Media for Canister filter

I have been running an Eheim canister filter ever since I was given the 90 gallon setup for free. I got a few quick questions as far as the canister filter goes, my first is what type of media SHOULD i been running in it? Right now I'm running a bunch of sponges pretty much that came w/ it....a few bags of carbon...a decent sized bag of some bioballs and a small bag of the ceramic tubes. Now are the bioballs and ceramic tubes gonna be a problem for nitrates, etc? How often should I be washing everything out of the filter to make sure my water conditions don't spike?

 

any foam or floss type "pre filters" should be cleaned weekly, and replaced frequently (maybe month or so). a lot of it depends on feeding procedures. i ran filter floss, ceramic rings, then some sort of phosphate removing resin from fluval (cant remember the name) in that order. i used the bulk cut your own size filter floss so it was cheap to replace which i often did instead of cleaning. i have since removed the canister though, but i think you were involved in that thread last week.

basically if you get your first stage of filtration good enough to catch the detritus and uneaten food then that should be most of your concern. but keep an eye on the other trays cause they catch it too. i would rinse the rings and resin in a bucket of old water from a water change whenever i replaced the floss. just make sure whatever you rinse it in is dechlorinated so it doesn't kill bacteria.

 

Alright thanks....I'll have to try and keep up on the cleaning of the canister filter then & not be so lazy w/ it lol

 

I pretty much have a similar set up as wfb2270 in my canister. I ditched the sponge blocks in lieu for filter floss that way I could just toss it instead of trying to clean it. Those are in the first tray underneath my carbon and GFO so it catches most of the gunk. The remaining trays are all biological using Seachem Matrix.

I did a little test with my canister filter to see how "often" it actually needed to be cleaned since most people say you had to clean it weekly which sounded like overkill to me. For me it was about at the 6 week mark before I noticed nitrates starting to rise. So I opted for monthly cleanings. This will be different for everyone because of bioloads, feeding habits, etc. but for the daring it may not be a bad idea to figure this out so you know how much attention your set up needs.

 

+1 to Seachem Matrix. I run that instead of the ceramic rings. I have the foam filter pads in it. I clean the whole thing every 2 weeks with my water change.

 

carbon lots and lots of carbon also make sure you clean it alot, these are a great addition to a tank but only if done correctly

 

I agree that canister filters are great but only if maintained right. I will be looking into the seachem matrix cause it seems like a few of you like it. I will be cleaning my canister I think about every two weeks. I don't have a very heavy bioload therefore I don't feed a whole lot and I have a decent CUC so I think once every two weeks would we suitable for my situation