Media Basket Layouts

katana1200

katana1200

Unhealthy obsession?
Feb 7, 2009
473
0
16
Northern Indiana, near the University of Notre Dam
Ok, I'm looking into buying my first canister filter after a year of being in the hobby. Very exciting stuff! I've found that people have very different media basket layouts. I just read Msjinkzd post about having bioballs in the center of each basket and foam around the outsides. This got me to thinking. Once I buy this thing how am I gonna layer my new media.

I'm leaning twards the C-series canisters from marineland but after reading Gunners review of the Sunsun, I may give that a try. If it only lasts 2 years it wouldn't be a bad investment for the price (under $100 shipped). I also like the fact that they're quiet and the removeable media trays sound very convienient. By the looks of it the C series and the Sunsuns are cast from the same stinking molds.

I'm looking mainly for more mechanical filtration with some more biological also. The penguin 350 biowheels add alot of the biological filtration so I'll leave them running as well. I have alot of particles in the water column from the substrate I chose. I have miracle grow organic potting soil under playsand. This hasn't been a huge problem except there are alot of fine particles from the miracle grow that find their way to the surface and are much lighter than sand. So, when my cories and kuhlis go plowing through the sand they kick up tons of junk. Enough that my poor Penguin 350 just cant keep up.

I'd love to hear what kind of media arrangements all of you use and why. Seems like everyone can come up with a different arrangement for different reasons. Thanks.
 
well you certanly chose a good filter to look at. most of my filter are araged this way from bottom to top.

1- ceramic prefilter rings.
2- sponge
3- biomedia
4- polishing pads(pillow stuffing lol)

when i had my C-220 i had the sponge first and ceramic second. i don't really think it makes a difrence for my filters but that because i have sponge prefilters on the strainers so no shrimp get sucked up so i don't really deal with big stuff like leaves and such.
 
I have the C-160 and dumped the bio-balls in the first month for ceramic rings, I dumped those not too long ago in favor of polishing quilt batting, wonderful stuff. I also made my own spray bar, and ditched the carbon for two Rena XP 30 PPI foam pads (with cutouts for the intake tube)

So far my layout is so

Quilt batting
------------
Foam 30
------------
course
------------

It works well and can go for quite a while before having to service the filter.
 
I use the Fluval 304 and have the usual left side foam and the right three baskets as follows:

Top: 1bag of AC70 biomax (for quarantine tank), Fluval bio rings

Middle: Blue/Black bio balls

Bottom: Ceramic Mechanical rings, couple of bio balls on top of the rings.

I don't use any carbon unless removing meds, in which case I put a 3/4" layer on top of the bio balls and remove it in a week.
 
Out of curiosity Cory Keeper, why did you decide to ditch the ceramic rings? Did you have any issues with a mini cycle when you did? I imagine not, if you only replaced the one tray at a time.

Willard, do you find that with the prefilter foam you do not need any finer water polishing media for small particles? Has the Fluval performed well in your opinion or does it have any drawbacks you can see?
 
so far as I know, no mini-cycle.

And as I explained in my previous post about filter media, I couldn't justify the loss of a tray over a tiny benefit if any. Bacteria will colonize anything, including pre-filters and foam usually around the filter, but also the tank surfaces. Plants also help to keep levels in check. Right now my water is almost as clear as it was when I had the mag 350 running with the micron cartridge but dead quiet.
 
Ozymandias said:
well you certanly chose a good filter to look at. most of my filter are araged this way from bottom to top.

1- ceramic prefilter rings.
2- sponge
3- biomedia
4- polishing pads(pillow stuffing lol)
Click to expand...
That's all ya need.
 
katana1200 said:
Willard, do you find that with the prefilter foam you do not need any finer water polishing media for small particles? Has the Fluval performed well in your opinion or does it have any drawbacks you can see?
Click to expand...

I have found that with just the foam my water is quite clear. Definitely not crystal clear however. You only notice the slight haze if you look from the end (48" 55g tank).

The Fluval 304 has performed very well since I got it 4 months ago. It has great filtration capabilities, not to mention how flexible the media can be. You can run whatever you want. I only have a couple of complaints with it. First, the aquastop valve is hard to insert and remove from the body. Also, when I first bought it used, I had some problems with leaking, but that was easily resolved by lubing the bone dry gasket with vaseline. Come to think of it, I should lube the aquastop valve and see if that makes it any easier to remove.
 
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