Chemical Filtration..is it really neccesary?

[JEAE21]

Don't use any 'polishing' media...it's too fine for your application. You'll be cleaning it out far too often. Run the normal course foam and then as many ceramic rings as you can fit (bio-media) in the rest of the filter. You can also put a foam prefilter on a power head and use that on the intake hose to your cannister (as I suggested on another thread.) to cut down on the cannister maintance and boost the cannister preformance on partially filled tanks.

Rinsing MECHANICAL filter media (foam) in the sink is just fine in fact your much better off doing it that way. BIOLOGICAL media on the other hand. (ceramic rings and the like.)
should never be rinsed off at all. If you have a huge build up of slime (BB) on your bio-media then you don't have enough bio-media for your system and you need to add additional capacity.

and when you say it is too fin.is the polishing media too good for my filter or too small in mesh?

if i rinse the mechanical media in tap water..will I have to go through cycling again?

is it a pain to clean out media in canister filters?

 

[Pufferpunk]

yes, no, yes

 

[Wolf3101]

LOL as long as you leave the bio-media alone you wont have to re-cycle your tank. Yes polishing media has too fine a mesh to be useful in your application...and servacing a canister filter is a lot more involved than other types of filters sooooooo

Yes...no.... yes...

 

[tapeworm]

I think we might all be discouraging JEAE21 from the aquatic world . . .

 

[JEAE21]

lol yeah tapeworm!

so I got the last 2 questions.. so is the pad too good in quality for my filter or too smalll in mesh?

 

[tapeworm]

It is too small in mesh, and what Wolf is trying to say is that it will get clogged too quickly, so its better to use something with bigger pores. (Turtles excrement is rather large, and aside from that they are a bit messy).

 

[JEAE21]

oh okay!
what are some media with bigger pores that will fit in a RENA filstar XP1

 

[tapeworm]

Just use the ones that come with the filter. I believe they come with some with two different coarse levels.

Check it out:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind...a&kw=rena&parentPage=search&keepsr=1#prodTab1

 

[JEAE21]

thanks!
I already ordered the micro-filtration pads though..
will get the one you told me to.

will it hurt, if I use the micro pad?

 

[Wolf3101]

The micro pad will get your tank water a lot cleaner but it will clog really quickly (2 days to a week) and then you'll have to shut down the canister...open it up.... wash the mechanical pad and the micro pad...put it back...re-prime it and then look forward to doing the same thing again in a few days..