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I have the fluval 4+ internal filter but what media is recommended for it. There are 3 kind, the foam, carbon, and the polyester pads. Also, how often do I need to rinse them and which ones do i rinse in the tank water and which ones do I rinse in tap water?

These filters don't use Bio media at all, so there is no need to rinse the media in tank water. They also get dirty pretty fast, so I'd say wash these out every 2-3weeks.

There is a little trick to putting biomedia in them. I'll see if I can find the thread on a different site where it shows it.

Here you go, this is for the 3+ but theyre basically the same.

http://www.turtletimes.com/forums/index ... dification

interesting. for such an expensive filter you would think they'd put some bio media in there!

bio media is the only one you need rinse with tank water. the bio medias are where beneficial bacteria grows and thrives (they help keep harmful chemicals down).

I thought it was pretty cheap. They are only about 40 ish bucks for the 4+. But I agree, they should have incorporated Bio-media into it.

I had a 2+ in my old 30gal and it did a pretty good job though.

I disagree about only rinsing biomedia in the tank water. When I used the 4+, I rinsed whatever media I was using in tank water that I had taken from the tank before I started cleaning; this was mainly the foam, since the carbon pads don't last long and the polyester pads are to me basically useless.

From the pictures in that link, I think that filter is still going to need frequent cleaning.

On this filter and many others, the foam is the bio media and the point of biological filtration. Therefore it is essential it is rinsed out in tank water. Even when a filter has a special bio media, the foam still performs biological as well as physical filtering

Fluval intructions are to wash foam and polyester in tank water. Polyester ever 1-2 weeks and discard monthly. Carbon needs discarding.

I clean the foam when the clogging indicator goes down.

The carbon looks to me to be too small to be effective for any period of time, so I do not use.

The filter clogs every 2/3 weeks, so I do not use the polyester pads as restricting flow further would just make it worse.

Cleaned out by rinsing the media in tank / pond water, the filter performs surprising well considering small media volume and restricted flow as it clogs.

According to conventional wisdom, it is massively short of what is needed to filter my setup, but water looks clear and algae free, and the water test kit shows water quality is excellent.

I am not a great Fluval fan, preferring to spend the extra on Eheim, but at ebay prices, I think this is an excellent buy. (Shame my previous pump died while I was on holiday and a friend kindly and rapidly got one from a local aquatics shop in my absence - equivalent of $95!)

I hope you mean that it's essential that the foam (biomedia) should be rinsed out in the tank water, not tap water. You're trying to preserve the beneficial bacteria by doing this.

Marisa, well spotted, you are correct in what I meant to type, for exactly the right reason.

I have corrected typing error, and will try to gettting brain and fingers working in closer harmony in the future!