Habitat - Indoor :: Filter media

[captn_tyler]

Hi guys, sorry if this is a dulicate post, but I need help with proper filter media. I have a canister filter made by fluval, it has three trays in it, I think its a fluval 700, maybe. I know its way oversized for the tank.

My question is what are people using for media from the bottom up? Like what should I put in the the bottom, middle and top tray? Also how often should I clean filter and procdues for such a cleaning? Diesel is in a 25 or 30 gallon tank.

[VeipaCray]

Not familiar with that model filter, but following the water flow, the first thing should be mechanical filtration...sponges or floss. This will trap the large debris and help keep the rest of the filter media from gunking up really quickly. The next should be a little bit of chemical filtration. You can use activated carbon or purigen. This will remove any dissolved organics from the water and control odors. The rest of the filter which is last in the water path and the majority of your media should be biological media like spun glass or ceramic bio rings. This will provide a lot of surface area to house nitrifying bacteria.

Assuming your filter has sponges already, I would do this. First basket in water path: bio media and a small bag of purigen. Other two baskets all bio media.

If your filter doesn't have sponges, then I would do this:
First in water path - sponges or floss
Second in water path - half bio rings and a bag of purigen
Last in water path - all bio rings

[axebass26]

okay... i got one of those cheapo filter systems that consist of a pump, hose, and an overhead filtration unit which is basically a container where you put your filter media. my pump is a Sea Quest 400 (very strong pump, sucked in a lot of guppies and mollies when i still had fish. manual didn't say anything about water turnover rate though), and as for my filter media, the first one i put is a sponge then activated carbon and something like a sponge but it really doesn't hold water that well. i washed the first sponge and the carbon straight in the tap and left the sponge at the rear alone... i did that because i know i need to keep some bacteria alive to deal with the nitrogen compounds.

anyway, my question is, is this filter system enough for my tank?

i'm using my 20gallon tank filed with 10 gallons of water. my turts are just over an inch in shell length (around 1.5-1.7 inches). water isn't stinky, and not cloudy. ph is good, a little acidic at 6.8. i don't have a test kit for nitrogen compounds though.

thoughts anyone?

=EDIT=

THe side of my filter says HMax 0.95M QMax 800L/H
does that mean the turnover is 800Liters/hour or around 200Gallons/hour?

[rsour24]

the filter is fine for your size tank, but you really should start to think about upgrading tanks because your turtles have out grown yours already haha. grow so fast when they are young

[VeipaCray]

THe side of my filter says HMax 0.95M QMax 800L/H
does that mean the turnover is 800Liters/hour or around 200Gallons/hour?

HMax is Maximum Head aka the maximum height your pump can push water.
QMax is as you expect the maximum flowrate of the pump. This number is published for 0 head. The higher you need the pump to push the water, the less the flow rate. (this is true of ANY fluid pump)