I have my tank set up pretty well now. Still has 2 weeks to cycle, so I'm crossing my fingers!

But my question is this: I've been reading a lot, and had a lot of good advice, about stuffing my HOB filters with media. I came across an older thread about a media basket that was made out of rigid plastic, and it was suggested that you could use that in place of the carbon bag filters. If I do this, it will save a ton of money as the carbon bags are very expensive. What I'd like to know is would I just sew the filter media on with fishing line and leave it until its disgusting and falling apart?
I'd also like to know if anyone has any ideas about what to use besides ceramic noodles or hoops, as they're not available around my area.

This filter replacement is a wonderful idea! I just want to know how to do it correctly.

Thanks!

I am going to move this to DIY - maybe it will get more people in there!!!

There is no "right" way to make media holders just as there is no "wrong" way, really. It is a matter of using what is available to you in your area and your abilities.

I have used the special media sold over the internet - mostly sintered glass. I really like it. Myh favorite is sold for Eheim. This stuff lasts FOREVER - just boil it out if you have sick fish or change tanks or whatever - and reuse. I have NEVER had to replace the stuff. So, expensive as it may seem, it is a one time expense.

I have a lot of Emperor and Penguin filters (as well as cannisters) - and they come with a cartridge that is made of a plastic frame with a blue floss pad glued on the front and the inner part filled with carbon. I usually slit the blue floss across the bottom - or the bottom side - and bang the carbon out after a few weeks, but continue to use the cartridge until the blue floss literally sags and starts to fall off the frame. I rinse my cartridges (floss) in a blast of well water at the utility sink - I have no chlorine to worry about in my water, nor do I care if any beneficial bacteria that may reside on the cartridge are destroyed or not for I build my colonies of beneficial bacteria in the media in OTHER places.

In some filters there is no slot for an extra clamshell of biological media. They have provided only the slot for the cartridge (mechanical) and depend on the bio-wheel to do the biological. That is not enough for a goldie tank in my opinion. So to ammend the biological filters on such a filter I do several things.

I take the cartridge that fits in the single slot and peel off the blue floss. This leaves the plastic frame. I purchased strong netting - not the thin nylon netting, but the thick stuff used for gymbag parts and such. This is sewed into a bag that fits around the frame. I stack a piece of floss (bought in bulk and cut to fit) on top of the cartridge frame and slip them into the bag. The media is then dropped behind the floss and the bag sewed shut. This homemade cartridge will fit into the slot, yet adds biological platform to any filter.

When the cartridge needs rinsing, it is simply pounded out in used fish water.

When the floss needs changing, it is easy to slit open the bag and replace the floss.

If you wish, I can see if I can get a picture later when my fish are awake.

You should be able to use just about any plastic frame you have that fits in any filter you have much in the same way. You can even just slit the blue floss and drop the media behind the floss, into the cartridge. Just knock out the media when changing the cartridge or, after the original blue stuff falls apart, make the bag and use the media and frame.

You can use lava rock, ceramic media, pieces of sponge (aquatic), pieces of floss (aquatic), or even some gravel (not very porous - so not ideal) for media. Lava rock will break down over time and have to be replaced (it powders), sponges should be discarded when a fish dies or there is a problem in the tank, and floss, too will break down. Ceramic pieces and sintered glass are "forever" media. There is no reason to ever discard them. Simply boil them out and start again. As manufactured media, they are virtually indestructible. If you can buy them, I would recommend it - it is a one time investment.

Example:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...bstratpro5liter

Hi Daryl, and thanks for the great info!

The thing is that although my tropical tank has the filters with the blue floss, both filters on my goldie tank use the bags with the carbon inside. There is a little room in back of the carbon to put media, but not a lot. I was considering replacing the carbon bags with a rigid filter I would make myself, but I'm not sure what kind of floss to use and how often to ditch it. And will it be enough without the carbon?

The quartz looks like a good investment for sure, but right now its waaayy out of my price range, even for a one time thing.

Get yourself a small aquatic sponge and chop it up into pieces and stick that into a frame..... it will work almost as well - and is very cheap!

You can certainly build one out of a frame - that will be great! You will know when to ditch the floss - when you can no longer get it clean enough - or it starts to fall apart and get all hairy and saggy.

I buy floss in bulk from my lfs, but you can find it on line, also. A large piece - 18inches by 30 inches costs about $8. here. I cut it into pads for my home-made cartridges and my cannisters........ oh, rats, I cannot find the package name - I am out of it right now.....

I have also seen large bags of cut to fit filter floss in PetSmart....

Here is one type you can get:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...ofilterpad18x24

This is what I usually get - but from my LFS: (This does not say what size - I expect it is about 12X18ish....

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?...epsr=1#prodTab1

Here is yet another type:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...lterfloss10sqft

There is never a need for carbon in a filter unless you are trying to specifically clear something from the water. The most common use is to bind and clear used medications from the water. Once this is accomplished (24 hours or so) the carbon should be binned.

Thanks Daryl, you have been so much help!

I was in the lfs this morning looking for a media sponge for the back of the filter, and the guy there acted like I was looney or something. I attempted to explain what I wanted it for, and he said there was no need for that, that I could use a cellulose sponge for a media sponge!!! Needless to say, I just got the Prime I was after and left. From now on when I go in there and they ask if they can help me, I'm going to tell them "no, you can't."

This info has been a great help, as I have a smaller hexagon shaped tank that I keep tropical fish in, and no one sells the filters around here for it anymore. I have been driving 20 miles to get them, and they're not cheap.

I'll get the blue floss, as I saw that in the lfs, but the guy had me so confused that I didn't even remember what I had come in for besides the Prime!

I found a bunch of the rigid plastic on clearance in the crafts dept. at the local nnnnnn, and I am going to try to make a little basket on there for the media sponge, and sew the floss on with fishing line. Thanks also for the tip about charcoal, as some of the filter floss there was black because it had charcoal in it, and I didn't know if I needed that or just the blue.

You're a doll!