Help with replacing Carbon media and possibly other media in Fluval C3 HOB

thoth666

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 20, 2014
5
0
0
USA
Hi all,

I have a Fluval C3 keeping my 10g tank clean.

I learned the carbon media I've never replaced needs to go. While I'm changing up my filter's media, I wanted to analyze the whole setup.

Currently I have 3 medias, mechanical polyfoam pad, bio c-node filter, and chemical carbon filter. I know I want to get rid of the chemical filter for either more mechanical filtration or biological filtration, but I'm not sure which would be more beneficial. Should the carbon be replaced with a fine sponge/foam or more bio media like sintered pearls?

Additionally, can I do better than the polyfoam pad that came with the filter for mechanical filtration? Would replacing it with scrubbies be a good idea? I'm worried about it not filtering out enough large particles if I do scrubbies.

Finally, what if I replaced all three filters with nothing but bio media like the Eheim Substrate Pro? Would I run into problems because of having no foam/sponge for mechanical filtration before the bio filter?
 

thoth666

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 20, 2014
5
0
0
USA
After much research on MFK and elsewhere, I decided to order scouring pads to replace the polyfoam pad and a sheet of quilt batting to replace the carbon. I'm hoping the scouring pads and batting will last at least a year before needing to be replaced. I almost went with some Fluval prefilter instead of scouring pads, but they don't seem to necessarily filter better, and from what I read even though they last forever they're not necessarily much easier to clean than scouring pads.

My only concern now is the quilt batting letting off fibers that may end up in the tank and messing with the motor. I'm hoping this won't be an issue as I will have the bio c-node filter after the quilt batting and I suppose the worst case is having to put the batting in a bag of some sort.
 

DDK

Plecostomus
MFK Member
May 25, 2013
1,173
24
53
us
Well you surly do need mechanical filtration and then biological filtration. Checmical filtration (carbon) is useless unless your taking out meds. So from reading what you have said you can replace it with more biological media which never hurts or quilt batting which needs to be replaced weekly or it gets too clogged up and hinders flow. Quilt batting does stick very well together when its wet so it wont mess up the impeller.
 

thoth666

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 20, 2014
5
0
0
USA
Will quilt batting require weekly replacement even if I have a sponge that filters the water first? I was hoping only the tiny particles will get trapped and so that should take at least a month before I have to worry about it. My tank is not big and neither is my bio-load, 10g tank w/ 4 juli corys and a betta.
 
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