Fliter Media

[mark34]

hi i have just order my new filter Aquarium fish tank external filter 2000L/H 9W UV + Media

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aquarium-fish-tank-external-filter-2000L-H-9WUV-Media-/400098641607?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item5d27bcc6c7#ht_4101wt_905


it Included filter media; Bio balls, Ceramic rings, Activated carbon and four fine filter floss foams but was told i will need to change the media by the guy at the fish shop as it is setup for fresh & salt water aquarium tanks up to 1000 Litres my tank is tropical !

so was thinking if i do need to change the madie what would be best to change it to ?

he was saying i needed to change all the media in the filter to foams blue/orange/wight/black course foam

i have a 5.2ft x 2ft x 2.3ft tank 480lts lightly planted (thanks to my Silver Dollar )

hope some one can help me ?

 

[KittyKat]

so was thinking if i do need to change the madie what would be best to change it to ?

Heh, hehehe. No, you don't need to change the media. Someone just wants your cash.

Remove the activated carbon for later, like when you want to remove medication from the tank. I would add more bio balls instead (Eheim's Substrat is what I use) or porous ceramic noodles (or rings, if you prefer.. I like the ones by Fluval).

Sponges are best for mechanical filtration (i.e. removing pieces of crap), but what is already there is enough. I run my externals with only bio media in the baskets and a sponge pre-filter (to remove the pieces of crap) and an extra fine wool polishing sponge (to remove the smaller pieces of crap at the end). This way I only need to clean the two sponges every few weeks, which reduces maintenance on cleaning a filter full of sponges every week. This also allows for higher stocking.

For the filter cycling, you can run old and new filter in parallel for 6 weeks or move all old media into the new filter.

 

[julsifer]

i agree with above, i have the 1400 one, but yeah you shouldn't need to change your filter media what comes with it is fine.

 

[Jamepsss]

Same as my filter.

As above, the media it comes with is fine. You can always add to it if required, plenty of space in there for more.

 

[mark34]

many thanks for your replys i have the 1000 at the min from when i had my 4ft tank it is not upto the job on the new tank !
was went for the 2000lh+ going to put the old media + new in the new filter to help thing along and do a 20% water change

is this all i need to do ?

so glad i found this form so fair save me so much

 

[anon02]

If you are going to fishless cycle (recommended) you should remove the floss pads to prevent the beneficial bacteria setting up home there, you can always replace it before you add stock

 

[mark34]

my tank is stocked so thats way i was moving over the media from the old filter to help things along
as in my cabinet i dont have room to run them side by side shame i thing that be the best way after all the reading online

 

[KittyKat]

many thanks for your replys i have the 1000 at the min from when i had my 4ft tank it is not upto the job on the new tank !
was went for the 2000lh+ going to put the old media + new in the new filter to help thing along and do a 20% water change

is this all i need to do ?

This will work. Do use all the old media, do put it near the start of the filter (so the water goes first through the old media, then the new).

 

[mark34]

hi i am a newbie

For the filter cycling, you can run old and new filter in parallel for 6 weeks.

how would i do this ?

Do i have to install both filters as normal, (as in having two intakes and outlets in my tank)
as it would look so messy i was thinking it cant be right or am i missing something ?

 

[snowflake311]

The filter floss is the only thing I replace every 6 months or longer.

 

[fluttermoth]

There is plenty of space in the 2000 for all the media that came with it plus the media from your old 1000l. If you move all the media from your old filter into the new one then you don't need to run both.

 

[KittyKat]

hi i am a newbie

For the filter cycling, you can run old and new filter in parallel for 6 weeks.

how would i do this ?

Do i have to install both filters as normal, (as in having two intakes and outlets in my tank)
as it would look so messy i was thinking it cant be right or am i missing something ?

Yes, that is exactly how one runs filters in parallel.

The other option is to move all media from the unwanted old filter into the new one, if you are only swapping filters and don't care about keeping the old one cycled.

If you want to keep both old and new filters running, ease off on the feeding and split the media 50/50 between the two, but be sure to mix the new media well with the old if you have bio media in the form of balls or ceramic noodles.. if you do this, it is very important to watch the ammonia and nitrite readings and be prepared for water changes. Generally, it is ok to increase feeding back to normal over 1-2 weeks.

 

[mark34]

many thanks to ever one on here that has help me with my filter change over !
moved all my media from the old filter and add it with the new media fingers cross ever thing goes well
now just got to work out the uv light as have read that it can still bee working but not giving uv light anymore ?
so got to work out when to change it
after i work out how to add photos to this form will put the tank up here so ever one can see what it looks like now after ever one hard work ))

my camera photos come out at 1.8mb so wont upload to site

 

[Kiwi Clint]

i agree with above, i have the 1400 one, but yeah you shouldn't need to change your filter media what comes with it is fine.

hey mate, just bought the same filter as you, only cost $55 austalian, which was bloody cheap, which made me think it would be bloody cheap. It has arrived, but is not yet in use, seems to be built fairly well...hows yours running?

 

[KittyKat]

now just got to work out the uv light as have read that it can still bee working but not giving uv light anymore ?

Personally wouldn't use UV unless I had a very specific and unusual reason for wanting it..

my camera photos come out at 1.8mb so wont upload to site

Try hosting the image somewhere else and then using the img tags (fifth button from the right) and the image URL to display it.