Filter Media - Filter Wool

[Clarousel]

Thanks minnnt. You've been loads of help!

 

[minnnt]

No problem, glad to be of use.

Have fun!

 

[giants1249er]

what filter do you have?

basically if its an external canister filter you normally use sponges as well as floss with ceramic media inbetween. the sponges are placed in first, these will remove the larger particles from the water. then the ceramic media which can come in many forms like small tubes, little balls, glass pieces etc etc etc. this is where most of your beneficial bacteria will be colonising on the surface of the media. then last in the canister goes the floss, this catches all the tiny particles that the sponges and media didnt stop giving the water a final clean before being pumped back into your tank.

you might already know this but wash any media or sponges etc in tank water and dont go too mad squeezing etc as this is where you bacteria is. too good a clean and you may find yourself having a small ammonia spike and plenty of water changes will be required to bring the ammonia levels down to a safe level for your fish until the bacteria can build up again.

other filters are set up slightly differently but all use the same idea.

I'm not too sure of the brand but its a filter that sits above the tank. It has no space for sponges plus ceramic pieces, only the floss along with a plastic thing with small holes.

Is it an Aqueon QuietFlow 10? This is a HOB filter and I have this and it sounds similar to what you have.

 

[Clarousel]

Is it an Aqueon QuietFlow 10? This is a HOB filter and I have this and it sounds similar to what you have.

Nope it's not. Embarrassingly, living in Asia we have loads of funky brands for filter/air pumps. I didn't get a look at what brand mine is. It doesn't look like the Aqueon QuietFlow 10 though. It sits above and across the tank so it's a longish kinda filter. Not those compact HOB types though I have that for my smaller tank

 

[Clarousel]

Hi guys,

I got ceramic rings for my filter today because I found out filter wool is only a mechanical filter. Read on the filter media thread that denser wool can colonize a decent amount of bacteria but decided to play safe. I guess this is the reason for all my tank problems.

For my smaller tank I've got a HOB that has the filter cartridge it came with and I added some filter wool. Does it need ceramic rings too? However I don't think any can fit in...