What do I put in my canister filter?

[FisheyH]

Hi Everyone, new here on the forum! I recently purchased a Fluval Canister Filter, 306. What do I put in it? It came with the mechanical foam on the bottom trays, the bioMax in middle tray and then carbon and polishing pad on top tray.

Is this appropriate for Discus? If not what is better? Do I need carbon? Should I use the Fluval ClearMax??? There's too many choices

If it helps, I do water changes, at least 50% twice a week, sometimes 3 times a week. My water comes from my tap but we are on a well, tested water (actually, it's perfect water, pure, no yuckies, and runs through a softening system and UV light before coming out of the faucet). But I have no idea how that works with aquariums as until recently I was on city tap water and I had to worry more about chlorine etc.

[Paul Sabucchi]

Hi and a warm welcome to Simply Discus.
To get right at the point, I have had a number of Fluval filters, actually still got one 306 hooked up to one of my mbuna tanks. What has always worked for me is to load all the trays with whatever good quality biomedia you can get so biomax, siporax, matrix, biohome or any other porous media. I use the provided sponges in the vertical trays that work mostly as a mechanical filter to remove the bigger particles before getting to the biomedia. I don't like to have any polishing floss after (on top) of the biomedia because in my opinion it just traps more dirt inside the filter. You don't normally need carbon (mainly you use it to remove any residue of medication after some treatment). Generally with discus that filter should be ok for a tank up to 75gal and 8-10 reasonable size discus. It is always better to try and prevent most of the bigger residues from even getting inside the filter in the first place, so syphoning the bottom daily helps a lot and also having some kind of mechanical prefilter that is easy to get to/clean/change while you are doing your water changes. Many of us use filter floss or sponges of some kind around the intake.
Again welcome to this forum and if you find it a good place to talk about discus, fish or even other topics (we are a chatty bunch) consider introducing yourself on the welcome thread and maybe post some photos.

[Swedgin]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Paul is spot on with his advice, I myself do it the same way, coarse sponges to trap large particles, good bio media (Matrix is a good one, but buy generic pumice, which is exactly what Matrix is, just in a fancy jar), and no polishing floss for the same reason Paul stated.

Looking forward to hearing/seeing more from you and your fish. Pictures are always welcome

[Adam S]

10 and 20 ppi Poret are my favorites.

[FisheyH]

Thanks for the help you guys! I will ditch the polishing pads. One YouTube i watched, a guy said to put polyester stuffing (like from a pillow) in the filter to catch particles... ever heard of that?

And do you have any experience with Fluval Clearmax?

I siphon the poop out of that thank (no pun intended ) i have a Sand bottom because I like the look and yep I can see why BB tanks are easier... I just love the sand look! But it is a pain to get the poop out of the sand sometimes. The fluval doesn’t seem to suck it up. Do you think adding a wave maker would be a good idea? I have 5 discus in a 65 gallon. The tank is taller so the outtake head doesn’t stir up the bottom at all. (I had 6 until last night but lost one baby suddenly those little guys are hard bugggers to keep, he seemed to be doing so good for his 5 months I have had him)

[Paul Sabucchi]

The polyester padding (same stuff as artificial batting used in pillows or perlon floss sold in fish shops-same thing just more expensive) does the same thing as the polishing pads - it traps dirt particles, be them food residue or fish poop. The fact you do not see it in the tank does not mean it is not polluting your water though, it is just hidden in the filter out of sight. The canister filter ideally should just have to deal with transforming the ammonia excreted by the fish into less toxic substances, without getting fouled up with all sorts of cr@p. So your options are either find a more effective way of hoovering the poop or get the filter to suck it up more effectively by extending the intake further down towards the bottom of the tank (and yes a small wavemaker can help, maybe just used for short bursts to start) but then you will have to clean the sponges inside the filter a lot more often. This is why a lot of us have some kind of prefilter on the intake to trap the crud, I have stuck a sponge filter on the intake and rinse it out every day as I change the water

[Swedgin]

Thanks for the help you guys! I will ditch the polishing pads. One YouTube i watched, a guy said to put polyester stuffing (like from a pillow) in the filter to catch particles... ever heard of that?

And do you have any experience with Fluval Clearmax?

I siphon the poop out of that thank (no pun intended ) i have a Sand bottom because I like the look and yep I can see why BB tanks are easier... I just love the sand look! But it is a pain to get the poop out of the sand sometimes. The fluval doesn’t seem to suck it up. Do you think adding a wave maker would be a good idea? I have 5 discus in a 65 gallon. The tank is taller so the outtake head doesn’t stir up the bottom at all. (I had 6 until last night but lost one baby suddenly those little guys are hard bugggers to keep, he seemed to be doing so good for his 5 months I have had him)

One reason I have Corydoras in all my tanks is that they constantly stirr up whatever is on the substrate, which then ultimately ends up in the filters. I have sand substrate in all my tanks and apart from large particles like leaves, cones etc and some algae here and there, the sand is squeaky clean. So that would be an option if you have enough room to get a group of 6, C. sterbai fare particularly well at higher discus temps.

[FisheyH]

Thanks! I thought about Cory’s but how many fish can I have in my 65 gal though?

[FisheyH]

Where on the intake do you put the sponge? I will try to YouTube it

[Paul Sabucchi]

This is my tank, you can see the big black sponge filter fitted to the bottom of the intake pipe. There is a wavemaker in the top opposite corner but it is actually positioned there to push detritus AWAY from the filter, it basically accumulates at the bottom almost beneath the wavemaker. If I wanted to push the detritus towards the sponge I would have put the wavemaker almost at the surface above the sponge pointing towards the opposite end, the water would then have curved down along the opposite side and back towards the sponge along the bottom, taking with it the detritus.
https://youtu.be/7WWFeFI26gU

[FisheyH]

Wow great video! K so i have a sponge like that in mine but it has a bubbler on it. I could take it off and stick the intake In There. So forgive me here but doesn’t that stop the junk from getting in the filter and remaining in the tank? Or is that the point and I just syphon more? Also did you put your heater hortizontally? Is that better than vertical??

I just finished moving the intake down more and I already see more stuff going in there. I also rearranged my decor and I think that stressed the fish out :|

[FisheyH]

Never mind I reread your posts and the point is to get the poop out of the tank . I bought clearmax today. I’m debating using it but if it can help then maybe i should.

[Swedgin]

I’ve just had a look at the clearmax. What I don’t like about it is that you can’t recharge it but have to replace it (every month according to the manual). Gonna get expensive after a while.
I have nothing against nitrate removing resins, but ideally you want something you can recharge and reuse, like purigen or szat clear water.
Another proven method to reduce nitrates, apart from water changes and good filtration of course, are live plants. Especially floating plants or emerged plants that have their roots growing into the aquarium. I do this on all my setups, and the effect is tremendous. And looks good, if you’re into that.

[FisheyH]

Thanks again Tobi! What kind of floating plants handle the heat?

[Swedgin]

So far I have had good results with Pothos (emerged), Pistia, Ceratophyllum, Myriophyllum, Eichhornia, Ceratopteris. I'm sure there's more, but these are the ones I have used myself.