Good Enough for a Nano?

I have a 29g Nano with 4 filtration chambers. Starting from the left, in the intake chamber is a large square sponge; the middle chamber contains bioballs, the third chamber has a bag of those ceramic noodle things and a bag of activated carbon that sits on top of the noodles. The fourth chamber is the outtake chamber with a small, but sufficient pump. The bioballs always travel in the noodle/carbon chamber and the ceramic noodles, as near as I can tell, get sucked into the fourth chamber by the power of the pump.

My tank’s been up since June 20th and doing pretty well. Water chems are at optimum levels – cept those “effin” nitrates, which I can’t get below 20. But, it’s not done cycling. I’ve changed the carbon once and just this week, have thoroughly rinsed out the large filtration sponge.

I’m looking for opinion on the effectiveness and efficiency of this type of filtration, especially for such small tank. Using a PolyFilter is one suggestion I’ve received.

Thanks~

 

I would get rid of the bioballs since they generally become nitrate problems when not kept clean. Nitrates won't come down after cycling. They can only be removed by either water changes or by grwoing macroalgae & harvesting it out that way. Cleaning the sponge on a regular basis helps to control the nitrates as well since it removes any uneaten food that might rot.