Bit Of Advice Please

[alvis8]

Hey guys I have a 125 gallon tank that's sitting empty now because of a crappy jebau (sp? chinesse knockoff). So anyway I want to really do this right this time and go all out.
Fluval FX 5.
Yup the cadillac.
Now my question is , is it really the best of the best?
I'm going to buy it off amazon I think I can get it for around 400$ (which is steep for me but I really want to treat myself, I want a nice good filter this time around).
http/www.amazon.ca/Fluval-FX5-External-Canister-Filter/dp/B000I1O2PK/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2QCDAC63V3CR4
So what kind of media should I get?
I was going to get 2-3 red belly piranhas for the tank and my foot long pleco (I hope they get along, I was thinking if I get the piranhas small they'll get used to him or Fred will eat them lol).
Should I replace my gravel with sand? I was thinking about that too....oh and my tank is 6 foot long 2 feet tall and a foot and a half wide, so I'd love to get a nice 5 foot piece of drift wood in there but how do I boil or sanitize that?
Thank you for all your help and I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong place or didn't follow guidelines.
Thank so much again.
Mikey

 

[Noahsfish]

I'm so jealous, I wish I had a 125...but piranhas, really? Sorry, just not my thing. For the driftwood the best thing to do is get a bucket that it can fit in, put the bucket in your bathtub, fill the bucket with the hottest your tap will get, let it soak, wait for the water to turn very brown then replace with new water until most of the "brown" or tannins are released. And with a tank that size there's a million choices, I don't see why you'd be going for a couple piranhas and a pleco..well, then again, it's your tank not mine .

 

[alvis8]

So asides from polish pads some biorings some carbon nylon bags is that good enough for media?

 

[the_lock_man]

I don't use carbon at all, and I know a lot of other experienced fishkeepers don't either. Carbin is used for a couple of things. It can remove tannins from the water that have leeched out from some bogwood, but this is more of a secondary thing.
 
Its main use is for chemical filtration - it removes heavy metal pollutants from the water. There are two downsides, though, and IMO, they're pretty big ones. The first is that after 3 or 4 weeks, the carbon's capacity to adsorb the pollutants is exhausted, even if it hasn't adsorbed any. Once it is saturated, it will not remove anything. So you need to keep replacing it, which is pretty darn expensive. The second downside is that all the decent dechlorinators, and a few indecent ones, also remove those same heavy metals - meaning that there is nothing for the carbon to do anyway.
 
I keep a carbon filter in my cupboard, as many aquatic medications are based on heavy metals, so once the medication has run its course, I use a carbon filter to remove the medication. After 3 weeks, I then remove the carbon again, chuck it away, and buy a new one to keep in the cupboard.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Many folks consider Eheim to be the Rolls Royce of canisters. I count myself as one.

 

[alvis8]

can somebody please
 
please
 
 
 
please please please
 
give me a beginners info on what media to get
 
please