Okay - just kidding. If money is not an issue, you can certainly put a canister filter system on a 10 gallon tank. They make canister filters for tanks that small - such as a Fluval 105, etc. Others would have more experience with different manufacturers than I do. I have a Fluval 205 on a 26 gallon and really like it. It has baskets that allow for different media types, such as the bio-rings and carbon. So you can then partially replace media in one basket and still have other baskets where your bacteria colonies are left alone. Seems like a better system to me than the hang-on-back filters, which don't have quite as much space.

Anyway, with your short time to research, don't hesitate to post questions here - there are some VERY helpful and experienced people on this forum that take the time to help.