Best media for Canister filter (freshwater).. opinions?

Jayfish7

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 12, 2014
259
8
33
New York
Whats the best media to use in a canister filter for freshwater fish?.. is it biohome?.. is it something else?, anything at petsmart/petco.. my LFS doesnt carry biohome and was wondering what else i can use that is worth the price?... any opinions/suggestions are greatly appreciated! ;)
 

mudbuttjones

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2014
1,375
58
66
Wisconsin
I've had good luck with biomax. It's priced very well compared to the eheim equivalent. (Substrat??)

I've bought biomax in the filter bags designed for the larger aquaclear HOB filters. The media bags are convenient and fit good inside my 406.

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shookONES

Casper... the not so friendly ghost
MFK Member
Jul 12, 2005
4,961
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Substrat Pro by Eheim is the best bang for your buck. Biohome and MarinePure are the best if money is no object.
 

golcondorus

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 22, 2006
863
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I have to totally agree, substrate pro is amazing, I've had mine for like ten years running never have to replace, doesn't break down over time and is rounded so debri is harder to get stuck. Fantastic stuff


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rodger

Polypterus
MFK Member
Apr 29, 2008
3,343
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Kansas City
I used to think stuff with lots of little pores was the way to go but have changed my mind. (Matrix, ceramics etc.) The more I read the less I think they are a permanent media. Over time the little pores get clogged with minerals so that they are no longer porous. I am slowly changing over to just pot scrubbers. In a canister they compress nicely and have a ton of surface area. They can't clog. Ever. Amazingly, when you compress them they wind up not being so cheap. It cost $40 to fill a 2262 Eheim.

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PDRed302

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 4, 2011
1,521
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66
Fort Worth Texas
X2 on the biomax, I use it in all of my tanks.
 

noside

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 6, 2014
164
1
16
NJ
I use a combo of ehfi substrat pro, fluval bio max, seachem matrix, and bio home ultimate. Personally I don't think the Bio home is all its cracked up to be. If I had to pick one Ehfi substrat pro I think is the best option. It doesn't clog as easily as seachem matrix and doesn't allow as much pass through as the fluval bio max does. Every piece of the ehfi substrat is the same exact size so they don't squeeze together and cut off flow to spots.

I still use a combination of all of the solid state media listed above as well as bio balls and sponges in my sumps and canisters as I don't want to limit my BB to one growing surface.
 

Mr Pleco

Piranha
MFK Member
Mar 18, 2006
2,657
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81
West
I think I have or use everything mentioned in the above thread in my canisters.. I know I arrange it to the flow.. so if flow starts at the bottom and goes up? I put the larger bio media in the bottom ( ceramic rings) and the smaller ( substrat pro) near the top .. seems to be less time spent cleaning filters this way
 

KiZZLe

Gambusia
MFK Member
Nov 3, 2008
150
0
16
USA
http://youtu.be/QHI42YGz57U My media for the 2 FX5 are (bottom tray 2 1/2 boxes of fluval Pre-filter ceramic rings)( middle tray 2 1/2 boxes of Bio-Max )( top tray 300 grams of Seachem Purigen and nitrate remover). My 4 Aquatop CF500UV starting from the top to the bottom trays are ( tray#1 300 grams of Seachem Purigen w/2 media Sponges)( tray#2 800 grams of Seachem Matrix de-nitrate)( tray#3 2 boxes of Fluval Bio-max)( tray#4 2 boxes of fluval Pre-filter ceramic Rings). Both my FX5s and Aquatops are stocked with the same amount of media in every tray. My water now stays consistinly clear for months without any water changes while feeding my monsters twice a day. Of course I only did it to test out my new system. Now I do a 50% water change every month and clean my filters once maybe twice a year.



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