you guys are thinking to much... you can use the biorings that come in with the fluval and combine that all into one tray.. the other one you can find a more effective bio media liek them pot scrubbers... and the rest you just use activated carbon... the carbon will clearify and "polish" you water for you
I put 12 into the basket on one of the bigger canisters, although 10 would have probably been enough. They are cheap, so I didn't care, and they squish into a shape that fits. I think the water will flow through fine no matter what you do...
Just want to let you all know that I have gone with this "pot scrubbers" route on both of my Rena XP3 and Fluval 405. So far so good - The water seems clear and the fish are happy.
I have a Fluval 405 and did use the polishing pads - they will clog after a week or so (at lest in my tank they did) and stopped using them . I don't notice a big difference without them . I thought of trying filter floss next as it is alot cheaper.
from bottom to top
basket 1 pre filter both sides(dont confuse with bio max)
basket 2 carbon(personally i use the reusable media bags with black diamond)
basket 3 both sides double layered with polyfiber cut to fit)
basket 4 both sides filled with bio max
you want beneficial bacteria to grown in purest form of water which is at top plus last stage of filtration before impeller.
my flow rates is awesome and water is crystal clear
if you have alot of fish you might want to use biomax in top 2 just to handle bio load
Sorry to bring an old thread back to life, but I have a question. I have a Fluval 205 and wondered what you were using the plastic pot-scrubbers in place of....the polishing pad or prefilter?
Just to add to this I have a 205 that I bought withought any media (ebay 13ukp) I used pot scrubbers for the bio media and scotchbrite for the pre-filter side.Then used filter floss in the top basket for polishing.It worked very well until I increased the load on the tank. I put some lava rock for a week in one of the lower baskets and then swapped out entirely the pan scrubbers.I then bought the fluval coarse foam for the pre-filter side and still use floss in the top basket, I now have perfectly clear polished water and only nitrates to contend with.