# Canister newb here!



## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

Hey guy's, 
So, yea I'm just setting up my 120g and got a rena xp3 as part of the deal (used tank, but got alot of good's that I would have needed anyway). 
What I want to know is:
1. It say's according to the internet, that the xp3 is enough for up to 175g. I wonder if that's true. Do, you think this would do, for a rhom tank?
2. I'm thinking about getting a fx5 and have that running to. Is this over doing it? 
3. According to the direction's for the xp3. It tell's me to replace the biological pad, every 4 week's. To rinse out the mechanical stuff i think. They call it zorb and something else. They look like sponge like ornament's. (star shape and circle shape) Rinse them with tank water. And, I can add extra stuff to clean the water. 
Won't replacing the pad, destroy any good bacteria. I don't need a dead rhom and green water. I'm coming from a hob background. 
4. Do you cycle a canister, compared to a hob? ( it's been a week, since the canister was running at the seller's house) And, if i do cycle a canister, how do I keep the good bacteria?


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

over filter is always a good thing so if you have the extra cash of getting a FX5 then go for it. best deal I found is $200 or so for brand new one with 3 yr warranty.

get some convicts or mollies from your lfs and put it in the tank to start the bio cycling, you can also add some SeaChem Stability (they should have it in PetSmart) to kick start the cycle. the convicts/mollies will help keep those good bacteria alive by adding biowaste into the water.


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

i agree, theres nothing wrong with over filtering. if you want to have a more powerful pump or have more than one working then go for it. its up to you. but i reckon that cannister should do fine.

in terms of cleaning and rinsing out, what i do is when doing water changes, i clean up and rinse out the sponges using the water i have just taken out.
when putting in new pads i rinse those in tap water first. squeese as much of the water out then rinse it in the the used water aswell.

always worked for me and never had any problems after my water changes and maintainance.

i dont quite understand question 4.
when you cycle the cannister you have it working with your new setup so you develop new bacteria to ready it for your new fish. not sure what your asking. i may have misunderstood something

hope that helps


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Gerrad said:


> Hey guy's,
> So, yea I'm just setting up my 120g and got a rena xp3 as part of the deal (used tank, but got alot of good's that I would have needed anyway).
> What I want to know is:
> 1. It say's according to the internet, that the xp3 is enough for up to 175g. I wonder if that's true. Do, you think this would do, for a rhom tank?* for a single rhom that should be good, but you may want to concider more if you got a shoal*
> ...


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## shoal king (Oct 27, 2006)

Get an FX5 and use the XP3 also :nod:


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## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

I looked on ebay today for a fx5. found a good deal. Don't know if I should get it. Maybe the xp3 is good enough. 
I just took apart my xp3, just to see what it look's like apart. There's 3 basket's. This is what the seller had in it, before she sold it to me. Now, I know what should go in there. Since I read the book. 
Anyway, in the first basked or top one. There was nothing in it, and there was a lid in there. Look's like it is used to divide media. The second basket, middle. Has the white media in it, with the divider on top, like a lid. They have right angle tube shape form. Doesn't look like ceramic circle's, that I'm suppose to use. No big deal, I'll get the ceramic's. Then the last basket, bottom. Has the whole thing filled with black filter pad's. I don't know if this is 20 or 30 ppi foam, could be. Now, I'm suppose to have a filter pad, that is white. 
I don't think the seller, that I got my canister from. Knew much about the internal need's. That's ok, I'm going to put the correct media in, with the correct order that thing's are suppose to be layered.


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## massabsamurai (Mar 12, 2009)

here's what i have in my xp3. Bottom part 2 thick sponges (don't know what kinda but the are re-usable and preety strong). Second basket is full of bio (ceramic rings). Top part's got some ceramics in the bottom half and the top has microfiltration pad (white one). You don't really need to change it every month (as it says in the book). Juz rinse it well in the TANK WATER and it should be good for atleast a couple of months.


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

Gerrad said:


> Hey guy's,
> So, yea I'm just setting up my 120g and got a rena xp3 as part of the deal (used tank, but got alot of good's that I would have needed anyway).
> What I want to know is:
> 1. It say's according to the internet, that the xp3 is enough for up to 175g. I wonder if that's true. Do, you think this would do, for a rhom tank?
> ...


An XP3 For one fish is more then enough. My XP4 Handles the bioload of 6 Reds no problem. Overkill isn't a bad thing but personally I think you'd be wasting $300 getting an FX5
This is how you should stock the filter:
(in order from bottom to top)
Bottom Basket:
(2)30ppm sponges
(2)20ppm sponges
Middle basket
Bio media (I bought the Rena ceramic rings paid out the @$$ for them but they work good)
Top basket
Biomedia (enough to fill it halfway)
Divider
(3) microfiltration pads.
Throw the Zorb crap and the bio stars they give you with the filter out. That stuff's for peope who don't know what they're doing.
Cycling a canister is no different from cycling a HOB. Just do what you would do with any other aquarium.
Good luck!


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## Yanfloist (Oct 1, 2007)

if you have a very large rhom then you should get a fx5 too. a lot of people say that Great filtration is one major leading factor in great rhom growth and health overall. What size is your fish anyways??


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## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

Piranha Dan said:


> if you have a very large rhom then you should get a fx5 too. a lot of people say that Great filtration is one major leading factor in great rhom growth and health overall. What size is your fish anyways??


I bought him from AS. He is around 4-5 inch's. Oh, and he's a blue diamond. I have a pic of him, in the pic section. Under "Finally got my blue diamond"
In the pic, he look's only maybe 4 inch's.


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

Gerrad said:


> So, dan. Is the 30 or the 20 ppi foam black? Or are they both black?
> I will do the 2 dif type's of foam in the first basket.
> 2nd basket. Just the ceramic ring's eh? Why don't you like the star's?
> 3rd basket. You think the micro fil pad, hm. What about ammonia chip's? I have some from the seller.
> And, as far as what I would do in cycling a tank, like a hob. It will take 2 month's to get thing's completely correct. I'm sure the bacteria that was made from the seller, is now dead. I have till the end of the month to get my canister ready.


The difference between the two foams is pore size. PPI stands for Pores Per Inch. You put the 30 PPI foam in the bottom (the one with the larger pores) and put the 20 PPI foam on top of it. This allows you to filter progressively smaller pieces of debris which extends the time between cleaning the sponges.

It's not that I don't like the stars, it's just that I'm not sure what they do :laugh: The instrutions say they're for bio-filtration but also that you have to replace them eventually. I stick with the ceramic rings becasue they're permanent and don't require me monkeying around with the biofilter once it's established.

I would leave the ammo chips out. A properly cycled tank doesn't need chemical filtration to remove ammonia, that's what your benificial bacteria is for. The micro pads take the really fine particles of waste out of your water and make it crystal clear awesomeness.

A really quick way to cycle the filter would be to get some used media from the LFS (any size/material as long as it fits in the media bucket), put it in the bottom of the middle bucket, then pour the rings in on top of it. Add an ammonia source to your water and the bacteria from the LFS media will colonize the rings.

The micro pads only take up about half the top bucket dont' forget to fill the bottom half with rings too (seperate the rings and micro pads with one of the plastic dividers). The more biomedia the better.


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## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

You know, I've noticed that my xp3 has all these thing's to buy for it. I think Rena just did that to make more money. For ex. The pillow softner, the super active carbon and so on. 
Since I'm a newb with this canister. I'm practically buying all the thing's the direction's are suggesting. Currently, I have in my basket's.
Basket 1 (bottom). 20 then 30 ppi foam (direction's show 20 first). I have double layer's of each foam. So, my basket 1 is full. 
Basket 2. I have the bottom half, filled with ceramic ring's. Then the divider, then nothing. I'm thinking star's, but, if not, more media. 
The ceramic and the star's purpose, is to hold the bacteria that is developed. The ring's should form and have a film on them. Can't find the star's, alway's out of stock.
Basket 3. Bottom, I have Bio Zorb ( the pouch), then divider, then a micro fil pad. In the direction's it say's, that each of these's pouch's are enough for up to 55g. What do I buy 2-3 bag's of the same stuff for a 120g? 
I bought today, the super active carbon, super micro fil pad, and some suction cup's for my powerhead's. I figure, I'll put all the Zorb's stuff in the top basket. I should be able to cram them in.


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

For the bottom bucket, do you mean you have the 20ppi sponges on top or bottom? the water goes through the filter from the bottom up, so you should have it that way.
Just get rid of the plastic divider in the second bucket and fill it with another box of rings. You could leave the divider in there but it's kind of redundant.
Get rid of the Zorb in the top bucket. All it is is a combination of their carbon, nitrite, and ammonia remover, none of which you'll need once the aquarium is cycled. Put more rings in the bottom half, put in a divider, and put 3 micro pads in the top half.
Trust me, all you need to maintain a healthy established aquarium is the sponges, rings, and micro pads. I've been running my XP4 with that setup now for almost 2 years and it's worked great for me. It also makes for easy maintenance. All I do to clean mine is squeeze the crap out of the sponges and replace the micro pads once a month (a box of 3 pads costs like $6.00).


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## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

Piranha Dan said:


> For the bottom bucket, do you mean you have the 20ppi sponges on top or bottom? the water goes through the filter from the bottom up, so you should have it that way.
> Just get rid of the plastic divider in the second bucket and fill it with another box of rings. You could leave the divider in there but it's kind of redundant.
> Get rid of the Zorb in the top bucket. All it is is a combination of their carbon, nitrite, and ammonia remover, none of which you'll need once the aquarium is cycled. Put more rings in the bottom half, put in a divider, and put 3 micro pads in the top half.
> Trust me, all you need to maintain a healthy established aquarium is the sponges, rings, and micro pads. I've been running my XP4 with that setup now for almost 2 years and it's worked great for me. It also makes for easy maintenance. All I do to clean mine is squeeze the crap out of the sponges and replace the micro pads once a month (a box of 3 pads costs like $6.00).


How are your water parameter's?


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

Gerrad said:


> How are your water parameter's?


0ppm Ammo
0ppm Nitrite
20-40ppm Nitrate (usually test right before my weekly 50% water change)
Ph 6.6-7.0


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