Filter Media Question

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komodo182

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 5, 2009
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New Brunswick, Canada
Hello,
As many of you know, I still use carbon in my filters. I am trying to get away from that and I found something at the dollar store that looked great to me and I was wondering if it would work as both a sponge and a place for bacteria to grow.

Here are some pictures of it.
001-10.jpg

002-7.jpg


It is small, rectangular and has a lot of little holes for bacteria to go. Like I said, it looks great to me, but maybe I am missing something. They are 10 cents a piece and a lot of them could fit in the filter. I do not see anything that says anything about chemicals on them or anti-mildew.

Any input would be great.

Thanks everyone
 
You don't need to go to the pet store to get "filter wool"; it's just polyester stuffing like you can find at any store that sells fabric or sewing supplies. I get mine at the local fabric shop for 1/2 the price the petstore wants for it.
 
Yeah. You can use the loose kind (Polyfil is the most common brand) or batting, which is the same stuff but in a sheet.
 
sweet deal. how often should I change that?
I am assuming sponge on bottom, pads in middle and wool on top (since I have to change that most often).

Let me know if I am wrong with this. I have been taking care of aquariums for almost 2 decades now, but I never questioned the filter. Just assumed the pet stores were telling me the truth about carbon. I did not know that it only removes medicine. I rarely even use medicine. Once i get this all figured out, I am letting the owners of the pet store that I work at know and then they will change their set up as well and then educate more people about this.

Thanks
 
Just eyeball it; if your flow is reduced or the stuff is obviously clogged, take it out and rinse it. You can put it through quite a few rinses before it gets too nasty and must be tossed. You can use different orders; I usually put it on top because it's easier, but it would probably be more effective to put the wool prior to whatever you intend your major biomedia to be.
 
HOBs including Aqua Clears are easy to know when it's time to clean the media... when water spills out around the intake tube as opposed to flowing through the media, it's time to clean / change the media...

Canisters aren't quite as easy, with them we have to monitor flow reduction. But it's still not hard to do...

Pillow stuffing works, but has the tendency to have chunks break off and end up in the tank. Quilt batting stays together better...

If you simply set the 'filter floss' on top, it will be easy for water to bypass the floss or to wash the floss into he tank. Felt fabric makes a good fine filter media too. So you can put felt fabric over the 'filter floss' and either tucK the ends in to hold it in place OR build a little frame (egg crate works for this) to hold it in place.
 
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