Rena Xp3 Setup For New Tank

[FavreOnSunday]

I have a 60 gal. tank that has been running for a few weeks with just the carbon filter. I haven't started my fishless cycle yet, but I'm close. I bought a kit for my XP3. It came with: ppi foam pads, ceramic rings, zeolite (ammonia remover),nitra-zorb, phos-zorb, & super activated carbon. Do I use all of these, or just a few? I'm still waiting on a few things before I start my fishless cycle, but I'm trying to get there. ....I also, haven't decided exactly what fish I putting in the tank. I like Discus & Oscars. My wife wants a Black Knife Ghost & Coolie Loaches. Can all of these live together?

 

[OldMan47]

When you are cycling a new tank, you use the sponge filters in the bottom tray with the coarse ones in the bottom of the tray. With what you have available, I would put the ceramic media in the middle tray and go find something else, not in your kit, to put in the top tray. You should also have a fine filter pad, a thin white one, that goes across the top of everything else and is right at the round hole in the cover for the top tray. That pad will have come in the package with the filter and be called something like a polishing filter. It keeps all the dust and dirt coming from things like carbon and ceramic media from getting into your impeller. Things that would work well in the last tray, the top one include almost any biomedia that you can find. Lately I have been using some stuff that looks like small pebbles called Matrix that is packaged by Seachem as my small media. I use that particular kind because it was much cheaper than the stuff sold by Eheim or Rena to fill the space that I needed to fill. For bulk biomedia I use plastic pot scrubbers in my Rena but need something small to fill the surrounding spaces.
The Nitra-zorb is an ion exchange resin like the zeolite is. The Phos-zorb appears to be another resin that has been regenerated with something besides strong acids and bases so that it is more selective about what ions it removes. Any of these products are a poor choice when you are trying to cycle a new filter since they can interfere with the availability of ammonia to the bacteria that you are trying to grow. Once you have a cycled filter you will not need the zeolite or Nitra-zorb ever again so keep them if you wish or sell them at your next club auction to someone who would rather use chemical controls than set up their tank properly. The phos-zorb may actually be useful in the long run for controlling a phosphorus build up if you get into plants and don't balance the fertilizer dosage correctly. I add some phosphorus to my high tech planted tank because it is one of the big 3 fertilizers that plants use. It is the P in the N-P-K rating system of fertilizers.

 

[FavreOnSunday]

When you are cycling a new tank, you use the sponge filters in the bottom tray with the coarse ones in the bottom of the tray. With what you have available, I would put the ceramic media in the middle tray and go find something else, not in your kit, to put in the top tray. You should also have a fine filter pad, a thin white one, that goes across the top of everything else and is right at the round hole in the cover for the top tray. That pad will have come in the package with the filter and be called something like a polishing filter. It keeps all the dust and dirt coming from things like carbon and ceramic media from getting into your impeller. Things that would work well in the last tray, the top one include almost any biomedia that you can find. Lately I have been using some stuff that looks like small pebbles called Matrix that is packaged by Seachem as my small media. I use that particular kind because it was much cheaper than the stuff sold by Eheim or Rena to fill the space that I needed to fill. For bulk biomedia I use plastic pot scrubbers in my Rena but need something small to fill the surrounding spaces.
The Nitra-zorb is an ion exchange resin like the zeolite is. The Phos-zorb appears to be another resin that has been regenerated with something besides strong acids and bases so that it is more selective about what ions it removes. Any of these products are a poor choice when you are trying to cycle a new filter since they can interfere with the availability of ammonia to the bacteria that you are trying to grow. Once you have a cycled filter you will not need the zeolite or Nitra-zorb ever again so keep them if you wish or sell them at your next club auction to someone who would rather use chemical controls than set up their tank properly. The phos-zorb may actually be useful in the long run for controlling a phosphorus build up if you get into plants and don't balance the fertilizer dosage correctly. I add some phosphorus to my high tech planted tank because it is one of the big 3 fertilizers that plants use. It is the P in the N-P-K rating system of fertilizers.

Wow... When I read that I feel like an idiot because I really don't understand. I guess I need to do more research before I keep buying things. I bought this kit off eBay, but after reading this, I don't think I really need most of what came in the kit... I do have a white pad @ the top of the filter... I'll try to read more postings, but some of this stuff is just Greek to me, & I use to have smaller tanks in the past. ...Can anyone tell me what I need so I can just buy it?

 

[OldMan47]

My first inclination would be to add some ceramic media or something like the Seachem Matrix to fill that last basket. Another option for biological media is the plastic bioballs that are basically plastic balls with lots of water passages in them. I have some large ones that I use for other things that look like the picture below. Otherwise you are doing fine. I always favor more biomedia over other types. The sponges will help keep the biological filter from too much dirt build up on it surfaces and the polisher will protect the pump impeller. The carbon is nice to have on hand in case you end up medicating fish and need some carbon to remove the medications after the treatment but don't waste it on a healthy tank. The sales pitches for various ion exchange media can be very convincing so don't feel too bad about being talked into them by an ad.

 

[FavreOnSunday]

My first inclination would be to add some ceramic media or something like the Seachem Matrix to fill that last basket. Another option for biological media is the plastic bioballs that are basically plastic balls with lots of water passages in them. I have some large ones that I use for other things that look like the picture below. Otherwise you are doing fine. I always favor more biomedia over other types. The sponges will help keep the biological filter from too much dirt build up on it surfaces and the polisher will protect the pump impeller. The carbon is nice to have on hand in case you end up medicating fish and need some carbon to remove the medications after the treatment but don't waste it on a healthy tank. The sales pitches for various ion exchange media can be very convincing so don't feel too bad about being talked into them by an ad.

I have a box of the ceramic rings (1L). ...I add that to the bottom basket, on top of the black foam pads (I have 2- 20ppi pads) ? What else do I need for the middle & top basket? Right now I have just a carbon bag & the white pad in the top basket. I'm assuming I won't need the carbon bag once I start my fishless cycle??? I just put that in because it came with the filter. Thanks for bearing with me

 

[OldMan47]

You should have received 2 20 ppi sponges and 2 30 ppi sponges with the filter which would completely fill the bottom basket. The coarser of the sponges would be placed first in the flow path, on the bottom. A litre of ceramic media should be plenty to fill the second basket and we were discussing possibilities for the third basket, I thought.

 

[Mikaila31]

Kay! I agree that you don't really need anything in the kit, some of it can be actually detrimental to the tank like Zeolite as it will absorb ammonia instead of letting the tank properly cycle.

My rena XP3 has the 2 30ppi sponges and 1 20ppi sponge(dunno where the other one went) in the bottom tray. The second tray has the ceramic pellet things in the bottom and some random sponges on top. The top tray has a lot of filter floss on both top and bottom. Filter floss can be got at a LPS, it looks like pillow stuffing an is a universal media. Just rip or cut it to the shape of the tray. Filter floss IMO is one of the best and cheapest filter medias you can get. I've had it set up like this for 5 years.

 

[FavreOnSunday]

You should have received 2 20 ppi sponges and 2 30 ppi sponges with the filter which would completely fill the bottom basket. The coarser of the sponges would be placed first in the flow path, on the bottom. A litre of ceramic media should be plenty to fill the second basket and we were discussing possibilities for the third basket, I thought.

Ok. I didn't get the 2) 30ppi sponges, but I will get some. ....I'm trying to keep up with you, but my brain is restricting me . Are you suggesting the plastic balls for the top basket, with the white pad on top of that? Thanks again.

 

[OldMan47]

Almost anything that has a large surface area and is fairly inert in water could go into the top basket. I have used the balls, the pot scrubbers, ceramic media and any number of other things in mine. For a medium / large tank like a 60, you could even leave the top basket mostly empty and just put a polishing pad on top of it. As Mikaila said, you could even stuff it with pillow stuffing but get the kind that is not treated to be fire retardant. It will be the cheapest thing that you might put in there but don't stuff it in tight, you want water to flow through easily.

 

[OldMan47]

I decided to clean one tonight so here is how I have it today, not every day. I put a towel on my computer table so I could take pictures in comfort. This XP3 filters my 120 gallon community tank and has been doing it for over 5 years with no new media.
First coarse sponges in place.

First basket full, fine sponges in place

Second basket with bioballs and floss to block bypass flows

Second basket with cover in place

Third basket with pot scrubbers - one had to be cut to fit around the others

Add the cover to the scrubbers

Place the polishing pad over the top basket cover

Final cover in place ready to start assembly

First basket in canister

Second basket in canister

Last basket in canister

Power head in place, latched and ready to move into place under the tank

It really is pretty simple when you just deal with the mechanical parts like this. The hardest part is getting the power head on while everything stays where it should so you don't break a latch. I have seen more than one of these on Ebay with a note that the filter was watertight even with the broken latch you could clearly see in the picture they were showing. Do not ever force a latch in place. If it doesn't want to go, make sure everything is seated and aligned straight. Moving the latch into place is almost effortless when you get it right.

 

[FavreOnSunday]

It really is pretty simple when you just deal with the mechanical parts like this. The hardest part is getting the power head on while everything stays where it should so you don't break a latch. I have seen more than one of these on Ebay with a note that the filter was watertight even with the broken latch you could clearly see in the picture they were showing. Do not ever force a latch in place. If it doesn't want to go, make sure everything is seated and aligned straight. Moving the latch into place is almost effortless when you get it right.

Thank you for helping. That helps me. ...so I can use the ceramic rings in the 2nd basket? Do I need floss with them or just the rings? ...& top basket sponges with pad on top. ....or should I just get the bio balls for the 2nd basket & scrap the ceramic rings? ...am I making all this harder than it has to be.

 

[OldMan47]

I think you are working too hard to get things optimized. You can put almost any inert material into a basket and it will act as a biological filter when the bacteria become established.

The sponges go into the bottom basket to keep the dirt from building up on your other biological media because the sponge is not only a biological filter but also filters out solids as what is called a mechanical filter. The white polishing pad goes on top right before the pump impeller. What you put in between can be ceramic media, bioballs or any number of other things including something like Seachem Matrix which looks like rocks or even plastic scrubbing pads.

The bioballs that I bought were too big to fit into my basket well so I put some floss in the gaps to more or less force the flow to go through the balls. Bioballs are made and are readily available in a size that is only half as big as the ones that I have and would not need anything added to help direct the water flow across them. This filter has the original load of media that I obtained when I was at the stage you are now. It was my first canister filter ever and when I saw a label in an ad for Large Bioballs, I thought that is just what I need, lots of balls to work with. When I received them and realized they were so big I could only get one layer into the filter I was not happy but sat down and figured out how to make it all work. Your ceramic noodles are among the best reputed biomedia so I would no way get rid of them.

 

[Rikster23]

May I ask where to get the plastic bioballs from?

Although this topic is related to tropical fish. I was given a free Rena XP3 for use on my Koi tank.

So wanted to ask if its beneficial to Kois? I know its used to promote bacteria growth but will it do the same for my Koi set up?

Unfortunatley it came with no media so I am slowly building this up, based on the advice here.

Hope someone can help

 

[OldMan47]

If I had to load a brand new XP3 and had no media at all, I would get the sponges that mine came with, they are available at my LFS. Next I would load something like the Seachem Matrix or the ceramic noodles sold by different manufacturers, those little tube shaped things. The bioballs end up being a poor choice of media unless you really have a big volume to fill because they don't pack well. Mine were bought from an ad on E-bay but there are lots of places to get them. Try a google search for "bio balls" and you should turn up several sources.
Koi need a biological filter just as much as tropicals do, and the XP3 is a decent filter if you can keep it clean. Koi do produce more waste than the average tropical fish so the mechanical filtration will be more important with them than it is in my tanks. It may also take cleaning more often than the 3 or 4 times a year that mine gets.