[jbrady33]

Hi All,

Serviced my canister yesterday (Fluval 406) and at the last minute decided to go without the fine pads on top. Anyone else do this? I was thinking that they probably get clogged very soon after putting the filter back into service, and then do nothing but limit flow. Here's what I have now:

- foam prefilter in tank
- coarse white foams (stock)
- black foam (stock)
- bio-media (stock ceramic)
- pot scrubbies
- 2x carbon bags (replace every 2-3 months)
- pot scrubbies
- 2x purigen (swap for recharged every 2-3 months)
- pot scrubbies

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi jbrady33,

Yes, I use both. I use sponges (heavy mechanical), loose polyester fill (fine mechanical), ceramic tubes (biological), bio-balls (biological), and fine pad (polishing). I don't use carbon, instead I use loose polyester fill in that compartment.

 

[freph]

I just use a coarse pad at the bottom and the rest is bio media (bio rio, in my case). No issues with water clarity at all. Tanks look just as good as when I ran carbon or purigen.