# XP3 owner's out there, I have a ?



## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

Hey all,
I have a question about the rena filastar XP3? I'm currently setting mine up and want to know, from the people who have a xp3 how there's is setup. 
Here is what mine has, and I don't have it running yet. Petsmart didn't have all the thing's I wanted, waiting till they stock up. 
B1.(basket 1, bottom basket)
2 20 ppi foam
2 30 ppi foam
B2. (middle)
Lower half with ceramic tube's
Upper half nothing, divider in the middle.
B3. (top basket)
1 pouch bio zorb or chem
1 pouch super active carbon
1 micro filtration pad
1 super mico fil pad
Now, is this a bad setup? How do you have your's? Any suggestion's on how to improve or an idea to make it easier for me? If there is a way to do it, where I don't have to keep on buying all the zorb's every few month's, that would be great. 
Open for suggestion's?


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## Gaijin987 (Nov 14, 2006)

I have a few XP3's on my piranha tanks and I just use the foam pads that come with the filter in the bottom tray and nylon pot scrubbies in the other two trays. been using the same scrubbies for over a year and haven't had any problems. you just have to gently rinse them once in awhile with old tank water (NOT tap water) to remove "some" (not all) of the gunk to keep up a good flow rate.


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## CichlidAddict (Jul 1, 2005)

Unless you're trying to remove medications or odor, you don't need the carbon in there.
I have 4 XP3s running and I have foam in the bottom basket and various bio-media in the top 2 baskets on all of them.


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## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

Ok, guy's I'm thinking I'm going to change my setup a bit. I've been talking to piranha dan. This is what he is suggesting me to do, and it sound's good. I just want a cycled tank, with the water parameter number's, were they should be.
B1. bottom
very bottom. 2 30ppi
then 2 20 ppi
direction's say, 20 then 30. but, what dan said, make's since. I think who ever wrote the direction's for the xp3, was in a hurry. I found missing letter's to word's, and thing's didn't sound right. 
And, rena product's are weird. The direction's tell me one way to clean the bio zorb (to rinse till water is clear, then the actual product, tell's me, not all the water has to be clear) which direction's is right?
B2. middle
all ceramic tube's, no star's. 
B3. top
lower half, more ceramic tube's
upper half of basket, 3 micro pad's
What do you guy's think?



CichlidAddict said:


> Unless you're trying to remove medications or odor, you don't need the carbon in there.
> I have 4 XP3s running and I have foam in the bottom basket and various bio-media in the top 2 baskets on all of them.


The tank is new, so I'm not trying to get rid of smell or definately not quarantining any fish. lol So, no carbon eh?

From what I'm hearing from some of you, xp3 owner's. That I don't have to buy all the extra's that rena, suggest's. 
I know there just trying to make more money. But, geesh, talking about alot of thing's they want you to buy. Sorry, guy's, I've never owned a canister, just hob's.


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

No biggie, always happy to help.








The real reason all that chemical stuff exists, imho, is for people who don't know or care about all the biology that comes with keeping a fish tank. Technicially, the stuff works, but it's way more expensive and a pain in the ass to properly maintain an aquarium that way. You could, theoretically, load up your entire canister with just pouches of Zorb and filter the tank, but at $5.00 per bag and changing them every 2 weeks you'd be spending $60 a month on media.







The mech/bio setup I talked you into doing will cost you $5.00 per month (cost of a single box of micro filtration pads). All the other media in the filter just gets rinsed out in tank water.


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## EZmoney (May 13, 2004)

Yeppers, that is the setup I have going for my XP3. Also, welcome to the wonderful world of canister filters because you will never use a HOB filter again.


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## Murphy18 (Oct 17, 2008)

I have ther corse sponge and 2 microfiltraion pads i the bottom basket. The other two i have stainless steel pot scrubbers and bio balls. An on top of each basket i have a thin layer of filter floss, worls excellent for me


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## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

went to petsmart. No ceramic ring's. I'm going hunting for them this weekend. If, I can't find any by the end of the weekend. Then I'll use what amound of ceramic ring's, I do have. Till, the lfs have more,for me to buy. 
By By super active carbon, bio zorb!


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