Marineland Emperor 400: What to put in the plastic media container???

[dutchswan]

http://www.jonvanwyk.com/aquarium
I am cycling a 47 gallon aquarium that will eventually be home to fish, anemones, and coral of all sorts (See tank by clicking on the link above). I am employing the use of a Marineland Emperor 400, which has 4 filter slots (two on each side). The two rear filter slots take a filter described by the manufacterer as one that:
"filters water through a huge 44-square inch pad made of double thick polyfiber. Each disposable cartridge contains two full ounces of Black Diamond Premium Activated Carbon."
The front two slots each have a plastic "Media Cartridge" in which I assume something is ment to be inserted. Marineland, however, does not really specify what "something" is. Considering the size of the tank, and its intended use (reef), what (if anything) does everyone recommend I put in these containers? Should I just ditch the plastic containers and put extra disposable filter pads in (is there any benefit to doubling up on the filter pads)?

P.S. How often should I replace the disposable filter pads in the rear?

 

[blenny]

You could put extra black carben in there, other than that i dont think anything else would fit in there. Double pads naa, But make sure you dont have the Bio wheels running on it also ,it will act as a Nitrate Factory. Its a Great filter i have 3 of them but i run them on my Freshwater Tanks. Thinking thats what they were ment for.

 

[stevedave08]

I had this filter on my 75 gallon for 2 years along with a HOB Via Aqua Multi-Skimmer. I used the two carbon filters and I filled the media baskets with poly filter that I cut up to fit in the individual slots. It worked pretty well until I recently put in a Megaflow 3 sump to replace it.

 

[dutchswan]

Originally Posted by Blenny
http:///forum/post/3286504
You could put extra black carben in there, other than that i dont think anything else would fit in there. Double pads naa, But make sure you dont have the Bio wheels running on it also ,it will act as a Nitrate Factory. Its a Great filter i have 3 of them but i run them on my Freshwater Tanks. Thinking thats what they were ment for.
So I should remove the bio-wheels?

 

[blenny]

Yes. or your nitrates will sky rocket.

 

[redorrie]

Hi sall, I'm new here, don't even have a fancy nickname yet
I always thought that the bio wheels were good as they were supposed to create the biological needs for your tank??
I was always taught that you never even washed them, you just shake them clean in actual water from that tank, to insure no loss of biological on them?

 

[geridoc]

Hi sall, I'm new here, don't even have a fancy nickname yet
I always thought that the bio wheels were good as they were supposed to create the biological needs for your tank??
I was always taught that you never even washed them, you just shake them clean in actual water from that tank, to insure no loss of biological on them?
Bio wheels, like bio balls, etc. are highly aerobic environments that efficiently convert ammonium to nitrates. In order to remove nitrates you need continual water changes, an algae scrubber, or an anaerobic environment to convert nitrates into nitrogen gas. That is the purpose of live rock. Anaerobic bacteria live in the crevasses in the rock and remove nitrate. In fact, you don't actually need bio-wheels/balls, since aerobes on the surface of the rock and walls of the aquarium will be enough in most cases to deal with ammonium.

 

[beaslbob]

Quote:
Originally Posted by GeriDoc http:///t/378531/marineland-emperor-400-what-to-put-in-the-plastic-media-container#post_3505356
Bio wheels, like bio balls, etc. are highly aerobic environments that efficiently convert ammonium to nitrates. In order to remove nitrates you need continual water changes, an algae scrubber, or an anaerobic environment to convert nitrates into nitrogen gas. That is the purpose of live rock. Anaerobic bacteria live in the crevasses in the rock and remove nitrate. In fact, you don't actually need bio-wheels/balls, since aerobes on the surface of the rock and walls of the aquarium will be enough in most cases to deal with ammonium.
Agreed
with one minor correction. As bio wheels "load up with crud", that crud is infact algae and cyano. So the bio wheel is in fact one possible design of an algae scrubber. With nitrates even phosphates remaining unmeasureable as a result.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Biowheels don't cause nitrates. Food and bad top off water create nitrates. Feed your fish, make sure you have clean top off water and adequate means of converting or removing excess nitrate and phosphate from the system. Converting - through anaerobic zones and through macroalgaes and algae scrubbers - or simply a full grown reef tank with corals that eat it and use it to grow. Removing nitrates and phosphates is as easy as water changes and pruning macroalgaes and cleaning the algae scrubber. Protein skimming is one way to get rid of excess dissolved organics that cause nitrates and phosphates - and can be used as a method of nitrate and phosphate control.