# Filter media advice



## madlan (27 Apr 2011)

Hi all,

Just got a Fluval FX5 and need to decide on some media, any suggestions? I've got 6 litres to fill! (3 baskets)
Aquarium will have a medium load and be heavily planted, hi-tech (300 litres, 4 x 54w T5's, Co2, EI etc)

Thanks


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## sr20det (28 Apr 2011)

Mine recently came with strater packs, ceramic tubes ieces, bio balls, and bio gravel.


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## Crispino Ramos (28 Apr 2011)

Poret foam


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## mdhardy01 (28 Apr 2011)

Any form of ceramic media will be good
I run the top two baskets with ceramic rings and leave the bottom one for purigen/carbon
Don't bother with the fine polishing pads they clog quickly and reduce flow
Check eBay for the ceramic rings
Matt


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## madlan (28 Apr 2011)

Does it matter if the ceramic rings are not branded? Massive price diffence between the major brands and the generic stuff!
Does carbon not absorb plant nutrients? I thought carbon was a big no no?


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## Johno2090 (28 Apr 2011)

Carbon is a big no no. Only use it for removing meds and even then it shouldn't be in your tank for more than 24 hours. Purigen can be used instead of carbon but it Has been reported to starve the bacteria of food in a few places although no idea if they are true!

Lots of people on here only use foam pads, I have foam pads and ceramic media. Your choice really.


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## sr20det (28 Apr 2011)

madlan said:
			
		

> Does it matter if the ceramic rings are not branded? Massive price diffence between the major brands and the generic stuff!
> Does carbon not absorb plant nutrients? I thought carbon was a big no no?



They are just ceramic rings, dont think brand makes a difference, i got some from ebay, and has been fine since.

I just ordered 50 bio balls on ebat for a couple of quid, as the ones that came with my pump were minimal, not enough to fill a basket.


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## mdhardy01 (28 Apr 2011)

Ceramic rings are ceramic rings
Just buy from eBay and save some cash
As for carbon being a no no not so sure 
There has been a fair bit of discussion on here about the amount of ferts that it removes and I have used it for long periods of time with no visible deficiency signs 
As Clive ( ceg4048) states if your worried about fert removal just add a bit more
Also once the carbon has been exhausted it then becomes a good home for beneficial bacteria with a huge surface area
Just my thoughts
Matt 


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## madlan (28 Apr 2011)

I was going to use some carbon to remove the tannins from my bog wood as it hasn't been soaked yet so will leak quite heavily initially.

So two trays of bagged ceramic media and one of lose bio balls? Should the balls go before the ceramic?


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## Johno2090 (28 Apr 2011)

For removing tannins I'd go for it and dose extra ferts. Have used it myself in bog wood tanks  looked like a cup o tea!


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## dw1305 (28 Apr 2011)

Hi all,


> Does it matter if the ceramic rings are not branded?


 Same as the other no it doesn't.
Alfagrog is OK as well, and it is really cheap for filling big filters.

cheers Darrel


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## madlan (28 Apr 2011)

Do you run with the ceramic media in a bag or lose in the trays? I can see reasons for both, flow reduced with a bag, but detritus kept away from media.


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## sr20det (28 Apr 2011)

madlan said:
			
		

> Do you run with the ceramic media in a bag or lose in the trays? I can see reasons for both, flow reduced with a bag, but detritus kept away from media.



I just fill the baskets for the ceramic rings, and bio balls, and bio gravel as they are all pretty big.  If I was to use carbon, that better in a bag as they are tiny, old ladies stocking apparently is ideal.


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## bigmatt (28 Apr 2011)

sr20det said:
			
		

> madlan said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


New, clean stockings...nobody wants their shrimp to have a yeast infection....


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## mdhardy01 (28 Apr 2011)

Or athletes foot or verucas???


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## Themuleous (28 Apr 2011)

I'll wade in and add, whats wrong with sponge? Is there anything that ceramic media can do that sponge cant? Why spend the money?

Sam


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## roadmaster (29 Apr 2011)

skeletonw00t said:
			
		

> Is eheim substrat pro good?



Is good stuff  but a bit pricey. I purchased enough to completely replace the media in Eheim 2217 but then ultimately chose to remove nearly all of it and just fill the filter with the blue mechanical foam pads.
Anything placed in the filter  that is pourus will house bacterial colony.
Foam pads are easy to clean when needed and I clean them  alternately when I back flush the filter each month.


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## Johno2090 (29 Apr 2011)

Hmmm when i say foam i mean sponge too, one of the same really...unless im missing something huge!


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## dw1305 (3 May 2011)

Hi all,


> I'll wade in and add, what's wrong with sponge? Is there anything that ceramic media can do that sponge can't? Why spend the money?


 No, nothing really other than sponge can go a big soggy and compress, but if you use a good quality coarse PPI10 sponge (like Poret) it is every bit as good as "ceramic rings", some of my sponges are 15 years old. But I don't think Alfagrog or ceramic rings work out expensive, as you never need to replace them. 





> Do you think this is quite an effective layout for a canister filter?


 Personally I think you always need to thing of Clive's immortal description of an external filter as a _"*pump in a bucket*_". With this in mind I like an Eheim Classic, 1/2 filled with ceramic rings and with a sponge pre-filter, the water, + ammonia, but minus debris, goes in the bottom of the filter, through the biological filtration media and out of the top, job done. There are very few moving parts and Eheim have made the same filter for 30 years. Why only 1/2 full of media ? If you have an over-sized filter and you then have a higher fish load you can add more media, if your filter is already at full capacity you have to buy another filter. They are expensive, but if you buy them 2nd hand ......

cheers Darrel


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