box style filter questions

[RichE]

I have been using these for awhile now and I like them, I have been using a little gravel at the bottom of the tray for weight and filter floss in the remaining space.

I have noticed at some of the fish rooms I have been in the past month or so, that there are a lot of these being used but There filled with some type of gravel or something.

What do people use in the corner/round/box filters?

The floss works great, but it gets dirty quick and then cuts down on the flow of air.

[Regalblue]

I have gravel on the bottom & ceramic rings on top of the two that I'm using.

[danielratti]

You could use K1 also.

[RichE]

You could use K1 also.

Kerosene? I know I'm just joking but what is K1?

Never mind, I used this neat thing called Google and found it.

Ouch its pricey, I have a bunch of ceramic rings and Bio media, I think I will go that route

[Ron]

If you think about it a bit, just using biomedia is a poor idea.

What is the point of biomedia? Having a place for beneficial bacteria to grow.

What determines the quantity of bacteria that can form? How much room they have, AKA the surface area of the media.

Consider what makes good biomedia? Lots of surface area and to do this, media is often porous by nature. Ceramic media for example.

Back to the filter floss - you say it fills up with junk fast and cuts down on the flow rate? Would you rather that the biomedia become covered with all that stuff instead? How well would bacteria grow afterwards?

IMO there are only too kinds of biomedia that can do alright without dedicated mechanical filtration before them. They are sponges (which provide some amount of mechanical filtration inherently and can be squeezed out) and bioballs (which are not porous and can be easily washed). I do have some box style filters and IME they do best filled about 2/3s with biomedia and 1/3 floss. Yes the floss gets dirty, but that's the idea and it's easy enough to change. 

[jcunningham0295]

I do have some box style filters and IME they do best filled about 2/3s with biomedia and 1/3 floss. Yes the floss gets dirty, but that's the idea and it's easy enough to change. 

Same here.  I am starting to switch to one box filter and one sponge per tank.

[RichE]

I do have some box style filters and IME they do best filled about 2/3s with biomedia and 1/3 floss. Yes the floss gets dirty, but that's the idea and it's easy enough to change. 

Same here.  I am starting to switch to one box filter and one sponge per tank.

Thanks Ron, and I am going the same route Josh on my larger tanks.

Its one of those things its right under your nose, you just have to look for it. I have a bunch of bio-media, so I will go this route.

Thanks again guys for the advice

Rich

[four_by_ken]

Back to the filter floss - you say it fills up with junk fast and cuts down on the flow rate? Would you rather that the biomedia become covered with all that stuff instead? How well would bacteria grow afterwards?

Great point.

Need to have some way to catch the gunk that you can clean out with minimal disruption to the bio.

[Ron]

Back to the filter floss - you say it fills up with junk fast and cuts down on the flow rate? Would you rather that the biomedia become covered with all that stuff instead? How well would bacteria grow afterwards?

Great point.

Need to have some way to catch the gunk that you can clean out with minimal disruption to the bio.

Thanks. In the limited time I had to post I accidently left out the part about how porous media is a PITA to clean. When detritus fills in the pores, reducing surface area, it's really difficult to clean and restore back to it's original state.