What's in your canister filter trays?

[lordroad]

I got my Rena Filstar XP2 last night and hooked it up. Running like a dream. Very impressed...

I loaded in the bio-zorb carbon bag as I'm looking to clear up the last of my tannins, and damn, this morning the tank is the clearest it's ever been. No leaks, no problems, and the motor is so silent it's unreal.

I'm pretty excited about my first maintenance romp cause I'll get to customize the media.

I'd like to know how everyone customizes their setup.

The filter is on a 55 gallon tank, no live plants. Occupants are (in order of size):

black ghost knife
discus
angelfish
2 bala sharks (2.5 and 2 inches)
royal pleco (2.5 inches, this is what prompted me to get a canister filter)
2 otos

Filstar makes a product called nitrazorb. Sounds gimmicky, but I'd love to try it. Does it really work? Right now I change out 20 percent of the water weekly. It would be nice to drop it to biweekly again...

Also, are the ceramic rings and bio-media worthwhile for a freshwater tank?

 

[hyunelan2]

On my 46g freshwater planted, I have 2 Magnum HOT 250s. Naturally I have the blue bio-spounge on both of them. In both of them I also have Hydor Ceramic Disks and I, just last week, stuffed polyfill into one of the canisters for some additional mechanical filtration.

I've noticed a slight difference in the tank since adding the polyfill, but not a lot. I still think I'm going to have to put my Micron Filter into one of the magnums for one day a week.

I'm happy with the ceramic disks, and I have consistantly had 0 ammonia, and 0 nitrite - which means the bio-filters are doing their job. (I also have 2 biowheel pro 30s, in addition to the bio-spounge, and ceramic discs). IMO, bio-filtration is the most important of the three (mechanical, biological, chemical)

I don't use Carbon because I don't want it taking any chemical nutrients away from my plants. I do a 20% WC once a week. I don't know about nitrazorb, but personally I like to avoid any prodcuts that are intended for you to have to do 'less maintenance' on the tank. They're usually a gimick, or only work for a very short time.

EDIT: after rereading your post, and noticing you have discus in the tank, I wouldn't try to push the water changes too long. I'd keep up with your 20% weekly.

 

[lordroad]

Thanks, Hyunelan.

I think I have a couple trays right now that are sitting empty. I like the look of those ceramic disks, i'll see what my local place has.

Didn't even think about polyfill. My wife is a seamstress, so we always have polyester floss lying around, which is the same stuff. I'll probably load some of that in one of the final compartments too.

I also have a crappy whisper 60 on the back, double-stuffed with polyester sheets for more "micro floss filtration." I was looking at the so-called micro filtration pad in the rena, and it looks identical to the stuff I use in the whisper HOB.

 

[nick6013]

Hi,
I find with my cannister that i fill the container with the filter sponge and fill the rest to the top with either bioballs or ceramic noodles.I don't use poly floss as i find it need to be removed to often.I clean my cannister once every 3 months only rinsing out the sponge with tank water.I have no problems with ph and my tank is crystal clear.

 

[Orion]

Instead of the polly batting, get the stuff on a roll. SO much easier to work with, and you can get a more uniform balance with the roll than you can the loose batting. With the loose stuff, I'm always afraid that if it's not very even that it will allow water to pass though the low density area's, thus making the filtration less effecient. With the roll, the water is forced to go though more of it, IMO anyway. Plus it's easy to cut, and simple to use them on HOB filters as well as canisters. I bought the small roll over a year ago and have just now gotten to the point that I need more. It's the best $6 investment I've made in a long time. I've not bought a manufacured filter cartride or media in over three years. I can't imagine the money I've saved by doing so.

XP's are great aren't they? I bought a XP1 and XP3 used and have not had a problem with them. I've had them over a year and a half now.

For my bottom tray, I use about 3 sheets of the polly to catch the big stuff and still allow good water flow. In the XP3, the middle two trays are filled with the ceramic rings. The final tray I normally use about 5-6 sheets of polly to give the watera little extra polish before going back into the tank. This is basicly how all my canisters are setup.

When I setup a new filter, I do like to run carbon for a week or so just to make sure that there wasn't any chemicals or anything else that was in the filter. After that I don't use the stuff.

 

[echoofformless]

Fluval 104 on twenty gallon blackwater -

Aside from the mechanical filtration sponges, all I have is peat and ceramic rings.