Quick thing. Our tank has a Whisper 20 which came with one of those black-webing-like media's for the BB bacteria to live on (hereafter referred to a 'BB media'). As well as the standard filter cartridge with carbon inside (hereafter referred to as 'cartridge'). But I've never been sure if it matters which side of the cartridge the BB media goes on. 'Before' or 'after' in the water flow order - because there's kind've a space on both side.

Should the order be:
pump --> reservoir --> cartridge --> BB media --> waterfall
or
pump --> reservoir --> BB media --> cartridge --> waterfall

??

I know there's a notch where the cartridge goes, I just don't know for sure which side of that the BB media goes in. Does it make a difference?


Thanks,

Fred

I would put the BB media after the actual cartridge, so the fish poo and everything else gets stuck in the cartridge.

Or as a third option how about > pump>reservoir> noodles etc> cartridge> more sponge media.

Bbs will colonise the cartridge and then if its carbon and you chuck it you'll lose them. I usually pack as much media as I can fit in to compensate for that. Bbs will also colonise the sponge and ceramic noodles.

You can never have too much, as long as the water flow is still good.

That's the way I set it up, MyGoldfish. It was my guess, but I couldn't tell from the instructions for sure. I noticed when I switched a new filter cartridge recently that I didn't see any visual signs of BB. I was cuious if the carbon filter might block the stuff they like to feed on. But we've had no cycling problems so it seemed okay - just thought it was worth confirming.

And that's good point Trinket, although with two filters and nary a drop of ammonia or nitrites, I'll probably leave well enough alone