Fluval canister filter

Hi, I purchased a 55 gallon aquarium to introduce my son to the hobby, I have not had a aquarium for 35 yrs. Things have changed since I was young! The Fluval 303 canister filter that came with the setup. It had the Bio max on bottom,the carbon in second level and the foam pads (2) on the top,I put it back together after cleaning it in the same order. I then read on line in the Fluval manual that the bio max should be in middle and carbon on bottom. Any comments as to what order the compartments should be in canister? They did stress the foam pads be on top to protect the impeller from any larger matter that may find its way in filter. Would there be any reason to run a second filter in this planted community tank?

 

I had a Fluval 404 in a 75 gallon tank and my water was always pristine, no problems every with my params. It is a great filter. I don't know much about the Fluval 303, but canister filters are really good. Takes a bit of a juggler to get all the compartments down pat, but once you get the hang of it.... and you have done this before, you will do just fine.
Welcome to FL!!!

 

Thanks for the welcome and the info.

 

The pads should be at the top as described and the bio media should be in the middle, the carbon is up to you really, there are a lot of us here that do not even run carbon, me being one of them. I would personally add some more bio media and a small filter pad in the bottom tray to add some more biological filtration and the fine particulate filtration but that's just me.

 

The bio media that came with filter I was told was of better than average quality. should that basket be completely full? As of now it is about half full. can you have too much bio media in filter? Does the boi media have a specific life to it. The previous owner said it was fine and not to waste $ replacing it as LFS recommended. What is the life expectancy and how often do you experienced aquarists replace? And can you give me some insight as to how this bio media actually works ?

 

By bio media, if you're talking about ceramic rings then you can never have too much! Fill every basket with as much as it will hold. And don't replace it unless it is absolutely deteriorated and there is insufficient surface area for your bacteria, as hanging onto it becomes counterproductive. I clean all media in tank water and reuse all of it until it's literally falling apart, and then only replace some at a time. The only thing I chuck out regularly is carbon. But the short answer for bio media is "the more, the merrier"!

Also, the media works by providing a porous surface area, (and with lots of small hollow pieces there is a lot of surface!) that the bacteria can live on. Terra-cotta is used for decoration frequently because even fired it is very porous and the perfect home for your bacteria. Some filters have plastic for the the bacteria, but I'm not convinced it does a sufficient job. Ceramic rings/balls/noodles are perfect.

 

Great Anna, Thanks
x

 

I've had my fluval 306 for about.. two weeks? Maybe a little less, lol.. and I just want to look ahead to what I need to replace and when. How often do you fluval owners change your components?

I'm cycling right now.. and there are no fish in my tank. But when I move them over. I want to be ready.. This is my first cannister filter, and it still confounds me a little, but I'm getting there, lol. Thanks guys.

 

I don't have a Fluval canister but most canister filter use a combination of different filtration techniques. You have the mechanical in the form of course sponge media and polishing pads, plastic pot scrubbers can be used in place of the course sponge media. Like wise straight poly-fill can be used in place of the polishing pad, make sure it either of these have not been treated with a soap or flame retardant. On the Biological side there is normally some form of bio balls and ceramic media, mine has never been changed. Some of my bio media is over 3 years old. On the chemical side there's the carbon or products like purgen. I have carbon and when all the carbon I have around is used up I won't replace it with more. I may run purgen or matrix in place of the carbon or just go with additional poly-fill in that tray. The manufacturers like it when you by their replacement products at an increased price.

 

I used to open my 306 every month like the recommendations that fluval said on the product service guidelines. However, I found nothing to clean as there really wasn't any gunk in it. I haven't looked for a few months but I plan on it sometime this month to see how the filter looks. My 54 gallon only has 5 amano shrimp, 1 cory, and 9 black neon tetras in it right now so I have a small bio-load in my tank.

I still would recommend opening up your fluval and checking the insides every month till you get comfortable in opening it up and putting it back together. I do plan on taking the hoses and cleaning them out this summer since it will be easier to clean them outside. I really haven't had much to do with the filter since I don't over feed and my light stocking.

 

Okay great, thanks for the input guys. I've been dealing with a bit of chalkyness in my water, (I think it's leftover dust from the substrate? I'm not sure.. I washed it so well, and have vaccumed it twice), but it persists, so I've been swapping out my filter floss every couple of days, and it seems to be getting better.. so I'm getting more comfortable with the cannister, but it still intimidates me a little bit.

Max.. why won't you be replacing the carbon?

So still looking for some feedback on this. Keep the biomedia forever? Stop using carbon when it's all used up? What about some others of you? How often do you replace sponges, and polishing pads, etc?

 

Okay great, thanks for the input guys. I've been dealing with a bit of chalkyness in my water, (I think it's leftover dust from the substrate? I'm not sure.. I washed it so well, and have vaccumed it twice), but it persists, so I've been swapping out my filter floss every couple of days, and it seems to be getting better.. so I'm getting more comfortable with the cannister, but it still intimidates me a little bit.

Max.. why won't you be replacing the carbon?

Carbon only has a 30 day lifespan and is used to neutralize some odors and also medication in the water. The course sponges I only change when they start falling apart, they get rinsed in old tank water. The same for filter floss/polishing pads. If I use polishing pads they normally only last a couple of months. The bio media I haven't changed at all, it gets a quick rinse in old tank water to get rid of loose material.

 

I just replied to another thread with this;

Personally I don't care about plants that much I work on if you thrive with just water and don't make a mess you can stay policy , but ive heard that about carbon too, I have a 306 and run it like so View attachment 320725 that's thd top tray full of bio media; rings and bio gravel.View attachment 320726that's the middle tray with medium and fine foam.View attachment 320727that's the bottom tray with the sponge that comes with it as the are hood sponges.
View attachment 320728View attachment 320729
The last two you know, this is my 4 month service I thought it may help you, note how clean the bio media is you really can hold back on servicing these things they are good bits of kit.

I hope its helpful

 

I have had a Fluval 406 running for two years. Aside from tossing out the carbon and adding mesh bags filled with crushed coral (I have soft water), I haven't replaced any of the original media. I just rinse it in old tank water or treated tap water every once in a while.

 

That's right, I never said replace the fluval sponge, I don't even know what comes in the middle tray to be honest. I got my 2nd hand and it had mad stuff in it. Id keep the fluval sponge for ever but I wouldn't buy them, I use the pond ones as you can stage the filtration.

 

That's right, I never said replace the fluval sponge

Oh I know, I was just saying that because the OP said they were about to replace some media.

 

I word stuff wrong geoff I agree on the fluval sponge id never say replace I ment.

 

Oh I know, I was just saying that because the OP said they were about to replace some media.

Nope. Didn't say I was replacing anything.. only asked what others with cannisters did, and when they did it.

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

 

I dump the can every 3-4 months and rinse gently in luke-warm tap water. Using old tank water isn't really practical for me because of my water change setup.

 

I open my fluval 306 about every 3months to rinse my media and clean the canister. Some people will say not to clean but I prefer to give it a good wipe down(while media stays wet in bucket of tank water)

Granted my tank is well established so cleaning the inside of the filter does not cause a minI cycle or other issues.

Love my cannisters filter, it's super quiet and runs great. A recommendation though....buy an additional intake filter. That round plastic grid thing with the white ball on your suction line. It will get grimy being in the tank and it's a pain to get every little corner. I like to swap a clean backup in and leave the dirty one to sit in a very very light bleach to water ration for a day...maybe two then quick scrub and it's like new.
The return line fitting is easy to clean with a spare toothbrush!

 

I open my fluval 306 about every 3months to rinse my media and clean the canister. Some people will say not to clean but I prefer to give it a good wipe down(while media stays wet in bucket of tank water)

Granted my tank is well established so cleaning the inside of the filter does not cause a minI cycle or other issues.

Love my cannisters filter, it's super quiet and runs great. A recommendation though....buy an additional intake filter. That round plastic grid thing with the white ball on your suction line. It will get grimy being in the tank and it's a pain to get every little corner. I like to swap a clean backup in and leave the dirty one to sit in a very very light bleach to water ration for a day...maybe two then quick scrub and it's like new.
The return line fitting is easy to clean with a spare toothbrush!

Good advice, thank you.

 

I've been running a fluval 302 for over 20 years the only things that I have replaced are the shut off/ tube release and 2 impeller shafts one wore out and was a bit loose so the impeller was vibrating the second one I dropped and the ceramic shaft broke, I've spoken to my LFS about replacing it and he says why bother it works fine.

 

Anyone have experience with this filter

 

Yeah I have this for my 55g. I got it cause my wife bought it but it fit the dimensions of the stand it’s on.

What would you like to know?

 

Wow! That is an expensive canister.

Maybe consider this I have three of them and plan to buy two more. A brilliant design.

 

The Fluval G3 IMO is the best in the business.....I use them on all my Ram breeding tanks, it turns the water over in my 15 gallon tanks 10 times per hour so it lets me keep over 100 fish in each tank.

 

Does it give parameter read out

 

Like ammonia, nitrate and nitrite? No.

It measures flow and temp.

The parameters require chemicals to get the reading.

 

What size tank is that planned for?

And how will it be stocked?

For the money, you may want to also cross-shop an Eheim 4+ 600, Fluval FX4 or Hydor 600.

 

It's for a 50 not sure exactly what I want to put in it maybe 12 rice fish and 12 peacock gudgeon or some dwarf cichlids

 

I think the G4 is only $20-30 more. If you're already budgeting that much for your filter, I would pay a little more and get the larger one.

According to this article, over 2 million British Pounds was spent on the development of the G-series !

The G3/4's look so nice, I would almost not want it hidden in the cabinet.

 

Like ammonia, nitrate and nitrite? No.

It measures flow and temp.

The parameters require chemicals to get the reading.

my G3 measures temperature, flow rate and most useful of all the TDS (total dissolved solids) which is a very useful indication of when a water change is due

 

Is there a G4??.... in Europe we have the G3 and the G6

 

I miss typed.

Correct, no G4.... just G3 and G6 series.

Chewy has the G6 on sale for $270, only $20 more than the G3.

 

You guys in the US are so lucky.....$270 for a Fluval G6!...On average they sell for the equivalent of $400 in the UK

 

You guys in the US are so lucky.....$270 for a Fluval G6!...On average they sell for the equivalent of $400 in the UK

I have never understood why things seem so much more expensive overseas than here in the US. Most things are made in Asia, I would think the shipping costs would not be that much different.

 

Market size is the main reason, a 40ft container can easily be filled with a large number of a single item when its headed for a US port...whereas if its going to the UK it will need to be consolidated with smaller quantities of various items....so the manufacturing price breaks are much lower for the US. Foreign exchange rate is another reason, dollar to sterling exchange rates can have an enormous effect on the landed cost....and then there's duty tariffs which can vary wildly from country to country.

 

Market size is the main reason, a 40ft container can easily be filled with a large number of a single item when its headed for a US port...whereas if its going to the UK it will need to be consolidated with smaller quantities of various items....so the manufacturing price breaks are much lower for the US. Foreign exchange rate is another reason, dollar to sterling exchange rates can have an enormous effect on the landed cost....and then there's duty tariffs which can vary wildly from country to country.

Yeah, I pulled shipping containers for a couple of years. I should have thought of that.

Oh well, that is why I am a semI driver and not a market analyzer

 

I kept seeing those filters online and they confused me. They look more like printers than filters. May pick one up and put it on its own stand to help hide the co2 system I'm putting in.

 

You won't regret buying it....but make sure it sits on the floor, any higher up and the gravity feed won't work