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cannister needed to house purigen & rowaphos

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chase33

I want to get a cannister filter to store both purigen and rowaphos, any suggestions? The only requirement is that it is quiet.
 
C

chase33

Can I put both in a phosban reactor? I didn't want to have to purchase another pump for the reactor so I figured a cannister would better suit my purposes. Any comments?
 
B

Brian

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
No, you have to use a seperate reactor for each. It does sound like a Fluval would be your best bet.
 
P

pgordemer

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
This is a case where you DON"T want the biggest/fastest canister.

Look at something like the Fluval 304/305. It runs at about 220GPH, so the water moves through the media slowly.
 
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chase33

Thanks. I was looking at the Fluvals and it looks like this setup isn't uncommon. I need to save space and outlets so I don't want seperate reactors. has anyone heard of or used an aquatraders cannister?
 
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Carlo

I haven't used the aquatraders before but do use a Fluval 404 in my setup. Mine has 3 trays in it and each tray has 2 sides to it. In mine I've got the 3rd (bottom) setup with Chemi-pure on one side and Purigen on the other side. I'm basically running them "side-by-side" to see which will last longer. In row 2 I've got it stuffed with Pura Filtration Pad and in the top compartment I have it all packed with carbon. I did the same with the carbon in that I split up 2 different brands on each side to "evaluate" them. Since carbon is cheaper then the other products I have it on top to "absorb" as much as it can to leave the more expensive products to "absorb" what carbon doesn't. The carbon needs to get changed out more often (once a month) so having it on top makes it easy to get to.

Canister filters are great for running any type of media you can stick in a bag including Chemi-pure & Purigen. If the media you are using is big granules you can skip the use of a bag and dump it in a canister. Some media of this nature can be carbon, nitrate & phosphate sponge medias.

Pretty much any media you can run in a phosban type reactor you can run through a canister filter. The opposite isn't always true. For example Chemi-pure & Purigen are very small granules and really need to be in a bag. While you could stick the bag in a reactor and fill the bottom and top with carbon to pack it in it still works better or easier in a canister filter.

What I like about the fluval canister filters is that they have a good sponge setup in them. This "pre-filters" the water and takes out a lot of organics that would otherwise get caught in the media. Of course sponges are a double-edge sword. Keep them clean and they can remove more organics then a protein skimmer but if you neglect cleaning them then you will have a worse nitrate problem then if the sponges weren't there.

Just my 2 cents,
Carlo
 
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Carlo

Yea your right about that.

I think I've put my media in backwards the last time I cleaned it. I'm glad you posted this because I have it sitting here dry after a good cleaning and was going to put it back on line tonight. I need to switch 1 & 3 around.

Thanks & perfect timing!

Carlo

In case this doesn't make sense what he was referring to is that the water flows through the sponges on the inside "left third of the canister" and then the water flow comes up from the bottom through 3 different media chamber before exiting. I had mentioned running carbon "first" but actually loaded it last after my last cleaning.

The carbon should be at the bottom in my setup with Pura Filtration Pad in the middle and the Chemi-pure/Purigen at that top. <-- this isn't the media that comes with the Fluvals but what I choose to run in it.
 
A

Absinthe

I always liked my Magnut Hang-On canister filter. Quiet, small and effective. Suppose it depends on how big the tank is though.

I am getting another one just to put on the tank after water changes to help clear up the water.
 
B

Brian

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
No, You don't have to run the sponges. It's probably a better idea anyway.
 
C

chase33

Thanks everyone for the information. I've ordered the fluval 305. It has three baskets and will allow me to run the purigen, rowaphos, and chemi-pure or some other media in the future. I'll let you know how quiet it is when it is installed. Next up will be the UV sterilizer. Hopefully I'll be able to connect it to the output of the cannister. Just an idea. Questions on that to come...

Thanks again.
 
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Carlo

chase33, if you can get in a good routine of pulling the sponges and cleaning them every couple of days then leave them in and use them.

If you clean the sponges often (tap water is fine) then the sponges will pull out a lot of organics from the tank which help lower nitrates. On the other hand if you don't clean them often then you shouldn't leave them in there since they will get very, very dirty quickly. All the accumulated organics will get broken down by the ammonia cycle and end up as much higher nitrates.

Sponges GOOD if you clean them
Sponges BAD if you are lazy or not able to clean them regularly

Carlo
 
C

chase33

cayars said:
chase33, if you can get in a good routine of pulling the sponges and cleaning them every couple of days then leave them in and use them.

...Carlo
Click to expand...
Yes I understand the advantages and disadvantages of leaving it in. The issue is I don't want to lock myself into cleaning it every couple of days. It would be easier to run a filter sock though I don't intend on doing that either for other reasons.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I'm not the "clean the sponges every 3 days" type of person either.
 
J

jazzsam

chase33 said:
cayars said:
chase33, if you can get in a good routine of pulling the sponges and cleaning them every couple of days then leave them in and use them.

...Carlo
Click to expand...
Yes I understand the advantages and disadvantages of leaving it in. The issue is I don't want to lock myself into cleaning it every couple of days. It would be easier to run a filter sock though I don't intend on doing that either for other reasons.
Click to expand...

I always heard that filter socks where bad and needed to be cleaned reguraly also? Is that not the case?
 
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chase33

Yes filter socks too need to be cleaned regularly. The point I was trying to make is that they are much easier to service (remove) than the pad since you would have to open the cannister...
 
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