OK... et me fill you in on what I have. I have 2 Penguin 350s running in a 30 gallon. It turns the tank over 23.3 times an hour at its peak efficency. That is definately enough filtration. The turbulance by looking at the plastic plants is minimal. They just slightly sway. Now for my questions

1. I can get media baskets locally for these filters. There are a total of 8 slots. I dont like the idea of the right sise cartriges having carbon in them since I dont have meds in the tank. What can I put in the empty baskets to have mechanical filtration and how many baskets would you think I should fill?

2. Will filter floss do a better job than the blue scotch brite type pads on the rite size cartridge?
Does it filter out smaller perticles better than the rite size pads.

3. What would you use for biological filtration? I took the media out of my old established filter and put it in one basket already. Should I add more to a 2nd basket?

4. As for Chemical filtration, What should I use if any? There are so many new products on the market since I kept fish that my head is spinning trying to sort it all out. Seachem makes Purigen that sounds like a good product but does it work as they claim?

5. Once I have a basic idea of what to put in what slot, how would you rotate the maintenence. once a week on one cartrige or more often or less often?

I am sure I will have more questions as this thread goes on but for starters, This should do it.

I LOVE the 350s. They are one of the best for HOB and price. Mine have been quiet, reliable and solid workhorses. Mine are also the "Old" ones that came with baskets.

1. You have 8 slots. I would plan on filling the four back slots with the Rite size cartridges. I, too, do NOT like the carbon. But it is extremely easy to slit the blue floss on the bottom (I rinse from top to bottom and this keeps it "closed" during rinsing) and bang the carbon out into the garbage. If I ever need carbon to remove meds and such, it is easy to add a small bag elsewhere. That blue Rite size cartridge does not need to be changed or replaced until the blue floss literally falls off the frame in shags and shreds. Mine last 8 weeks plus with violent spray cleaning and rubbing. The blue filter floss fits well and easily in the slot and does a bang up job of mechanical filtration for you. It is unbeatable. You really need that mechanical filtration. The other 4 slots, post mechanical filtration will be where the biological filtration goes. You can take your baskets you buy and place any type of biological media you can find into the basket. I have ceramic cylindars that I line up in little rows - standing up so the water flow goes through them, or sintered glass (man-made lava rock) that I stuff into there. I put in as much as I can ram into the things. I gently pump these clean every few months or so in used fish water.

2.I woul dnot use the Scotch Brite pads - they are not made for fish tanks. Many types of that sort of product have chemical additives to prevent bacteria from growing on them. This can leach out in the tank - not good. Those blue filter flosses do a great job. My water is polished clean and bright and clear just fine with them.

3. Biological media should be sintered glass or ceramic cylindars or the ilk. I love the Eheim substrates used for biological, but there are many others that are fine. I always add as much biological platform into a tank and filter as I possibly can. The more platform available, the more beneficial bacteria you can cultivate. Do not be afraid to literally stuff those filters full of media. Use all 4 media baskets and load them completely.

4. Chemical filtration with carbon and other products are really not needed in a cycled tank. There are many products that can help during cycling or in the case a tank's cycle has bumped during treatments or such. Salt, Prime or Amquel+ are all nice ones to help your fish withstand problems when a tank's biological cycle is recovering after a problem. On a regular, daily basis, though, you are better off not using anything. Let the bacterial cycle take care of matters. IT really will!

5. In each 350 you will place a Rite Size Cartridge with the carbon banged out in the back slot and the biological media in the front (you can do it the other way around, but I like to have the majority of the large waste filtered out before it goes through my biological media - my personal preference).

At every water change, once you have a solid biological cycle running, you can take out that blue cartridge and blast it off in the tap if you wish, for there is no biological filtration in it worth keeping. IF you wish, you can plunge it and rub it into a bucket of used fish water to clean it. Clean your tank and restart the filter.

Every month or so, break the filter down a bit more - I clean out the impellor and the uptake tubes with a brush to clean the mulm that clings to the inner surfaces. Every 3-4 months, I take the entire filter off the tank and empty out the wells -for waste collects there.

Whenever the blue filter floss get so shaggy that it drives you crazy or it has worn, thin spots in it that are not catching the waste well, replace it, slitting the floss and removing the carbon.

Does that help a bit?

I am sure I missed plenty so ask away. We are all here to help each other!

Thanks for such a great response. I couldnt wait to get home to see what was written. It was a long 13 hour day...LOL. I have learned alot from your response. Oh BTW, I was using scotch brite pas as a description of the rite size filter floss. I would never use a scotch brite pad. I use them too much doing body work and such. I was wonderig if I used filter floss (the cheap stuff that costs about $1.50 a bag) to filter out finer particles. I would asume that the finer floss would catch more gunk that would normally pass through the blue rite size pads.

Sorry to hijak the thread for a sec but I've got a question.... can the carbon hurt anything if you use it regularily, even if your not filtering out meds?