Filter Media

[Nik]

I have 17 tanks using internal and external filters - mostly Fluvals.

Replacing filter media each month can often be expensive - I wondered if anybody had used home made filter media and if so - what did you use?

 

[impur]

i have an emperor 400 and took the floss off the plastic piece that comes with the insert. I cut small notches in the plastic and use quilt batting held on with a rubberband. The batting was $2 at Walmart and should last me well over a year. If you go this route it must be open pore batting. I think the brand is quilt-a-craft. This stuff can be used for various replacement media i think. The one role is like 8 ft long and 2 ft wide.

 

[Dogsby]

Just make sure the batting is 100% polyester(or whatever its made of), and isnt fire retarded or something else. It might kill your fishies.

Shawn

 

[Nik]

Thanks guys.

 

[steve-0]

i guess you could go to a home improvement store and pick up some open cell foam

 

[Jamnog]

instead of replaceing the foam every month you could squigy it in some tank water to get most of the waste out thats what i do. i replace the top foam sometimes tho. they would have you buying allot of stuff if they could... how much do you spend?

 

[flyhockey1037]

hey guys what about biological and chemical filtration? all of these ideas so far only take care of mechanical filtration. dont u need something like activated carbon to cleanse and purify the water and keep ammonia and nitrite levels low and whatnot?

 

[impur]

The biowheel in my filter is where the bacteria colonies are present. They take care of the ammonia and nitrites. I don't use carbon except maybe a few days a month to polish the water.

 

[Wasserpest]

Replacing filter media each month can often be expensive - I wondered if anybody had used home made filter media and if so - what did you use?

Why replacing every month?? For mech filtration, I use foam, and rinse it carefully in tank water when cleaning the filter(s). For bio filtration, I use ceramic ringies and lava rock, and the longer they are undisturbed the better they work.
I don't use carbon... this would be something to replace all the time, and I think water changes work better plus it doesn't really work for planted tanks.

 

[scottydog]

DIY Media

I use hair rollers to build up bio filtration. Buy in bulk for good price, smaller slots inside larger and they are full of tiny holes and some covered in velcro for big surface area for bacteria to develop. I need to use floss as a prefilter just to take some of the thicker waste out of the water. I add these in old external canister filters(second hand/recon/home made) on rain bars to supplement a main filter. I only use carbon if absolutely necessary cos: 1) it scrubs the water too much for my liking, and, 2) I'm too lazy to take it out again and end up leaving it for months...!

I believe you can use anything that won't break down as DIY filter media, the larger the surface area the better. Hats off to cleaning filters for 17 tanks, I run about half that at any one time and only mess with filters when they stop!!! The rest of the time I concentrate on the water -cycling, regular small changes etc... I've got a dehumidifier in the house which catches atmospheric water, freezes then thaws it prior to storing in sump- great for the house and the fish.

 

[Nik]

Cheers ScottyDog. Hair rollers seem a like a good idea. Not sure I'm brave enough to go into a shop and ask for rollers so I guess I'll get the girl friend to go for me ) )

 

[scottydog]

Chicken

 

[Nik]

Cluck, cluck.

 

[AquaNut]

Wow. I never buy anything for my filters. I bought some filter 'pads' at my lfs proabably a year ago. You cut them to size. One is the white floss stuff and the other one is kind of ochre coloured and is supposed to deal with ammonia. There is a carbon one, too, but I don't use carbon unless forced to. In my aquaclear filter, I just stack two foam inserts. I take all these out every so often (maybe once every few weeks or once a month) and give them a good rinse to get the sludge off. I also have a Diatom filter which I run periodically if I'm feeling that my water doesn't look as clear and sparkly as I want it to. (uses diatomaceous earth as filter media)

 

[Alien Anna]

instead of replaceing the foam every month you could squigy it in some tank water to get most of the waste out thats what i do. i replace the top foam sometimes tho. they would have you buying allot of stuff if they could... how much do you spend?

That's what I do - why would I replace the insets every month? Wouldn't that risk the tank having to cycle every month? I replace mine twice a year, or when they get icky. Sometimes I thoroughly clean them, in hot tap water, dry them out and then stick them in the tank for cycling.