Hello everybody, I am looking for help. I bought a new 5 stage canister filter. I got my new filter and hooked it up and it pumps and cycles great. I do have a problem however. I don't see that it is cleaning anything. I have a 55 gallon, it filters up to 120 gallons. I notice that it doesn't seem to be doing anything. It came with some basic filter media in it and I have no idea what it is. I have looked through every stage and they are all filled with little cylindrical hollow things. Like a mini PVC pipe that dissolves away over time or something. I have no idea what they are and if they are effective or not. I have a set of clowns, and a sand bottom, what filter media should I buy, and is there anything I need to know about my filter I am doing wrong? Thanks in advance!

Hi Austin, did the filter come with any sponges? If not or if there isn't any floss in there the water will just flow through not cleaning any particles in the water. One thing good about these types of filters is you can basically put anything in them that you want. You can buy things at petsmart that will filter the smaller particles like sponge or the blue floss that I have seen there that you can cut to fit into one of the baskets.

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
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Thanks for helping! well ya see, there is a blue material in the first stage, then the rest are white material with those weird seemingly useless cylindar things under. What do those like pipe like pieces do? They are stock filter media and they literally look like chopped up pvc piping.

Those things are used to house beneficial bacteria. But in a salt water tank can also cause nitrates to rise I think. I would have to wait for someone else to chime in on that as I don't have a salt tank yet. But when I do I will be going with a skimmer instead of a filter.

__________________
SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

what kinds of filter media do you put in a canister filter for chemical filtration? And which order would they go in? I have a five stage canister filter, every stage has ceramic rings in it. the first stage has the blue floss or water its called in it im not worried about that. I am going to buy charcoal to put in it as well. What do i buy for chemical filtration? and is there a certain order i have to put bio and chemical? what about mechanical? Im sorry if i am saying things that dont make sense, i was really amateur until about 3 weeks ago and i just dumped like 250 into a really nice canister. : )

Did you check closely in the box, when I purchased my canister filter, the first one I have had, there was a very helpful book with it!

btw, I have a Rena Filstar xP2 for a 60 gallon tank, I love it!