HOT Magnum Owners

[Two Tanker]

What do you put in the filters media basket? Carbon, nothing, etc.? :D

[Dabbler II]

The filter should have come with a micron filter and a carbon basket and a floss type sleave.The carbon goes inside the basket and the floss type sleave goesover the basket. You could put bulk floss in the basket if you want.:)

[Sumpin'fishy]

I filled my basket with ceramic noodles for biological filtration purposes. I also have the mechanical filter sleeve covering the basket, and most importantly, a DIY prefilter on the intake. This way I don't have to break down the filter to service it very often. I have HOB powerfilter for most of my mechanical filtration and I add carbon to the inserts when necessary.

[JSchmidt]

What sort of filtration do you need? If you need stuff adsorbed out of the water, carbon can go in the basket. If you want mech filtration, you can either run the micron cartridge 24/7 or you can pack the media basket with floss. You can get a bit of biofiltration by using noodles or some such, but the HOT Mag has such a small basket that you'd not get a big biofiltration boost.

I always use a prefilter sponge and I sometimes run floss to trap stuff. I used to run the microns 24/7 but in my cichlid tanks, I had to change and clean the cartridges every day or two.

HTH,
Jim

[FishmasteR2002]

I put carbon in there when I need it. I usually keep the micron filter in it and I don't need bio filtration because I have the Bio pro 30 attachment. I think its the best money I have spent on a filter.

[Two Tanker]

I have the Bio-Wheel Pro 60 on order to attach to the HOT Magnum, which will give me the biological filtration I need. What are the benefits of these "noodles," what name brand are they, and where do you get them?

[Sumpin'fishy]

The ceramic noodles are just ceramic rings that look sorta like a thick ring you would wear on your finger, only smaller. They have a porous serface area that tends to hold bacteria better than many objects. There are better things on the market for bio housing, but these were about $7 and there were too many to fit in the HOT basket. I still have about 1/4 left over for other use. I bought them from Petsmart....probably Proquatics brand, but they also had Fluval. You can buy them from many places in many brand names, and most canister filters have their own brands. I think I'm going to try the bio-stars next.

I really have had no problems with the HOT holding capacity for media. I know alot of people like to overstock their tanks and maybe they do need more room for bacteria, but I don't overstock and I've been fine. The Magnum HOT I have was a hand-me-down, and I have thought about buying another with the micron filters. Nice cleanup duty.