what shall I put in my fluval 305

[Andy Dunning]

What media should I put inside my fluval 305, starting at the bottom upto the top. It has 6 compartments.

 

[LancsRick]

Typical thinking goes along the line of...

- 2 mechanical filter - ceramic rings or alfagrog
- 2 bio filter - ceramic beads etc
- 1 fine particulate filter - floss
- 1 item of choice, often Purigen.

There's no set rule though really. You MUST have some sort of mechanical filtration in there, and you must have some media that will let bacteria colonise to form a bio filter. You should also work from coarse to fine. Other than that, experiment!

 

[Andy Dunning]

I was thinking of putting different grades of pond filter sponges would this be ok and where should I put them bottom middle or top. Do you no any good makes of media to go for.

 

[Daz2162]

If you need good flow in your tank id stay clear of floss if i were you its very restrictive as i found out recently from clive.
Sponges are they way forward for mechanical filtration, different grades to catch different sizes of debris. Cereamic rings are awesome for biological filtration as their surface is huge. Activated carbon granules are fantastic for taking out bad colours and smells ect for crystal water but needs replacing every 3 months or so, purigen is also very good at purifying the water.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Darren

 

[Iain Sutherland]

I was thinking of putting different grades of pond filter sponges would this be ok and where should I put them bottom middle or top. Do you no any good makes of media to go for.

It's effectively all the same stuff just with different levels of marketing and fancy tubs. Going cheap is always a good option, have a look at Alfa grog for bio media and eBay for sponges.

 

[Andy Dunning]

I know I'm starting to sound a bit thick, but what would I put I bottom trays, middle trays and top trays.

 

[LancsRick]

The coarsest material should be at the inlet end of a filter, moving through to the finer stuff. This is so you don't clog up the fine stuff with any big bits of debris.

 

[Daz2162]

Hi,

I second what lancsrick says, coarse first then fine, then biofilter (ceramic balls etc) then maybe another coarse sponge and if your using carbon that goes last.

Cheers

Darren