How to customize aquarium canister filter media / What is the best media for my canister filter:
Working principle of Canister
filters is very simple. The pump of the filter will suck water from the fish
tank through an intake hose. Water will flow towards the base of the filter
using an internal tube & then it will rise upward & flow through filter
baskets that contain filter media & clean water will be pumped back to the
fish tank via an outtake hose. A spray bar is connected to the outtake hose
that offers smoother water flow & creates a waterfall like effect in your
aquarium.
Canister filters are better than
other filters in multiple ways. It cleans water efficiently because it is
highly customizable & can store large quantities of filter media. Also, it
cleans water quickly because it is working with large volumes of water.
Canister filters can be simply customized with filter media, & they can
circulate & oxygenate water.
Customization of filter media in a canister filter:
Canister filters have multiple baskets for storing filter media. The order of filter media in the baskets is very important. It is important to add mechanical filter media first before biological media because water free of physical particles will enter bio media & it will not clog the tiny little pores of the porous media that are used for housing colonies of good bacteria.
A canister filter comes with its
own filter media. Always wash the filter media to remove the dirt. Also wash
your canister filter & its baskets too to clean impurities. Fresh
filtration media of the canister filter is not cycled so it won’t have good
bacteria that is required for treating impure water. It is easy to colonize
good bacteria on the filter media quickly using Aquapro booster balls. Or add
filter media from a cycled aquarium that already have heaps of beneficial
bacteria on its surface.
Make sure you soak the media in
aquarium water after washing it with tap water. If you expose filter media to
tap water then soak it in tank water before adding it to the aquarium. It is
very important to add only dechlorinated water to your aquarium. Chlorine is
toxic to fish & it kills good bacteria present inside the aquarium or
filter media.
Bottom of Canister filter:
Add ceramic rings to the bottom
of the canister filter to settle waste & prevent it from swirling &
clogging your mechanical filter media.
First Basket:
Use 3 different types of
mechanical filter media in the first basket such as coarse, medium & fine
foams. Coarse foam will remove all big particles that enter the canister foam
while smaller particles will be trapped by medium & very tiny particles
that escape the medium foam will be collected by fine foam. Hence water should
hit the mechanical filtration media in the following order:
- Coarse Foam
- Medium Foam
- Fine Foam
If fine foam can collect both big
& small particles then why do aquarists use coarse & medium foams?
Answer of this question is very
simple. Fine foam will clog faster than both coarse & medium foams if it
traps large particles because the pores of the fine foam is very tiny. So,
coarse & medium foams will collect large & medium debris & tiny
debris will be trapped by fine foam so it will not clog the fine foam quickly.
Water free of physical particles
will be allowed to flow through the biological filtration media.
Second Basket:
Add biological media such as bio
bakki balls to the second basket of the canister filter. When ceramic is heated
at extremely high temperatures for a long time then the internal bonds of the
ceramic are broken & heaps of little pores will form on the media that will
house beneficial bacteria.
Bakki balls can only house
nitrifying bacteria that consume ammonia & nitrites.
Third Basket:
Add ceramic rings to the third
basket of the canister filter. It offers a large surface for beneficial
bacteria growth. It has many tiny little pores that offer a space for good
bacteria.
Ceramic rings can house both
nitrifying & denitrifying bacteria that consume ammonia, nitrites &
nitrates.
Ceramic rings can wipe out
nitrates too. Bacteria that remove nitrates from water live in a region where
oxygen is not present. Porous material is ideal for the growth of denitrifying
bacteria because air can’t enter these tiny holes.
I have added cycled ceramic rings
to the third basket of the canister filter.
Fourth Basket:
Add Aqua One Premium Sub to the
fourth basket of canister filter. It is a highly porous sintered glass media that provides the
best place for growing denitrifying bacteria that wipes out nitrates from the
aquarium water. It is extremely important to keep aquarium inhabitants healthy.
Aqua One Premium Sub offers the
best place for the growth of denitrifying bacteria due to its extremely porous
nature. Denitrifying bacteria consume nitrates.
Add Aquapro booster balls to each basket:
Aquapro booster balls are used to
add beneficial bacteria. Use a few booster balls in each basket. Booster balls
will release good bacteria that will quickly cling to the bio media. Each
booster ball is made of heaps of beneficial bacteria added to a very high
nutrient liquid gel. When you add this liquid ball to the filter media basket,
then its coating will be removed quickly & beneficial bacteria will spread.
Close the filter basket tray:
Add a fine foam to the top of the
filter basket before closing the tray. It is time to close the lid of the
canister filter & lock the filter to avoid water from leaking.
Close the canister filter lid
& insert intake / outtake valves. Lock the filter to prevent water from
leaking.
Close the filter lid & insert valve connectors:
Close the filter lid & Insert
inlet / outlet valve connectors. Lock the filter to stop water from leaking
through the filter.
Canister filter will draw water
from the fish tank using an inlet hose. Water will be pushed to the bottom of
the filter using an internal tube inside the filter. Dirty water will rise
upward through the filtration media where it will be efficiently cleaned &
forced back to the tank using a pump.
Assembling Canister Filter Hose:
Connect one hose to the inlet
valve & second to the outlet valve of the canister filter. Fill water in
the filter from the fish tank.
If you want to circulate water
& keep the same temperature throughout the aquarium then setup the inlet
hose near the aquarium heater & outlet hose to the opposite side of the
aquarium. The positioning tip of the intake strainer & outtake spray bar
will make sure that the aquarium water keeps circulating & water
temperature remains the same throughout the aquarium.
Setup Filter Outtake Hose:
Connect the canister filter
outlet hose to the return connector & for tightening connection use a hose
locking clamp. Connect a spray bar to the return connector to allow water to
safely enter the fish tank. Use suction cups for attachment of the spray bar to
the tank wall.
Setup Filter Intake Hose:
Connect the canister filter inlet
hose to the intake bar & use a hose locking clamp for securing attachment. Cover the strainer with sponge to avoid sucking fish babies. Suctions cups can be used for attaching the intake bar to the tank wall.
Maintenance of Filter Media:
Never use tap water for washing
dirty filter media because it will wipe out all beneficial bacteria growing on
the media. Gently wash the media in a bucket filled with aquarium water. The
best way to wash sponge or foam is to gently squeeze it in the water to remove
the physical particles that are trapped by the mechanical media. This way your
mechanical filter media will not lose all good bacteria.
Conclusion:
Canister filters are used for
efficient cleaning of aquarium water. It draws large volumes of water from the
aquarium & cleans it quickly. Canister filters clean water efficiently
because they are highly customizable & big so lots of filter media can be
added to the filter baskets. Use different types of foams & bio media for
efficient results.
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