how many use a fluval

T

tygerfifteen

Guest
was wondering cause i use a 404 on my 65 gallon FOWLR kinda reef,
How often do you guyys clean it?
I only use bioballs, and has it been good to you?
thankx
 
joerdie

joerdie

Member
well im a little confused about your post.. i have used fluval canisters before and they do work okay. but in a canister bio-balls arent going to do you as much good as the porcaline (sp) bio media(not sure exactly what it is called.) the reasion bio-balls work so well is because the water flows over them and the bacteria is exposed to the water as well as air (arobic bacteria) in a canister there isnt much air (just micro bubbles) the porcalin media (its like a small white 6 sided brick with a hole in the middle) is the prefered media for the canister.
to answer your question though. my 404 seemed to work well and was cleaned once a month in water pulled from the tank durring a water change. i did have some problems though.
1. nitrates seemed to be harder to controll with the canister. this may have been bad luck but i tend to believe that the canisters are more of a "nitrate factory" than using a wet/dry.
2. all you can put in them is the porcaline bio thingys and filter floss. (i tried a nitrate sponge to no avail)
3. this is mainly cosmetic but i wanted everything for my tank in one place. somewhare that was not visible.
sorry for the long post but i am really happy with my current setup and am glad to be away from the canisters but a short answer would be. Yes they are okay and clean them once or twice a month in oul aquarium water.
 
clownfish1452

clownfish1452

Member
I have 5 fluvals. I believe they are called bio beads. They work pretty good with salt. But they do need to be cleaned out quite a bit.
Sarah :)
 
bas12547

bas12547

Member
I clean mine every two months. I use to clean it monthly, but it wasn't dirty. I use the ceramic beads and the foam filter pads.
To me it seems like just a good powerhead.
My protein skimmer and rock seems to do the cleaning for me.
Brian
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top