What's your favorite filter media

[TwoTankAmin]

Poret foam--> http://www.swisstropicals.com/library/swisstropicals-poret-foam/

Changing to the above media in large volumes has done two things. First, it made my water cleaner and healthier I even get denitrification. Next, it has greatly reduced the weekly maint. time I need to clean tanks.

I have one Eheim 2026 canister I loaded with nothing made by Eheim even though I used it in my other two canisters. I clean the other two twice a year. The one I loaded with the Poret foam did not need to be cleaned for aabout 3.5 years, maybe a few months more.

When I used them, I used to rinse my ATI sponges weekly. My Poret cubefilters get cleaned about every 3 -4 weeks. My Hamburg Mattenfilters take years before I need to clean them.

Mechanical filtration mostly involves organics, both dissolved and "chunky." In established Poret filters these tend mostly to be consumed by microorganisms as in nature. But in nature there are larger critters which consume even more than will be done in filters. The best example I cna offer is in my pleco breeding and grow tanks. I can put a quarter on the back glass and then read the date through the front gleass, water and back glass.

Poret is not cheap, but it works very well. I have never bothered to try and find an alternative that might cost less. I have thrown out crumbling AquaClear and ATI sponges. I have been using Poret since Dec. 2014 and am not even close to needing to replace any of it.

 

[lnsaneM]

Poret Media

I think these Poret media might be a better buy, if I'm interpreting this correctly, a gallon of this stuff is a lot if they are measuring it by weight and not volume.

 

[glyn]

My favourite freshwater biological filter media is the plastic non-scratch scourer. These have an enormous surface area for the bacteria to cling to, yet allow a good flow through. My second favourite is a coarse sponge; something like 10-30 pores per [cubic?] inch. Commercial aquaculture enterprises, where jobs depend on getting filtration right, often, though not invariably, use plastic media in various shapes - bioballs, K2, etc - kept in constant motion. This can be done in a home aquarium, [I've tried it in a sump] but isn't always practical.

My third favourite freshwater biological filter media isn't really a media at all; it's the humble floating plant. With the right lighting, floating plants can be constantly harvested, thus taking out the waste they consume in order to grow. Of course, this doesn't work if you're trying to grow light-sensitive substrate-based plants.


My favourite freshwater mechanical filter media is filter floss, especially since it can be bought in bulk via the internet, and simply replaced rather than washed out. [Alternatively, of course, you can rely on substrate cleaning, and water changes for mechanical filtration.]

A point to ponder is that perhaps mechanical filtration isn't as important as we often think it to be. Only if detritus threatens to overwhelm the biological media does it become a filtration issue. [It may be an aesthetic issue before then, however!]


Finally, if you're a newby reading this, remember, as many have said throughout this forum in many posts, get the biological filtration right first!

 

[Lynnzer]

The mention of "sump" in the original question leads to it being a marine tank. I guess anyway, since not many freshwater tanks use a sump.
In that case the issue is rather more different. Filtration as discussed, is for the collection of detritus and of course, for the build up of beneficial bacteria. However, in a marine environment the actual tank architecture such as live rock and sand is more important for the bacteria.
That said, detritus still needs to be removed but this is generally done in the sump filtration system, or in the internal sump on the back or side wall. Sponge, floss and even a sock are mainly used for that. The inclusion of bio balls or ceramic rings assist in the bacteria generation but these are independent of each other.
So is this a marine tank?

 

[lnsaneM]

No it is a freshwater aquarium with a built in sump underneath the tank. The tank itself has 200 gallons and with the sump I would estimate about 50 to 75 gallons. The first layer is a wet/dry/drip filtration for mechanical (3 baskets), then it has 3 tanks for biomedia, I filled it with the ceramic bricks for the first 2 that came with the tank and then some ceramic balls, ceramic rings for the third. It's kind of weird because there are 3 filter socks that go after all the biological filtration. And finally, the pump, heater, and uv sterilizer in the last tank. The first layer of mechanical filtration actually works really well, I'm having to replace or wash the first basket of cottons about every day or two (the fish I have here poops a lot), it gets filled up with fish poop, plant leaves etc.

 

[lnsaneM]

From what I've read on here I'm probably replacing the first two layers with 30ppi sponge or ceramic balls in about a year or two. But right now, this filter is working really well.

 

[plebian]

From what I've read on here I'm probably replacing the first two layers with 30ppi sponge or ceramic balls in about a year or two. But right now, this filter is working really well.

Forget the ceramic balls. Everyone who responded to this post recommending foam filter media is correct. There's nothing better, other than fluidized bed K1 filters. The soap free plastic pot scrubbers would be my second choice.

 

[lnsaneM]

Forget the ceramic balls. Everyone who responded to this post recommending foam filter media is correct. There's nothing better, other than fluidized bed K1 filters. The soap free plastic pot scrubbers would be my second choice.

I think you're right, sponge is probably a better choice

 

[lnsaneM]

When my HW 3000 arrives I will get some 30ppi sponge and fill up all the baskets and test it out myself. I think this will also increase the waterflow compared to the ceramic balls I've been using in my 704B

 

[Uberhoust]

I have found the simplest is to use sponge for the mechanical and biological filtration, no matter how the water is pumped over it, in tank, HOB, or canister. Then the rest is devoted to substrate for bacteria, typically something cheap and porous, mostly ceramic rings of some sort.

 

[plebian]

When my HW 3000 arrives I will get some 30ppi sponge and fill up all the baskets and test it out myself. I think this will also increase the waterflow compared to the ceramic balls I've been using in my 704B

Are you using a single 704B on your 200 gallon? If so, I would just double up on it. Two canisters are better than one. When you clean one, the other is still processing, limiting the impact cleaning has on biofiltration. Also, I would do some more research on the HW 3000. There have been reports about problems.

Normally, I wouldn't give too much weight to the odd negative review, but Sunsun or their distributors seems to have stopped selling that model in my part of the world. I was going to purchase a pair of those myself, but decided to go with the 704s instead. I'm really happy with the pair of 704A canisters I have on my 180 gallon tank.

 

[Valkyrie_Lips]

Coarse filter sponge and ceramic rings for me.

 

[lnsaneM]

Are you using a single 704B on your 200 gallon? If so, I would just double up on it. Two canisters are better than one. When you clean one, the other is still processing, limiting the impact cleaning has on biofiltration. Also, I would do some more research on the HW 3000. There have been reports about problems.

Normally, I wouldn't give too much weight to the odd negative review, but Sunsun or their distributors seems to have stopped selling that model in my part of the world. I was going to purchase a pair of those myself, but decided to go with the 704s instead. I'm really happy with the pair of 704A canisters I have on my 180 gallon tank.

I have 2 tanks, one 200 and one 75. The 200 is a built in sump under the tank, the other 75 I just switched to a HW 3000 with a 604B booster filter, the water flow is much better compared to the 704B

 

[plebian]

I have 2 tanks, one 200 and one 75. The 200 is a built in sump under the tank, the other 75 I just switched to a HW 3000 with a 604B booster filter, the water flow is much better compared to the 704B

You have a HW 3000 AND a 604B on your 75??? I would think you'd have some serious turbulence issues. I actually had to use BOTH a spray bar AND a nozzle on EACH of my 704s to reduce the current. My 180 actually holds 150 net gallons, which is double your 75 and I have plenty of water flow.

 

[lnsaneM]

You have a HW 3000 AND a 604B on your 75??? I would think you'd have some serious turbulence issues. I actually had to use BOTH a spray bar AND a nozzle on EACH of my 704s to reduce the current. My 180 actually holds 150 net gallons, which is double your 75 and I have plenty of water flow.

I don't really have any problems with too much current as the 604 is only a booster filter with no power before the HW 3000, I have the pump set at setting 5. All the pumping is done through the main filter and the booster filter significantly slows the water flow thus why I switch to a HW 3000 from the 704B. I think the flow is just right

edit: I really don't like the outtake nozzle and the surface skimmer thing from the HW 3000, so I just kept the intake and outtake from the 704B as is and just reconnected everything into the HW 3000. I didn't even bother using the media trays from the HW 3000 as they are the same but inferior and just transferred them over. This makes installing everything a lot easier too lol.