# will this maintain healthy/ crstayl clear water



## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

ive got two fx5s im running on a 135g tank with 8 pygos i have both filled to the top with biomax i was trying to figure if this would be better for my water and filtration. Im thinking about taking out all the rocks from both filters and placing blue center sponges on all three layers of the baskets on each filter and then put the rocks back in both filters on top of the sponges.Will this help my filters catch alot more access dirt and debri and keep my water crstayl clear and keep ammonia out.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

with only keeping sponges you only get mechanical filtration so the crap it catches will decompose and create ammonia so with no bio or chem media it will grow and you will have a bad tank

you could do all sponges but you would have to proably at least once a weeks clean the filter and remove debris form the pads

if i where you i would do mech filter pad on the first basket water goes through and half of the second then fill the rest of the second with chem media then the last with bio media


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## Aaronic (Apr 22, 2005)

Mechanical, bio, then chemical. Learn what the different medias do and how your filter works and I'm sure you will come up with something that will work for you.


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## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

sean-820 said:


> with only keeping sponges you only get mechanical filtration so the crap it catches will decompose and create ammonia so with no bio or chem media it will grow and you will have a bad tank
> 
> you could do all sponges but you would have to proably at least once a weeks clean the filter and remove debris form the pads
> 
> if i where you i would do mech filter pad on the first basket water goes through and half of the second then fill the rest of the second with chem media then the last with bio media


no what i ment was put the sponges in the center baskets first then add all my rocks ontop of the sponges to catch the extra crap, i have biomedia of course i wasnt going to run just mechanical NO WAY, ive got bio rocks filled to the top on both fx5s i was just going to add sponges to the center baskets first, then put all my rocks back in on top of all six sponges meaning one sponge for each media basket/ 3 sponges for each fx5/ then add rocks on top of sponges to catch extra crap and dabri.
so basically my set up would be, put sponges in first then add rocks on top, would this be okay?


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## Aaronic (Apr 22, 2005)

what do you mean by rocks? rock type media is usually prefilter (unless it is some kind of rock bio-media) meaning it should be placed wherever water hits first. Like I said in my first post, you want your water to hit: Mechanical, then Bio, then Chemical. Figure out how the water flow in your FX5 (I don't own one) and place sponges first, then your bio media. I recommend using some sort of filter floss after your sponges and before the bio media.


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

I use 1 layer of mechanical, and stuff the rest with bio. Charcoal is not needed unless you are removing chemicals after treatment.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

"Mechanical, bio, then chemical. Learn what the different medias do and how your filter works and I'm sure you will come up with something that will work for you."

what difference does it make if bio is before or after chemical?
bio get rid of ammonia... while carbon/chem media gets ris of odors,chemicals(meds) and organic compounds

i was just saying that becasue i like to have a full compartment of bio and it would be easier in my opion to do what i said then to do 1/2 a comp of mec then the other half bio then the bottom of the 3rd bio thn split it and the top chem
just seems easier to have a full bio compartment (easir when cleaning since bio is rinced with tank water so if you have 2 compartments 1/2 in each you have to remove all the stuff to clean it

all your sponges you chose to use should be before any other form of filtration (unless you use something like a micro filter pad at the end)


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## Aaronic (Apr 22, 2005)

sean-820 said:


> "Mechanical, bio, then chemical. Learn what the different medias do and how your filter works and I'm sure you will come up with something that will work for you."
> 
> what difference does it make if bio is before or after chemical?
> bio get rid of ammonia... while carbon/chem media gets ris of odors,chemicals(meds) and organic compounds
> ...


Whatever works for your specific applications is fine... In general, you go mechanical then bio then chemical. I don't want any chemicals getting on my bio-media, do you? I don't use carbon but I now am using peat and I use that after my bio. Other people may use chemical media (carbon, or something else) and it would probably be best that it doesn't touch the bio immediately.


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## tiran (Apr 27, 2007)

doctorvtec said:


> I use 1 layer of mechanical, and stuff the rest with bio. Charcoal is not needed unless you are removing chemicals after treatment.


yeah you kinda understand what im saying i got both of my fx5s stacked to the top with biomax which is mad by fluval for those who dont know what they are. But what im trying to say is i understand you got one layer dedicated to mechanical but what i want to know is if i could add sponges to all the baskets in both fx5s then stuff the biomax rocks which is my biological on top of all three sponges per fx5 meaning three baskets per fx5 each basket filled with sponges then rocks on top of sponges would this still be efficent and maintain crystal clear water?

I dont use carbon unless im treating my fish for being sick/ my water never smells because because i change 60% of water every 4 to 5 to 6 days depends on if i feed twice a day that week or once a day that week or or every other day that week/ and i also never have any unsafe chemicals aroud my tanks. NOT TYRING TO BE A PRICK BUT I THINK SOME PEOPLE ARE MISS UNDERSTANDING WHAT IM SAYING IMOP.


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

tiran said:


> I use 1 layer of mechanical, and stuff the rest with bio. Charcoal is not needed unless you are removing chemicals after treatment.


yeah you kinda understand what im saying i got both of my fx5s stacked to the top with biomax which is mad by fluval for those who dont know what they are. But what im trying to say is i understand you got one layer dedicated to mechanical but what i want to know is if i could add sponges to all the baskets in both fx5s then stuff the biomax rocks which is my biological on top of all three sponges per fx5 meaning three baskets per fx5 each basket filled with sponges then rocks on top of sponges would this still be efficent and maintain crystal clear water?

I dont use carbon unless im treating my fish for being sick/ my water never smells because because i change 60% of water every 4 to 5 to 6 days depends on if i feed twice a day that week or once a day that week or or every other day that week/ and i also never have any unsafe chemicals aroud my tanks. NOT TYRING TO BE A PRICK BUT I THINK SOME PEOPLE ARE MISS UNDERSTANDING WHAT IM SAYING IMOP.
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Instead of a second layer sponges, add some poly. That will help polish the water up a bit.


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