What media do you use in your filtration system

[flukeone]

Just curious.

What do you run in your filters? Be it sumps, canisters, hob, etc.

In my smaller unit i have a simple boyu powerhead filter with the yellow sponge and a separate uv steriliser. However I'm swapping the filter with a sponge filter fitted with a pump and ceramic beads. I would prefer a small canister but space is an issue.

In my bigger unit I have a boyu efu45 4 stage canister that goes like this:
Broad sponge prefilter on intake - > medium sponge - > fine sponge - > ceramic rings - > bio balls.

My quarantine/hospital tank has a simple air driven sponge filter.

 

[Rocksor]

Just coarse sponge to act as a prefilter and ceramic media for biological filtration.

 

[kno4te]

Filter floss, coarse sponge and lava rock.

 

[tlindsey]

I use a variety filter floss, coarse sponge, ceramic rings, plastic scrubbers, bio balls, bio max,and have sponge filters in a couple of aquarium's.

 

[esoxlucius]

A big wad of polyester filter floss (the insides of cheap pillows) is first point of contact for my outgoing water from my tanks. This gets changed regular and is my number one area of mechanical filtration.

After the wad of filter floss are varying degrees of sponges, coarse to very fine. Because my filter floss does such a good job my sponges take ages to clog up so I hardly clean them, meaning my sponges have now turned into part of my bio filtration.

And after the sponges I have bio balls and ceramic rings which are 100% bio.

This staggered filter floss, sponge, bio balls and ceramic rings set up is on both my 180 and 360. Works beautifully.

 

[Backfromthedead]

My 150 sump has mixed ceramic rings, coarse activated carbon, and bio balls.

The 135 has 20 lbs. Of lava rock.

Both drains are strained with filter socks.

I run an ac110 with 2 of the foam blocks stacked in it on the 75g.

 

[Galantspeedz]

fine and coarse sponge... an additional magic mat for sump, basically a piece of cloth that is reuseable but clogs easy for overhead sump.

bio media mixture of ANS bio rods, Ehiem substrate pro, Mr Aqua ceramic rings, pumice stones, coral chips

 

[Uglyknob]

4 4" filter cups with poly fill. Then a couple of bags of lava rock. There are FX6 sponges in there as well, but more to keep them ready in case I need it for something. It is sitting in the garage right now.

 

[duanes]

After going to school for environmental science, with a focus on water technology, and treatment, then working at a water treatment (filtration) plant for almost 20 years, and keeping fish over double that time, I am convinced no one media or style of filtration is any better than another, the important part is maintenance, and water changes.
My current tank uses the media that came with the tank (bio-balls, rings, lava rock for bio, a bio rocker, and floss and porrett foam for mechanical) although I have added shells from the beach as buffers, and turned one sump into an algae scrubber refugium. But in the past, I have used moving beds, bio-wheels, and they all work just as well as others, as long as they are kept up to speed, anything works as long as regular, frequent maintenance is done. If a filter (mechanical, and bio) is allowed to gunk up, it becomes useless, and spews nitrate.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Anything plastic and neutral that doesn't spoil fish water, including shade cloth, insect screening, matts, nylon mesh pot scrubbers, plastic fish tank plants, eggcrate light diffuser panels, PE or PVC shavings in nylon mesh bags, bioballs, ceramic rings, etc.