I Need Help With Setting Up Two Aps Filters

[snazy]

Hi all,

I am getting ready little by little to set my new tank.
It has an integrated hood filter and I bought an additional external APS 2000ltr/h filter.

Both of them come with ceramic bio ring, 4 wool sponges, black Bio balls and charcoal/carbon.

It's written on the box of the black Bio balls that they keep the Ph neutral. I don't want that I guess. Also I don't want to use the carbon really.

Any idea how to set those filters and what would you suggest to replace the Bio balls and carbon?

The tank is All Pond Solutions 330 litre, with integrated hood filter with 4 trays(900ltres/hr)
The external filter is also All Pond solutions, 2000 litres an hour with 4 trays as well.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I completely missed the bit about the pH adjusting bioballs when setting up both of mine, six months apart!

My longer running one in the 5x2x2 (as a supplement filter, thankfully not the main filter, going on its pathetic turnover of ~1200lph without any of the spraybar modules attached that would further reduce the flow) has the ceramic rings; bioballs; a bit of Eheim Substrat Pro; possibly one woolen pad left in it now.
The one more recently setup on the 48x12x15 used the older one's wool pads (to seed the filter), along with the ceramic rings and the bioballs.


As and when I manage to buy some more Eheim Substrat Pro at a bargain price (like the 5l I won for £30, mainly split between my Fluval FX5 and Eheim 2078), I will add some to both APS2000EFs and ditch the wool pads completely to hopefully gain some more flow.

 

[snazy]

What do you suggest I use to replace the trays that hold carbon and the Ph adjusting bio balls?
Do I just drop the wool pad on top of the rings? There are no sponges with these filters at all. Maybe I should buy some?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

What do you suggest I use to replace the trays that hold carbon and the Ph adjusting bio balls?
Do I just drop the wool pad on top of the rings? There are no sponges with these filters at all. Maybe I should buy some?

I guess this comes down to whether you want to seed this filter from an existing mature filter, or doing you want to fishless cycle it independently of any other tanks you have?

 

[snazy]

I am going to be doing a fishless cycle, so completely new staff is needed. The filters in my other tanks don't have anything to spare as one is an undergravel, the other tank is fully stocked with a common pleco on top

I also have another thread opened that I will keep a log in as I will use the Tetra Safe start as an experiment(I already cycled my other two tanks with it)

I would like to start with the best possible filter media, so I don't mess with it later. I am open to any suggestions.

Thanks very much. I really appreciate it.

 

[minnnt]

What kind of ph are you wanting?

I don't buy the neutral malarky, your ph will probably find its own level dependant on what you keep in your tank.

 

[snazy]

The Ph in my other tanks is constant 7.6. I will have the same type of fish in all fish tanks(boring I know, but I love guppies), so I don't really want something in the third tank that would change that.

 

[minnnt]

Make this tank the same as your others then. I doubt the water chemistry would be any different.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Never heard of bio balls changing the PH, is not just bad translation of sunsun/aps ? are they trying to say the bio balls are inert as in wont change your ph?

 

[minnnt]

This is what i meant... I doubt they would alter the ph, so just carry on what you are doing!

 

[snazy]

It's written on the box, that they keep the Ph at neutral

 

[snazy]

Here is a picture of the box:

Anyway, what do you suggest I replace the carbon tray with?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

wow APS stuff gets better by the day

Replace carbon with anything mate i used noodles

 

[snazy]

Thanks guys.

So do you think these Bio balls do keep the Ph at neutral or is a bad chinese translation?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Look at my tanks mate in my bio proof enough me thinks

I have a Rio 350L filtered by 2 EX1200 (no aps balls) ph 6.6

APS 250L tank 2 lots of APS bio balls ph 6.6

shrimp tanks and fry tanks are the same 6.4 ish