# Fluval 407 filter media upgrade



## Muso1981 (30 Dec 2021)

Hi everyone,

I've been looking into changing the media on my fluval 407 and came across this video on YouTube:



He basically recommends changing the big sponges and adding loads of bio media (stuff he sells).

I'm not very clued up on this bio media stuff and was wondering if anyone thinks have a load of this in the filter is a good idea or not? 

The default setup for the 407 has a very small amount of the bio media in it currently.


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## erwin123 (30 Dec 2021)

Is expensive bio media worth it?
					

Obviously we all want the best conditions for our fish/inverts, and expensive bio media may have more surface area - but at what point does it stop being worth it (i.e. cheaper media would convert everything to nitrates anyway)? Do you guys think the expensive stuff like Seachem Matrix and Eheim...



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maybe you can post your query into this thread so the discussion can continue there.

the best filter media upgrade I ever did was to remove 80% of my fancy bio media (matrix and 3dm)! Before coming to UKAPS, I was also influenced all these 'guides' and packed my filters full of various media!

The best bio media, according to UKAPS is:











						Bio Media for Planted Tanks.
					

Hi,  I am looking into buying some bio-media for my upcoming setup and am gravitating towards Sera Siporax or Ocean Free 3DM. The problem with these 2 are that they will also house anaerobic bacteria that eats the NO3 which will take away nitrates from the plants.  Are these okay to use? or can...




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## John q (30 Dec 2021)

Hi muso,


Muso1981 said:


> I've been looking into changing the media on my fluval 407


Are you having any particular issues with your current media, or are you just curious about the benefits of switching it?


Muso1981 said:


> The default setup for the 407 has a very small amount of the bio media in it currently.


I personally think the default sponges (blue, white in pre filter and black in bottom tray) in the 407 work fine. In my second tray I have about 10 standard fluval ceramic noodles, and thats it.

I think the idea of needing large amounts of media in our filters is more related to fish only aquariums, in this scenario then maybe adding more is of benefit.

I've never tried this guru's particularly bio media but would suspect its no better or worse than most of the other media's that are available.

Edit: erwin links some decent threads, another thread that also discusses fluval media is this bio media for fluval 305


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## dw1305 (30 Dec 2021)

Hi all, 


Muso1981 said:


> He basically recommends changing the big sponges and adding loads of bio media (stuff he sells).


He comes up <"quite a lot"> unfortunately. 

cheers Darrel


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## erwin123 (30 Dec 2021)

John q said:


> another thread that also discusses fluval media is this bio media for fluval 305







👍


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## Muso1981 (30 Dec 2021)

Hi,

I've not done anything with my filter since I bought it and I thought I'd ask for advice on here to see if there was any particular setup that other people have had with the Fluval 407. 

Thanks for the links to the articles, so it sounds like the biohome max is not worth the money and it sounds like it would have a negative impact on the flow.

I've recently added a whole load of new plants so I think they should add to the filtration of the system too.

Cheers


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## Muso1981 (8 Jan 2022)

Can anyone recommend recommend an optimal setup for the Fluval 407 please?  Heavily planted, low tech, moderate amount of fish.

I haven't cleaned the filter in about 4 months so plan to do that today. 

Thanks currently a bit of a mess as I got quite a few new plants recently and the clown loaches are slowly ripping some of them to shreds 😂.


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## Muso1981 (12 Jan 2022)

In-case anyone is interested I've decided not to buy those pot scrubbers because it isn't clear what they are made of and there's a likelihood that they might disintegrate over time into the tank.

I've decided to buy some Kaldnes k1 which I'm going to add to the final 2 trays.


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## Conort2 (12 Jan 2022)

Muso1981 said:


> Can anyone recommend recommend an optimal setup for the Fluval 407 please?


Just leave it as it is and carry on. If it’s been fine up until now there’s no need to change it.

Cheers


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## Aqua sobriquet (12 Jan 2022)

I thought this was a good idea for using up old foam off cuts.








						ADA Bio Cube
					

Good idea or not? I’m not suggesting buying it as you can cut your own foam up into cubes ...



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## Muso1981 (14 Jan 2022)

Conort2 said:


> Just leave it as it is and carry on. If it’s been fine up until now there’s no need to change it.
> 
> Cheers


Where the fun in that? Continuous improvement is where it's at. It hasn't been fine up to now, it's been sub optimal.


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## Aqua sobriquet (15 Jan 2022)

Muso1981 said:


> Where the fun in that? Continuous improvement is where it's at. It hasn't been fine up to now, it's been sub optimal.


Yes agreed. If we just accepted “good enough” and are willing to try new things we wouldn’t move forward.


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## Muso1981 (4 Apr 2022)

Hi all,

So I've been running the changed filter with the Kalndess K1 and not noticed any improvement at all. Something I also did was to layer two floss pads on the top  media basket and noticed recently that this caused almost a block up so I'm going to remove these.  

Has anyone else done any experimenting with their Fluval 407 media setup?


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## dw1305 (4 Apr 2022)

Hi all, 


Muso1981 said:


> Something I also did was to layer two floss pads on the top media basket and noticed recently that this caused almost a block up so I'm going to remove these.


Have you always used the floss while you've had the Kaldnes K1 media? I don't like any <"fine mechanical filtration"> inside the filter body.

cheers Darrel


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## Muso1981 (4 Apr 2022)

Hi Darrel,

No, I added it at the end  so it's like the final filtration after the bio media going back into the tank because I'd seen a couple of people recommend it on YouTube.  I've just removed it so now it's quite literally just going through the bio media stuff and straight back into the Tank. There is a floss pad layer before the bio media layers though which is part of the standard setup. Basically what I've done is removed the carbon bags and replaced that space with bio media. 

Cheers


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## dw1305 (4 Apr 2022)

Hi all,


Muso1981 said:


> I've just removed it so now it's quite literally just going through the bio media stuff and straight back into the Tank. There is a floss pad layer before the bio media layers though which is part of the standard setup.


I'd recommend removing that floss as well.

I like <"an intake pre-filter">, but I'd really recommend not having any "polishing floss", or fine sponge etc. in the filter body.

It is <"really an oxygen issue">, as soon as you have floss etc, flow slows and you run the risk of your <"filter media becoming anaerobic">.

cheers Darrel


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## Simon Cole (4 Apr 2022)

Muso1981 said:


> Has anyone else done any experimenting with their Fluval 407 media setup?


Not the 407, but I do have a smaller model and another 3 larger canister filters on various aquariums. I've used the Biohome, Eheim Substrat, Seachem Matrix and a few others. I read an interesting article on perlite and had a go with it before finally deciding upon Ikea Vaxer crushed pumice as my preferred filter media. It was £4 for 3kg I seem to remember. I used to fill filter bags or being lazy, sometimes the whole baskets. I never noticed any pH changes. It was insane because for a 110 litre aquarium I had over 8kg of filter media in like 4 baskets and I had to get help lifting it into place. Even if you gave me 8kg of Biohome, Matrix or Substrat, I would probably give it away here on the forum and put in my preferred pumice. I don't use floss either.


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## Prabh_k (13 Apr 2022)

Muso1981 said:


> Has anyone else done any experimenting with their Fluval 407 media setup?



In my 407 I have been running the standard Fluval sponges in the main cartridge and in the base of the stack. Then 2 trays of Seachem Matrix and on the top tray I used some filter floss (soft toy stuffing) and 1 Seachem Purigen,

I am definitely no expert and this was my first setup so I screwed up a bunch of times with loads of stuff but this never gave me any issues and was more than capable of dealing with everything that I threw at it. I am using a 125L tank FYI so it is overkill I think but at the time it seemed lilke a good idea. Usually I foind when I messed up and got a huge algea bloom, the filters caught most of the nonsense as soon as it calmed down and a quick rinse in (safe) water or in the worst case a cahnge of the filter foam and the it was crystal clear again.

Again by no means an expert and this was my first attempt, but it seemed to work for me for around 18 months and kept all the fish alive and well - but it was probably overkill


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## erwin123 (13 Apr 2022)

My 407 set-up is
tray 1: Stock Fluval Bio-Foam. Pretty good sponge
tray 2: 1cm thick 50ppi fine sponge, 1 cm thick normal filter floss
tray 3: 1 x 100ml bag of Purigen and 100 micron polishing pad on one side of the tray, 50 micron polishing pad on the other side of the tray plus a couple of bio media to weigh it down.
tray 4: 200ml of bio media. ( I used to have a litre of bio media, I've tossed most of it).

I admit that I am addicted to crystal clear water hence the polishing pads. I am able to sacrifice flow from the 407 because I've been able to boost flow by adding 2 x usb pumps into my tank at the back (as my plants are overgrown they hide the pumps well) each pushing about 100l/hr at the substrate level.


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## LondonAquascaper (3 May 2022)

I have the 307 which is basically the same, and I've removed the sponges in the trays and filled with media (mixture of pumice, ceramic rings, biome and other stuff), and I just use the prefilter with sponges now instead. Makes cleaning easier and works well for me.


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## kayjo (3 May 2022)

Muso1981 said:


> It hasn't been fine up to now, it's been sub optimal.


What has the problem been?


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