Replacing carbon pad in Fluval FX6

What kind of media should I put in the bottom “chemical basket” in place of the carbon pad in the FX6?

I installed the Fluval FX6 in my 125 aquarium last week and after only a few days I noticed one of my German Blue Rams is starting to get a lesion on her head (hole in the head). I immediately looked at my booklet to find out if any of the sponges somehow have carbon in them and sure enough, there is a carbon pad in the bottom one (I didn’t even know carbon came in sponge form). I am not sure what to put in place of that? Just filter floss? Something else? I know it’s important for filtration to have them in a specific order. I am just not sure what order for this one.

 

What else is in that chamber? More than likely just remove that sponge and the red container it goes in and leave the media below. Mine came with 2 red baskets and 2 carbon sponges.

 

What else is in that chamber? More than likely just remove that sponge and the red container it goes in and leave the media below. Mine came with 2 red baskets and 2 carbon sponges.

Nothing else is in the chamber. For mine, it’s the very bottom basket. It came with media bags to put something in but I haven’t put anything in it. You think it will still work well with nothing in that bottom basket? That does make sense since it’s supposed to be for chemical filtration. Is there something else that I should put in the media bags instead? German Blue Ram and discus safe? I don’t have the discus yet but will be getting them in the next month or so.

 

Ok let’s talk discus . Where are you getting them from? Are you on discus sites ? If so which ones?

As to your fx6 if you’ve got nothing in that chamber that’s fine. Just the sponge is enough and whatever you add just reduces he flow . The more you put in that filter the slower it flows.

 

Ditch the carbon and just add a second sponge.
Then you can really clean one while the other still cycled.
HITH is also diet related.
Make sure you are offering the rams enough meaty protein.

 

Ok let’s talk discus . Where are you getting them from? Are you on discus sites ? If so which ones?

As to your fx6 if you’ve got nothing in that chamber that’s fine. Just the sponge is enough and whatever you add just reduces he flow . The more you put in that filter the slower it flows.

Ok let’s talk discus . Where are you getting them from? Are you on discus sites ? If so which ones?

As to your fx6 if you’ve got nothing in that chamber that’s fine. Just the sponge is enough and whatever you add just reduces he flow . The more you put in that filter the slower it flows.

We are either going with Hans Discus or Jack Wattley. 4-5” and we plan to get 6 and keep our fingers crosssed the ones we get are either all the same gender (highly unlikely I’m sure) or get along at least. They will go in my 125 gallon with my angelfish and German blue rams.

I’m a Facebook nerd so I am on a couple Facebook groups…U.S. Discus Keepers and All About Discus. I love this group but am terrible about going on here unless I have a question, lol.

I take it you love discus? Do you recommend a specific place? I wanted to buy locally but my Facebook group did not approve based on the pictures I posted. They said they didn’t look good. My husband thinks Hans has the best variety but their website has been down forever. I’m starting to wonder if they will ever be back up and running. I’ve been watching a lot of Jack Wattley on YouTube and I admire them a lot so we may go with them, not sure I guess until we are ready to buy.

Ditch the carbon and just add a second sponge.
Then you can really clean one while the other still cycled.
HITH is also diet related.
Make sure you are offering the rams enough meaty protein.

Thank you. I took the carbon sponge out and just put filter floss in that basket for now. I was trying to find her today and had a hard time seeing any lesions so I’m hoping it was just her spangles that I was seeing and overreacted but I feel like it was there the other day so I don’t know. I’ll give it a few days and see if the sponge change helps. I feed the tank frozen twice a week and have been giving them a little live baby brine shrimp pretty regularly in addition to their cichlid flakes, vibra bites, and bug bites. The small fish go nuts over them! Hopefully that’s enough. I can certainly do more but was thinking only once or twice a week for frozen is what’s recommended.

 

Hans has closed shop. The discus he sold Stendker from Germany has also closed down. There’s a story with Hans. So as of now best avoided. Wattley passed years ago and Gabe is running that shop. Not a great choice anymore. Puts up some good utube stuff but what you order and what you get can be disappointing. There are some good shops near you. Chicago discus and Dennis discus. Both are good shops and have web sites. Another I highly recommend is Pingco discus. He’s got some great discus. Not a breeder he buys from breeders and has a great selection. He’s got a Facebook site.

Ok very nice tank! 4-5” fish are a good choice. 125. Is a tough tank for them to start in but can be done if you’re up for the work. Discus especially new discus need clean water. So you’ll need to be changing a lot of water for the first month to keep them healthy and get them used to your water. I’d recommend a 40-55 just to qt them for the first month. This tank will be needed down the line anyway so it’s good to have.

Check out those sellers sites and ask more questions. Lots of info for discus!!

 

I would never mix Discus with another Cichlid. Discus need to have the tank to themselves. A few Tetras are fine, but other Cichlids are a No No in my opinion

 

I would never mix Discus with another Cichlid. Discus need to have the tank to themselves. A few Tetras are fine, but other Cichlids are a No No in my opinion

I would not mix discus with angels.
There are cichlids that are compatible with discus like rams.

 

Hans has closed shop. The discus he sold Stendker from Germany has also closed down. There’s a story with Hans. So as of now best avoided. Wattley passed years ago and Gabe is running that shop. Not a great choice anymore. Puts up some good utube stuff but what you order and what you get can be disappointing. There are some good shops near you. Chicago discus and Dennis discus. Both are good shops and have web sites. Another I highly recommend is Pingco discus. He’s got some great discus. Not a breeder he buys from breeders and has a great selection. He’s got a Facebook site.

Ok very nice tank! 4-5” fish are a good choice. 125. Is a tough tank for them to start in but can be done if you’re up for the work. Discus especially new discus need clean water. So you’ll need to be changing a lot of water for the first month to keep them healthy and get them used to your water. I’d recommend a 40-55 just to qt them for the first month. This tank will be needed down the line anyway so it’s good to have.

Check out those sellers sites and ask more questions. Lots of info for discus!!View attachment 866903View attachment 866905

Wow you have beautiful discus tanks! I started with 6 angelfish my big tank but learned the fighting comes from the pairs and I had 2 females and 4 males so the 2 females are currently in a separate 36 gal tank and the males get along well without them. I’ve heard discus pairs are less aggressive but I’ll need to be prepared to take some of them out also so I may end up with mine in more than one tank too. Plus I know they can get along with angels, especially if they are close in size but who knows what will happen, I may end up having multiple tanks if it doesn’t work. We shall see!

Thank you for the recommendations! I have heard of Chicago Discus but not the others. And I had no idea about Hans. The site says they are moving so I’ve just been waiting for it to reopen, lol. And I didn’t realize that Jack Wattley wasn’t as reputable since Gabe took over. I was thinking it was but that is just going off recommendations and the YouTube channel. I’ll check out the ones you suggested! The biggest thing is we want a variety of color (don’t plant to breed at this point) and a lot of the sites don’t have much variety available. There’s a local breeder a couple hours from me (Central IL Discus) that I did consider but he doesn’t have much variety and my husband doesn’t want a bunch of the same ones. I do have an empty 50 gallon I can put them in for that first month. My husband has been bugging me to clean it up and get it set up (and out of the way in the garage-got it off marketplace). I have angelfish fry in a breeder box right now (free swimming for 4 days now) and was planning to use the 55 as a grow out for them but I probably will not need it for them for a while anyway so that could work. I have an empty 20 gallon they will go in first.

Thank you again for your help! I’ll probably be asking more questions about discus in the coming future!

 

Ok people do put angels with discus. But it’s hit or miss if it will work. Angels are very aggressive. Discus in angel tanks are usually showing stress bars. My discus never fight I’ve got 16 in my 180 and 9 in the 125.

Since you’re looking for variety I say look into Pingco. He’s a great guy and he get in a huge variety of discus. I’ve bought from him twice and have 6 great looking discus. I’ve also bought from Dennis discus. All 4 of his discus are also great. But he doesn’t have the variety or the numbers like pingco.
Just for more info I’ve got this thread running in the discus areaFor Beginner Discus Keepers | Discus Fish Forum | 486447

 

Ok people do put angels with discus. But it’s hit or miss if it will work. Angels are very aggressive. Discus in angel tanks are usually showing stress bars. My discus never fight I’ve got 16 in my 180 and 9 in the 125.

Since you’re looking for variety I say look into Pingco. He’s a great guy and he get in a huge variety of discus. I’ve bought from him twice and have 6 great looking discus. I’ve also bought from Dennis discus. All 4 of his discus are also great. But he doesn’t have the variety or the numbers like pingco.
Just for more info I’ve got this thread running in the discus areaFor Beginner Discus Keepers | Discus Fish Forum | 486447

Thank you! I’ll check it out after work!

 

Pingco’s Discus | Facebook

thats Pingco’s web site