# canister media advice needed



## jumboag99 (Mar 8, 2012)

Setting up a new 75G planted tank (First time planted tank owner).

I have a brand new Fluval 406 for it.

It came with a lower basket of bio foam, next up BIOMAX, then a carbon tray, then a water polishing pad and another carbon tray.

I have seen conflicting information about using/not using carbon. I'm looking for advice on whether I should keep some, all or none of it and what (if necessary) I should replace it with.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Find information here on how ADA uses the filter media and how it needs to be changed with the tank maturation. It is very simple and it has been proven in hundreds of ADA tanks. The information is really very little - there is nothing complicated. Most local DFW folk know the details about it (amount of media, size of the media, kind of media, flow rate for your tank, flow pattern in the tank). And there are enough posts with pictures that explain it in the DFW section of this forum.

You are new - start the right way.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

+1 to that. With so many variables that change and can go awry, something as controlable and mechanically consistent as a filter should be set up correctly to begin with. I have no specific advice on the media type, so I'll just 2nd the hint to check out the DFW club posts. They've been experimenting with filtration since I joined this site.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I do not use activated carbon in the filters all the time. I use it to remove medications, and in case of some emergencies. 

I use mostly mechanical filtration set up so the water flows through the coarsest material (sponges) first, then through finer and finer media. 
I have some chemical media in some tanks. I use peat moss for soft water fish, and coral sand and oystershell grit for hard water tanks. I will usually put this in one of the middle baskets, with a layer of polyester floss over it. Some of these fine media tend to shed some particles at first. I use nylon stockings for media bags. 
I use quilt batting for polyester floss. (Fabric store, no flame retardants or anything else). 

My understanding of activated carbon is that it has the greatest affinity for organic molecules, and not much for most of the simple minerals and salts we use for fertilizer. Only chelated materials are in great danger of being eliminated from the water. I know it removes medicines, dyes, tannins and a VERY long list of many things.


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## pjb9166 (Apr 2, 2012)

So using carbon will not remove fertilizers? My only internet connection
is my phone. Let me tell you to go through all these posts is a pain in the- well
you know. I tried getting an answer like this to a post i did the other day.


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