# Filter Media for the planted aquarium



## Thompson

I was wondering what would be the best filter media to use with a heavily planted set up. I currently use a Fluval 205 with biomax rings and zeo carb. I believe I read somewhere that carbon in a planted set up would do more harm then good. Thoughts?


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## kamel_007

yes, i absorb all the chemicals include the plants fertilizers, i have a planted tank but i dont use carbon, unless u want to take out some harmful chemicals such as medications


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## Zapins

You can use carbon in your filter. It doesn't do much since the plants are the biggest filter of things like nitrate/ammonia. The carbon if more or less a waste of money. I use filter floss (or pillow stuffing) as the filter media in my tanks.


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## Aquaticz

Zapins said:


> You can use carbon in your filter. It doesn't do much since the plants are the biggest filter of things like nitrate/ammonia. The carbon if more or less a waste of money. I use filter floss (or pillow stuffing) as the filter media in my tanks.


Hey Zapins where do you get the filter floss or pillow stuffing? A fabric store?


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## Michael

In my new 40 breeder, I am using 100% lava rock in the Eheim 2217, with a coarse sponge over the intake. This approach was discussed here: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...club/75400-excited-word-about-filtration.html

It's a long read, but worth it.


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## niko

When asking a question as important as filtration it's important to understand how it all works together. 

You cannot say "This substrate is good for all tanks, from day 1 till forever." A new aquarium has stages in which you use this or that media. In an established aquarium natural processes cause changes that call for different media.

The bottom line is that if your filtration is setup right you will have to maintain it very little and your tank will seldom have issues. To make it simple I will say one thing - remember that biological filtration is vastly superior to mechanical or chemical. If you have to use mechanical or chemical filtration you should think about improving your filter as a whole.

--Nikolay


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## Zapins

Yep I got mine at a fabric store. You can get it in sheets that cost virtually nothing compared with petstore prices. The sheets are used inside blankets, and the batting is used for stuffing pillows.


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## jschall

I would use (in order)
Foam
Bio (matrix, substratpro, ceramic rings, whatever)
Polyfil (stuffing/mattress batting)
Bag of purigen

A word on the poly-fil: I would feel safer with a brand marketed for aquariums specifically. It lasts forever, I haven't replaced mine in years. Just hose it out.


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## JustLikeAPill

I have just three liters of Bio Rio and a bag of purigen in my filter. No mechanical filtration. I like Bio Rio the best of any other biomedia i have tried because it is the smallest.


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## funnytrash

i just use air filters which i can buy on ebay by the rolls


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## lanceduffy

awhile back I followed the thread that Michael posted. As a result I am using all bio filtration. My current tank is about 8 months old. I use bio rio.


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## aquaphish

I also have Fluval filters. I only use the cramic media and the sponge filter. I fill the lower basket with a large ceramic media then a medium size in the middle basket then I found a small ceramic media for the top basket. Then I have the supplied sponge filters and that is it.

I have crystal clear water all the time.


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## lipadj46

seachem matrix is a great choice.


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## cino

Zapins hit the nail on the head. I too use floss which I change regularly. I do not use carbon at all as I do believe "carbon removes beneficial elements in the water that the plants can utilize", besides that, discus (in my case) and other cichlids do not do well with carbon. It has been linked to hole-in-the-head and lateral line disease.

As far as your filter goes, I am not a fan of Fluval and that of your biological media goes, the cheapest and best way (since Fluvals are notorious by-pass filters = not good) is to use something easily flowed through so as not to obstruct your Fluval any more than necessary. Sponges have the most biological surface area in that department vs. the more expensive, fancy alternatives. I personally have found it is hard to find block sponges these days, least wise, around here. To get block sponges I buy the Fluval FX5 sponges and cut or layer them to fit whatever filter I need them for.

Hope you found an effective alternative before now. Today is my first day on this forum so I apologize for my delay in responding.

Good Luck


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## cino

Any aquarium store should carry aquarium grade filter floss. I use it on all 6 of our planted tanks and our reef system. Works better than anything fancier and more pricey.


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## cino

niko said:


> When asking a question as important as filtration it's important to understand how it all works together.
> 
> You cannot say "This substrate is good for all tanks, from day 1 till forever." A new aquarium has stages in which you use this or that media. In an established aquarium natural processes cause changes that call for different media.
> 
> The bottom line is that if your filtration is setup right you will have to maintain it very little and your tank will seldom have issues. To make it simple I will say one thing - remember that biological filtration is vastly superior to mechanical or chemical. If you have to use mechanical or chemical filtration you should think about improving your filter as a whole.
> 
> --Nikolay


I respectfully but strongly dissagree with you Nikolay. I totally agree that there should be no need for chemical media of any kind if you have good biological filtration. That is first and foremost and is in fact the only type of filtration needed "but not always". As far as mechanical filtration goes, I believe that really depends on the individual set-up. Every tank is different as you well know.


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## JustLikeAPill

Well, I think Niko was making a statement based on the rule of thumb (based on the Japanese method) that you should have 10% the volume of of tank as biomedia in your filter, and that biomedia should not clog easily and a pressure rated pump like an iwaki or similarshould be used.

Having laminar flow and lily pipes places strategicaly is part of the above scenario, as well as a filter witha GPH of 8X-10X the volume of aquarium water. 

If you have all that, I think you will fnd that you don't need any mechanical or chemical filtration at all. This has been my and others' experience. If you have 10% the volume of your tank as biological media, and a filter with a rated flow of 10X the tank volume ( the actual flow when it is full of media and has head pressure will be 5-7X most likely) and biomedia that doesn't clog easily but has a large surface area and isn't too big nor too small (like Bio Rio) you will find that the biomedia acts as mechanical filtration and catches small particles ans debris and silt, where ther organisms break them down befre bacteria convert the broducts into nitrate which the plantz take up. A good prefilter (like the one that the Ecco Pro line utilizes) keep the largs debris from entering the biomedia baskets.

If you can make it through that big run on sentence you get 100 points! But this isn't a term paper and I type the way I would speak in person ; )

But this is all in the context of planted aquaria with small fish. A tank with Arowana and Osacars might not conform to this method. I don't know much about the husbandry of large fish, so maybe they would need mechanical filtration in addition to biological.

At any rate, fluvals are horrible filters.


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## niko

Here's a funny story:

One day I went to a local ******* fish store. I walk in and see a 75 gallon tanlk full of saltwater fish. Powder blue tangs and such. About 40 fish. 6 to 8" each. Not the cheapest or hardiest fish on Earth.

I stand there speechless. I stand and wait to see when the fish will start to sink and die one after the other. What I see is the definition of "overcrowding".

******* employee walks by. I ask - "When did you put all these fish in this tank?". "About 4 days ago. We fully restock this tank every month 'cause that's how long it takes to sell all these fish."

I say "How do you keep them alive stuffed like that?". "Oh, on every tank we have a HUGE sump full of bioballs. The sump is the size of the tank. I guess it works, we got no problems." And he pushes open some rickety door under the tank. I see the actual sump - all 75 gallons of it. Pipe from tank, black bioballs, pump, pipe to tank. Nothing else. Except salt deposits everywhere...

******** around here are known to... let's put it that way - "make things work without much consideration of deep science or fancy words". 

--Nikolay


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## cino

JustLikeAPill said:


> Well, I think Niko was making a statement based on the rule of thumb (based on the Japanese method) that you should have 10% the volume of of tank as biomedia in your filter, and that biomedia should not clog easily and a pressure rated pump like an iwaki or similarshould be used.
> 
> Having laminar flow and lily pipes places strategicaly is part of the above scenario, as well as a filter witha GPH of 8X-10X the volume of aquarium water.
> 
> If you have all that, I think you will fnd that you don't need any mechanical or chemical filtration at all. This has been my and others' experience. If you have 10% the volume of your tank as biological media, and a filter with a rated flow of 10X the tank volume ( the actual flow when it is full of media and has head pressure will be 5-7X most likely) and biomedia that doesn't clog easily but has a large surface area and isn't too big nor too small (like Bio Rio) you will find that the biomedia acts as mechanical filtration and catches small particles ans debris and silt, where ther organisms break them down befre bacteria convert the broducts into nitrate which the plantz take up. A good prefilter (like the one that the Ecco Pro line utilizes) keep the largs debris from entering the biomedia baskets.
> 
> If you can make it through that big run on sentence you get 100 points! But this isn't a term paper and I type the way I would speak in person ; )
> 
> But this is all in the context of planted aquaria with small fish. A tank with Arowana and Osacars might not conform to this method. I don't know much about the husbandry of large fish, so maybe they would need mechanical filtration in addition to biological.
> 
> At any rate, fluvals are horrible filters.


Good Morning (our time here) Niko and JustLikeAPill:

I don't know anything about what you are talking about here, I'm sorry. One thing that is great about this hobby is that we are always learning.

I do know Fluvals are not effective filters. I just saw what Niko was referring to and thought to myself "with a tiny, useless Fluval.... YIKS!!!!!!!!  A FLUVAL THAT SMALL HAS NO REAL BIOLOGICAL CAPASITY ON TOP OF HAVING TOO MUCH BYPASS. If there is any real amount of bio-load on this hobbyist' tank there are going to be problems. I myself would have suggested another filter. For the hobbyist on a tight budget I would much sooner see a Marineland C-series canister, dollar per dollar, more bio-capasity no bypass. Fluval is the WORST I've seen personally.

"Niko is right and that should be all of our ultimate goal" but you need to start with "good equipment". He is obviously a very advanced hobbyist. Some people do planted tanks with no filtration what so ever, I'll never be that good, LOL As far as bio-filters go, I personally am partial to Eheims and no, I almost NEVER HAVE TO TOUCH MY comparitively HUGE BIO-FILTERS. I do however have occassion to rely on mechanical filtration (NEVER CHEMICAL or absorbsion medias), especially if I am disturbing my substrate. I do not want that going into my bio-filters.

Got to go check out this Bin Laden thing. Unfortunately there will be 20 more to take his place.


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## JustLikeAPill

Purigen is one resin which I reallt reccmend, though. It absorbs nitrogenous waste and doesn't absorb fertilizers. It really polishes the water.


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## cino

JustLikeAPill said:


> Purigen is one resin which I reallt reccmend, though. It absorbs nitrogenous waste and doesn't absorb fertilizers. It really polishes the water.


Funny, that is the one and ONLY thing I do use. I've got a tank that has been giving me real problems for the past month. I still have not figured it out. I think I will go put some Purigen in that tank now. This is another reason why I like mechanical filters. If I were to put a packet of Purigen in my Eheim Pro 3 (2080) that packet would be lost and on top of that I would have to disturb the filter.

I am debating on putting my problem we are having with our 65 gal. out on the forum but I know the most the responses I will get already. I've already put it to Eheim and my LFS who is my friend (he also put it to his #1 employee) and in all honesty I do have over 40 years in this hobby and this still has us baffled. AAARRRGH


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## AquascapeAddiction

Since this thread is coming up in Search Results when people are searching for help with plants, I thought I'd include some information we've found on filter media & planted tanks.

We've written pretty extensively about the matter on Aquascape Addiction, but here's the gist of it: your plants will do most of your bio filtration (Since you're planting heavily, this is true. If you were doing a sparse aquascape with mostly hardscape, I'd advise a little bio filtration in your canister, but otherwise you're fine.)

Chemical media won't affect your plants much, except for a few very sensitive species. We simply use purigen on all our public/showcase tanks, and that's about all you'll need.

If you have any other questions, just let me know and I'd be happy to help. (That goes for others reading this in the future, as well!)


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## TLe041

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