Canister Filter Question

[Hally]

I'd like to know the coerrect order to put inside a canister filter ... in my Via Aqua 750 I have a big empty space at the bottom & then 3 sections.... bottom one is bio balls & middle one is ceramic tube things & top one is 2 thin sheets of filter wool... It didnt have a sponge or charcoal in it .... I'd like to maybe half fill the empty space with bio balls & then ceramic things in the bottom one & in the middle put just charcoal, finaly the top one with a sponge & topped with plenty of filter wool ... I do a fair bit of reading about this great hobby however I never see anything about canister filters different contents arrangments... help appreciated please

 

[anonapersona]

Generally I've seen the coarse media first, in the bottom, so that it traps chunks of stuff, then finer media and biomedia, finally finest media to polish the water. The big gap at the bottom may be so the water can smooth out and flow across all areas, just put stuff into the baskets, not below.

So, that would be, noodles, bioballs, then floss or wool or pads or charcoal. Sponges would go above noodles or bioballs, depending on how fine the pore spaces. The topmost, the floss or wool, is typically thrown away each time and so maybe if company is coming and you want to clean it up a bit you can open the canister, pull out the old wool and put in new wool, then let it go a bit longer.

 

[Hally]

Thanks

Hey thanks .... I will leave the bottom space free like you said & I'll get a sponge, that sounds good the configeration you said

 

[BumbleFish]

FWIW, in my Eheims, Primes or Fluvals, I put the ceramic noodles in the bottom of the baskets, course spong and medium sponge in the middle part, and 2 liters of floss on top with a sliver of foam at the very top to keep the floss strands away from the impellor.

IME, Sponge is the best all-round filter media, no matter what filter you're running. Bubble sponge, cannister with sponge, HOB with sponge, etc. The available surface area in sponge helps build a great bio-filter, and the sponge with catch poop, down feathers, cat hair, etc. So much so, I wouldn't lose any sleep if all my filters were filled with ONLY SPONGE/FOAM. Foam rocks.

Bubble Driven Sponge filters are a staple, do it all filter on the cheap.

I mix floss and sponge mostly. In HOB filters, they are 90% sponge (any course foam will do) with a small wad of floss at the top of the 'waterfall' that gets tossed every 3 weeks. I use Whisper filters this way with no cartridges. Aqua Clear filters have always broken or leaked so I can't recommend them.

In Short, Ceramic Noodles or Plastic army men on the bottome of a cannister, sponge in the middle, a liter of floss and another sponge. Clear once every 60 days, unless you like to feed a lot. then clear it every 30 days.

HTH.

 

[Hally]

Thanks

Thank you for your help, I will change my setup now