We all know that filling those media baskets can be tricky if you don't want your filter to get clogged too quickly restricting flow, this due to the relatively small footprint most basket filters have usually only 8"x5" or 40" square inches in a vertical column of water flow. When you consider your other baskets have to share this same footprint space behined one another its not hard to see why media selection and placement is important. The selection of media is pretty much limited to loose porous materials good for bio filtering but poor in mechanical and polishing ability unless you install a restrictive polishing pad and don't mind cleaning your filter out every week, personally I insist on a filter that can sustain flow for at least 1 to 2 months.
I own 2 Fluval 404's and have set them up with at least 1 basket that does excellent mechanical and good polishing while still allowing water to free flow without restriction buy using my old AC sponges and cutting them up into 1/4" to 1/2" irregular size squares and rectangles to create a rip-rap filter media which confronts water flow for good sponge filtering, while the gaps between the rip-rap sponge still allows the flow of water without clogging the filter for much longer then a solid block of sponge or micron.
So before tossing out that old sponge, rise it out one more time and make some sponge rip-rap media:thumbsup:
I own 2 Fluval 404's and have set them up with at least 1 basket that does excellent mechanical and good polishing while still allowing water to free flow without restriction buy using my old AC sponges and cutting them up into 1/4" to 1/2" irregular size squares and rectangles to create a rip-rap filter media which confronts water flow for good sponge filtering, while the gaps between the rip-rap sponge still allows the flow of water without clogging the filter for much longer then a solid block of sponge or micron.
So before tossing out that old sponge, rise it out one more time and make some sponge rip-rap media:thumbsup:
