Is this stupid?

[Peggotty]

Uh...um...well, unwilling to part with anymore cash, I cut off a square of my doggie's foam mattrice and stuffed it in my filter. ) Will this not work? I boiled it in very hot water first. It's a bit hairy, that's all. Is the carbon/floss/whateverelse REALLY necessary? ) 8)

 

[highnshy]

omg! i would never thought about that lol. But i dont know if thats ok or not it would be nice if it is ok

 

[dolphin]

Hi Peggotty

The foam that is used in fish filters, is open pore foam. I.e. the holes in the foam do not form closed holes. This means that the water can easily pass through them, even the fine foams, creating a huge surface area for nitrifying bacteria to colonize.
The foam in matrices and cushions etc… is closed pore foam, i.e. the holes in the foam are mainly closed, (bubbles in the foam). This means that water will pass around the outside of the foam, and only provide a very small surface area for the bacteria to colonize. Over time the inner lavers of the foam will become stagnant, and pollute the tank.

Dolphin

 

[Peggotty]

deflated. Ugh. How depressing!! Thanks a lot for telling me!! Is there anything lying around the house that WILL work, or will I just have to fork out some MORE cash for a filter cartridge? The filter that I have got is a Whisper 20-40, purchased very cheaply (and without the cartridge) at a yard sale.

 

[Dogsby]

If you or anyone in the house is into crafts, you could use quilt batting or fiberfill. As long as there isnt any fire retardant chemicals or anything else weird on the label, it should work lovely for a filter.
Oh, and go buy your dog a new mattress
Shawn

 

[Peggotty]

THANK YOU!!!! My Mom actually DOES quilt! You have saved my life!

Buying my dogs another mattrice would defeat the whole purpose of thing! It was only a tiny weeny square...if I feel guilty I will sew it back on!

 

[CFC]

DONT USE ANY FOAM OR SIMILAR MATERIALS FROM AROUND THE HOUSE! Most household materials will have been treated with fire retardants (as mentioned by Dogsby) which are poisenous to fish.Why do you need to change the filter media? Normally a good rinse in tankwater is enough to clean them and if you replace them you lose a lot of your nitrifying (sp) bacteria.

 

[Peggotty]

Thank you very much for the warning, cat fish crazy! The reason I need to "change the filter" is because my filter didn't come with the filter (or something!); I got it at a yardsale. I do have another filter that I bought and is attached to my other tank, but the package said it needed to be replaced in 1 month. I have read many places that you can simply rinse it out, but I have also read that you can't do this if it has carbon because the carbon will go bad and leak harmful things back into my tank...is this correct information or can I really just rinse it out?

I used 100% polyester quilt batting for a filter...as a frame I used one of my baby sister's lego blocks, the sort that is shaped like an enormous window. I hope it works okay!

Thanks for all the beautiful help. Off subject: Will Paradise fish *thrive* in a 2 gallon bowl? I adore Paradise fish, but since they are better by themselves, I hesitate to "waste" a whole 10 gallon tank on them. Any information would be appreciated. I don't want it to be crowded and unhappy! Thanks a lot.

 

[teknikz]

i dont mean to sound like im being funny but arent filter sponges very cheap??? in the U.K they are about £4 which is about $7.......and from what ive heard everythin in the U.S is very cheap

i want cheap stuff

anno what u mean tho.....ive only just started with the fish keeping and its cost me 3 times more than i thought

 

[CFC]

Carbon should only be used in the filter when you need to remove meds or toxins other than normal fish waste,many people believe that when used continually it strips essential minerals from the water,best filter media IMO is the coarse foam blocks that can be bought from most good lfs.They allow a good flow of water through the filter while housing a lot of benefitial bacteria.

 

[Jamnog]

mm people tell me not to put paradise fish in a 2 gal and im kinda with them on that i dont think they could thrive as such as they can get pretty big. as for the filter there are allot of things i use for filter media that perhaps i shouldnt scouring pads i used to use as you can see the water goes thru them cotton wool has been bleeched but i dont think any gets back out.