# What to filter with.



## Vasudeva (Oct 29, 2009)

Hello I was just told not to use carbon in my canister filter because it will soak up all my ferts. I have aheavily planted 50 gal and was wondering what i should use as my media now? i have heard of bio balls and aqua sponges, tell me about what you use and the experience you have had with it. Thanks!


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## nokturnalkid (Feb 27, 2007)

Bio: ceramic rings, cheap nylon dishwashing sponges(the kind that are 3/$1) lava rock, pvc shavings(forget what they are called, used it in a wet dry a while back), bio balls

Chemical: purigen

Mechanical: whatever comes with the filter, blu/white filter padding, pillow stuffing for the fine stuff


Ive used all that stuff at one time or another, sometimes all at once. They all did the job. Right now, my canister filters are stuffed with the original filter pads, ceramic rings, purigen(when needed), and pillow stuffing.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Be careful of using nylon. It slowly decomposes and gives off a substance that poisons aquatic plants.


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## Vasudeva (Oct 29, 2009)

What is the best thing to use, bio balls or cermanic or what?


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Nitrifying bacteria will live on all the sponges and floss, no need to add additional media just for the bacteria. The plants are the larger portion of the nitrogen removal. If you have some bio media already, use it. But if you have to buy something, get more mechanical filter media. 

Activated Carbon does not remove 'All the fertilizer'. 
If may remove some of the chelated minerals (for example, iron) but the smaller molecules usually pass right through it. 

I do not run AC on my tanks.


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## Vasudeva (Oct 29, 2009)

thanks


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## nokturnalkid (Feb 27, 2007)

HeyPK said:


> Be careful of using nylon. It slowly decomposes and gives off a substance that poisons aquatic plants.


Whoops brain fart. Those scrubbies are polyester.


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## Daniil (Oct 30, 2009)

I use 1/2" pumice rock, instead of bio-balls, ceramic and all that good and expensive filter product, as a filter media for about 3 month now. Water is crystal clear, plants and fish are happy. Best part that is very cheap $6 per bag about 3lb, which is plenty.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

You may be able to get lava rock at a rock yard, landscape center or masonry store a lot cheaper than $2 per pound. Around here a 1 cubic foot bag of it (around 75 pounds) is about $10.00. 
75 pounds is as much as all my tanks and all the club's tanks could use. 

Some of these stores will give you a free sample (sandwich baggie or so) which may be all you need.


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## Chrom0zone (Jun 4, 2006)

Basically you need to fill your filler with a very large surface area for the bacteria to grow on and something physically filter the larger stuff.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

My point is that one material can do both. No need to spend money buying a specialty product. 

In a planted tank you do not need that much biomedia, and the same media that removes the debris gets well populated with nitrifying bacteria. In a non-planted tank you probably would want extra biomedia. 

Coarse sponge, medium sponge, finer media (polyester floss) and you will have mechanical AND biological filtration taken care of. 
Rinse and reuse until they fall apart. The polyester floss mats up after several rinsings, but sponges seem to last forever.


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## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

I have had great results with Seachem Matrix. If you want to spend an arm and a leg for some other good suff here is the eheim variant.

Lava rocks is fins but you never know what it has been sprayed with or has had contact with on the yard.


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