Help me fill my filters

[DiXoN]

i have 2 externals one filter has 3 trays and the other has 2 and i want to keep 1 tray with sponge and floss on each so 2 bottom trays left to fill on 1 filter and the bottom tray to fill on another.
what do you recommend i have been told this stuff is good for the bottom tray on each.

http://www.pondpetsusa.com/filter_media/kaldnes.html

 

[softturtle]

I have never seen that stuff used before (the media you mentioned) but it looks like it might be good. Self cleaning... I'll beleive it when I see it. I have been using Matrix by Searchem. 1 liter treats 100 gallons supposedly. It has been working great for me for the past year.

One more thing, I would put your sponges and floss before the bio-media in the water flow. That way you don't have to rinse your bio-media as much. The less you have to wash your media the better your bacteria grows. This is what I have always done.

 

[hardb0iled]

That media works under the same principle as a Fluidised Bed Filter - I'd say probably not quite as effective though

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

Check this out:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7932&page=1&pp=10

I'd rather go with established media (Eheim) than some magic "self-cleaning" product. Truth is: I don't want it to be self-cleaning. I want my filter to trap all the crap so that I can remove it from my aquarium!

HarleyK

 

[danny boy]

alfagrog is cheap and effective not sure if its available across the pond

 

[DiXoN]

alfagrog is cheap and effective not sure if its available across the pond

well i am in the UK so thats ok LOL.

i think i will go with both the eheim and maybe the KM-1 stuff i linked in 1 filter and just the ehiem stuff in the other filter.
i will let you know how it pans out over the next few months

 

[sharp tooth]

the k1 stuff is used in the nexsus koi filter system, a very good very well desighned filter system that has a very good rep for quality over here in the uk.
the way the media is used is it just floats in the water inside the filter, they pump megga amounts of 02 into the water to churn up the media so its constantly on the move churning and rubbing off each oter just like the fluidised bed sand filter. the reason its self cleaning is its always rubbing old bacteria off as it hits each other allowing space for young strong greedy bacteria to grow.
the reason i suggested that you try it dixion is because of the high surface area it has, granted its not getting used in the way it was desighned to be used but its all to do with surface area and not much else when it comes to bacteria collenisation.
plus its cheap.