Hi. I was just wondering what type of media to put in a Rena XP3 Filstar. THERE IS SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM ACK!! i need help thanks. =D 
What To Put In Xp3 Filters??
- Thread starter justishao
- Start date
I got one for my 55gal, and 2 for my 120.....I use the same stuff that comes with it, along with extra filter foam (white puffy kind) brains dead right now, and a bag of carbon & zeolite @ 1 cup in each filter ....
Rinse them all off every 2 weeks, change the white puff stuff haha, and change out the carbon bag every month.....
My water is cyrstal clear and works great....But then again im almost tripled teh filtration of the tanks....each "rated" at 175gals each....
Rinse them all off every 2 weeks, change the white puff stuff haha, and change out the carbon bag every month.....
My water is cyrstal clear and works great....But then again im almost tripled teh filtration of the tanks....each "rated" at 175gals each....
i think we had the same problem.. bought an xp3 for my 60 gal tank and their are too many filters out their... what i did was double the white foam (if you can squeze to 3x better, placed Nitra-Zorb, ceramic rings (for beneficial bacteria) and Bio-chem Zorb. my tank looks perfect. 
some of the other stuff are just repetitive... the active carbon is like the low end and the bio-chem zorb is the high end. the amonia remover is also the low end and the nitra-zorb is the high end. ordered all of them turned out i returned half of them. 
the box tells you all the things it does and if you put amonia remover (it removes the amonia)... and if you look at the nitra zorb it also removes amonia, nitrite and nitrate.
sometimes we just need to re-read the purpose of each media... they can easily eat up your money
spend wisely so that you won't be miserable! 
enjoy the hobby...
www.drsfostersmith.com has great deals right now on the media... search for filstar and all the media will pop out. buy a bunch of them and you'll end up having it for the rest of the year... and best of all its a lot cheaper even if you need to pay for shipping.
save some money and buy more fish or maybe a bigger tank
some of the other stuff are just repetitive... the active carbon is like the low end and the bio-chem zorb is the high end. the amonia remover is also the low end and the nitra-zorb is the high end. ordered all of them turned out i returned half of them. the box tells you all the things it does and if you put amonia remover (it removes the amonia)... and if you look at the nitra zorb it also removes amonia, nitrite and nitrate.
sometimes we just need to re-read the purpose of each media... they can easily eat up your money
spend wisely so that you won't be miserable! enjoy the hobby... www.drsfostersmith.com has great deals right now on the media... search for filstar and all the media will pop out. buy a bunch of them and you'll end up having it for the rest of the year... and best of all its a lot cheaper even if you need to pay for shipping.
save some money and buy more fish or maybe a bigger tank 
Howdy,
in direction of flow:
1) mechanical filtration (e.g. Eheim Ehfimech)
2) biological fioltration (e.g. Eheim Ehfisubstrat, Substrat Pro)
and them some fine filter pad that I am sure Rena sells in the right size. Make sure your ratio of meachical:biological media is about 1:2
I never use carbon except to remove medication after treatment.
HarleyK
in direction of flow:
1) mechanical filtration (e.g. Eheim Ehfimech)
2) biological fioltration (e.g. Eheim Ehfisubstrat, Substrat Pro)
and them some fine filter pad that I am sure Rena sells in the right size. Make sure your ratio of meachical:biological media is about 1:2
I never use carbon except to remove medication after treatment.
HarleyK
i've tried different things. ive had ceramic rings, and currently has bioballs in 'em. but im gonna switch to pads on all four.
I have 4 XP3 filters, I made sure one of the chamber is full of fluval biomax (about 2 1/2 box). Actually I use fluval biomax on all my filters. If you tight in budget get one of those nylon pot scrubber Ive read in others research it is far better for bacteria colonization. If I have not boguht the biomax, I would have gone w/ nylo pot scrubbers instead.