I have a magnum 350 that has the media basket filled with with two bags of purigen that's wrapped with quilt batting for my chemical and mechanical filtration. There's also a fluval 405 and sunsun 304 that are both filled with ceramic-rings and pot scrubbies for my bio. They do a good job of keeping all my levels in check but honestly I don't clean them all out quite as often as I should.
Tank upgrade to 110, need filtration suggestions please
- Thread starter LS2012
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Thanks Inglorious, very helpful 
For the other folks, what are you keeping in your filters? Especially your AC 110s?
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For the other folks, what are you keeping in your filters? Especially your AC 110s?
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Thanks Inglorious, very helpful
For the other folks, what are you keeping in your filters? Especially your AC 110s?
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I keep carbon, granular ferric oxide, and either sponge filter or bio media.
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If you want to go to the next level of filtration from HOBs, a sump system is safer than canisters. Canisters by design are unsafe in two ways. If it leaks, it can siphon and drain the tank. It is a closed system not open to the atmosphere. So if it gets dirty and you have a power outage, it can turn anearobic and the return of power can flush out toxic gas to wipe out the fish. The only advantage of canisters is that they are silent, but even the silence has a trade off because it provides less aeration in the tank.
But for 110 gal, it isn't that big a tank and 2 AC110 would be enough. You only need a sump system for really big tanks like 180 gal or larger so you can consoladate the filtration in one big unit. I am running my 125 gal with 3 Penquen HOBs 350 with a combined flow rate of 1050 gpd, which provide plenty of filtration and keep the water crystal clear.
In term of filtering media for the AC, keep it simple. The foam block provides plenty of room for the beneficial bacteria and you don't need additional media. If you want to improve the mechancial filtration, wrap a filter pad (cheaper if you buy polyester battling from JoAnn Fabric) around the foam block and you can filter the water crystal clear. I use Penquen HOBs without the biowheels for mechanical filtration only. If you get good water movement in the tank, there is plenty of BB in the substrate, tank walls and decors to provide biological filtration.
I's run double sponges in one AC, and in the other one sponge and loads of biomax on top of the sponge, or is it below, i cant remember, either way, thats what id do. I love my double sponge AC110, it's like a luffa sponge bath for your tanks.
^That's exactly how I would set them up too (biomax on top lol). Sometimes I add a sheet of filter floss for polishing or media bags full of ammonia/phosphate remover, but the sponges work great on their own and are easier to maintain. Just set aside the carbon they come with (in case u ever need to medicate the tank) and use an extra sponge or biomax in its' place
if you can't be asked to trouble with a little bit of diy to make a sump,which would be better in a long run,
one fx5 would do or for extra crisp throw 2nd as well, and then keep momentum to clean it regularly which was like a pain in ... to me, I switched from canisters to sump long time ago and I've slept well ever since...
one fx5 would do or for extra crisp throw 2nd as well, and then keep momentum to clean it regularly which was like a pain in ... to me, I switched from canisters to sump long time ago and I've slept well ever since...
