has any one made a diy replacable filter cartrigde?

[wannabefishguru]

I have one of those cheapo whisper 10-15 gallon filters from walmart and was wondering if anyone has made their one filter catridge for it?

[Kasakato]

I havent for that filter, but I have for others. What you need to do is take off all the old stuff from the frame. Then get some filter floss from some where like www.bigalsonline.com under "media". Cut out the size you want and use some elastic bands to hold it in place.

[Bobafish]

Is it advisable to use other things besides just floss for the filter? Should I also use carbon for mine, or some kind of pad?

[NikkO]

You could use filter pad that is made by Marineland. They sell them in like a roll or something so that it can be cut to fit anything. Carbon should be used temporarily when you need to remove a medication or remove any discoloration.

[Kasakato]

I got lazy, heres what I wrote like 5 min ago for someone else:
Carbon is super heated until it popes like pop corn. It then has million of small holes for the matter to stick too. The only problem is that it is only active for 2 weeks or so. This means that after these 2 weeks it is useless and needs to be replaced. Me and many other people here only use it when needed. Its expensive to replace every week or two, and besides. its kind of pointless.

[Fish_3456]

So what you're saying is that, every time i buy one of those filter cartridges with carbon in it, I'm wasting my money on the carbon.

So... i take the frame out and wrap it with filter floss and stick in the power filter and it will do the same job as before? and if i do have like green water do i need to make like a little pocket from the filter floss and stick carbon in it? if so. AWESOME! because im tired of buying those **** cartriges!!!! :devil: :devil: :devil:

[StacieA]

I have a whisper that was a hand-me-down from a friend. He used one of those green scouring pads (soapless of course) you buy at the grocery store for the bacteria filter and some plain wooly fiber stuff around it. I've been using it like that for 3 months now and have had no problems. :)

[Fish_3456]

Good idea. :clap: :clap: :clap:

[cyberbeer65]

I got lazy, heres what I wrote like 5 min ago for someone else:
Carbon is super heated until it popes like pop corn. It then has million of small holes for the matter to stick too. The only problem is that it is only active for 2 weeks or so. This means that after these 2 weeks it is useless and needs to be replaced. Me and many other people here only use it when needed. Its expensive to replace every week or two, and besides. its kind of pointless.

Thats untrue,you can leave the carbon for benificial bacteris to reside.

[Fish_3456]

So i do need to add carbon to it?! AHHHHH confusing! :duh: :duh:

[StacieA]

So i do need to add carbon to it?! AHHHHH confusing! :duh: :duh:

General consensus is that you don't need to add carbon unless you need to remove something (i.e. meds, something spilled into the tank, sprayed in the room, etc...)

I've seen opposing opinons from a lot of smart people regarding the safety of leaving carbon in for extended periods so I just don't use it.

[Fish_3456]

thanks, im going to start making my own media for the filter :idea:

[daveedka]

For clarification:
Carbons ability to remove chemicals from the water is limited as stated. It is limited by the amount of chemical it can adsorb. therefore in a very dirty (chemically) tank it may only work for a day or two, in a very clean (chemically) tank it may work of ra couple of weeks.

As said it is unnecessary unless you need to rmove specific items from your water i.e. meds chemicals of some kind etc.

It is not useless once it stops adsorbing chemicals simply because it is a pourous material that can and will house bacteria for bio-filtration However all media will do this including filter floss. the more pourous the media the higher the surface area and the more bio-filtration it will create. Carbon is no more useful at this than a multitude of bio-medias out there, Since Carbon is designed to be a chemical filtration media, it is probably not the best choice of bio-medias available. Therefore there is no need to use it for bio-filtration, and that puts us back to the useless argument quite quickly.

On a side note, despite the ever present myth that carbon will release toxins back into the water this simply isn't true. Aside from the minute amounts of things that might be rubbed off of the outer surface during water erosion, the chemical bond won't be released in normal tank parrameters. Also contrary to popular myth, you cannot re-activate carbon in your oven at home. the temperatures needed to re-activate carbon are well above those of most home ovens, and addditionally controlled oxygen levels are required to properly preform this task. In other words in an oxygen controlled kiln it is quite easy for someone who knows what they are doing to re-activate carbon. in our kithens it is all but impossible. And please do not mess around in the kithen with the broiler and an oxygen bottle. doing so could be harmfull or fatal to your health and your spousal approval rating.
Dave

[daveedka]

Oh and BTW I cut bulk sponge for my emporer and fill the media well. I get mine frome big al's, and also use some of the marineland bonded filter pad in places. I do not buy any pre-made cartidges, and do not run any activated carbon in any of my tanks. I keep some on hand in case of disaster but honestly I have a quart size carton of it that is close to 12 years old and hasn' been opened yet.
Dave

[Fish_3456]

If i would have a green water problem in my aquarium, it be best to use carbon on my home made media filters?

[wannabefishguru]

green water problem use Algaifix, this stuff work, my 55 gallon FW had a serious bloom, put this stuff in and wala, clear as glass.

[Fish_3456]

where can i get some of this "Algaifix" stuff? i want crystal clear glass water!!!!! :rant:

[anonapersona]

Most of those algae products are floculants, and they clear the water by sticking the algea together so the filter can catch it. They can gum up fish gills as well, so watch for fish distress and don't overdose. Be sure to clean the filter as well.

If it does clear the algae, it will not address the cause, so I'd expect the algae to return. You still need to find the cause. Test for ammonia and nitrates, both will feed algae.

[anonapersona]

You might look at this to replace the biobag, though I find you can put some floss or thin foam inside the biobag, or just leave the bag empty and it filters just fine with out replacing for a long time.
whisper biofoam (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12736&N=2004+62733)

[wannabefishguru]

you can get it at wal mart i believe, if not check around for places that sell fish