is it even worth me considering replacing the canister with a sponge filter? and use a powerhead for circulation? How would anyone go about doing this? I could perhaps remove a tray from inside the canister to allow a sponge filter (sponge) to sit in there for a while to seed..
Try a few more things before abandoning the canister. I had issues getting mine to work properly for the first couple of months I had it, and I hated it the thing for those months. Mine is also only a cheap little All Ponds Solution canister, but it does a great job. I gradually figured things out though, and now I love it and it's super easy, with a lot of filtering power. You could always run a sponge filter at the same time while you're working on it, my tank has a canister and a sponge.
Mistakes I made that you don't have to!
1. I covered the intake with a sponge to protect guppy fry, the sponge I bought was too dense and ill fitting, and slowed my output a lot. Decided to cut the netting part from an old fish net to cover it instead, held on with a rubber band, and this clogged up with bits of plant debris often, and slowed my output. Spent weeks taking the damn intake out of the tank every few days to wash the stupid net and replace, before my stupid brain finally woke up and realised it was quite a fine net I'd been using, and replaced it with a wider mesh net. Intake clogging problems solved.
Output also slows a lot when spray bar holes get filled with algae. Sometimes the bar on mine is directly in the water, and algae grows really thick in there and can block the water completely. Also agree that the tubing collects a shocking amount of gak. So to maintain the filter, I rinse my media in old tank water or conditioned tap water once every two or three weeks, and rinse and wipe the canister itself. (remember to turn off intake valve if you have one before unplugging and messing with the canister. You don't make that mistake twice). About once every month or two, I take the whole thing apart, leave media in the bucket of tank water I pulled from the tank. Clean the spray bar with a bottle brush, and use a needle to scrape the algae coating from the inside of the holes. Take all the tubing to a safe area for messy cleaning, and use one of these
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08DCZGC31/?tag= (there are cheaper ones there somewhere, this is just an example pic)
to clean all the gak out of the tubing. Rinse tubing and all connected bits in tap water to get it properly clean, then in declorinated water. Re-assemble, fill canister with tank water or conditioned tap water, plug back in and open intake valve. Lift canister above the level of the tank and let the air bubbles come through, and done.
You could always remove the media you're concerned about and try running it, see if the output improves.
together with some bits I have read recently, I think I'd be okay to do without it. Oh, and compounded by the fact that it provides quite poor flow in my opinion.
or decide they aren't for you! You've just been so helpful to me, I wanted to share what I'd gone through with getting my first one in case any of if helped. If nothing else, it proves that pigeons learn faster than I do.
I hadn't heard that BB could be doing the plants a disservice either. So much to learn.
