What's on your Filter??

[Fry]

Ehfisubstrat Pro and sponges are all you need.

How big is the tank?

 

[yemista]

I agree with T1karmann. Carbon is crap. Its only good for 21 days after getting wet. If not changed out regularly it will leech back collected deposits into the water. I only use ceramic rings in all my filters. 5 FX5, 3 Rena XP3, 2 55g wet/dry, 30g wet/dry

do you experience any negative effects from not using carbon? I thought you need carbon to clean out chemicals from the water to keep it clean. i am still new to setting up filters so if i dont need carbon i dont want to use it because it is expensive

 

[yemista]

right now i have a 405 with the bottom tray filled with carbon, then crushed coral, then scrubbies, and biomax at the top

 

[Datnoid101]

I have pure water where I'm at. If anything I use pond prime. I also do 100%+ waterchanges weekly

 

[Bderick67]

carbon is a waste of time unless you change it every 4 weeks

efimech on the bottom then efisubstrate pro i only chean the filters every 6 months

Yep, the carbon and other media designed to absorb ammonia, disolved organics, etc. is a waste. I also use the ehfimech or the fluval brand prefilter, foam pads and the ehfisubstrate and biomax. The idea is to keep the bio media from getting gunked up. I clean my filters every 2 months though, but do believe you can go much longer with this setup as T1KARM does.

 

[SovietFireExtinguisher]

I would only use carbon if I was trying to remove medication from the water. Otherwise, biomedia of some sort depending on the filter brand or type and some type of pr-filter sponge or matting to remove the large particulate matter.