What kind of filter media should I use?

I bought a JUWEL 110 aquarium. It contains a JUWEL Filter Bioflow. More information about the filter, the pump, and everything else about the aquarium can be found here:

As I am planning to buy my fish in the next few days, I would like to know what kind of filter media I should use. I currently only have the default filter media shipped with the aquarium.

I've read about Seachem Purigen, and this really seems to be a very good filtration option. Is my filter fit for the usage of this product?

Also, if the Seachem Purigen can be used in my filter, what other filtration media should I use with it?

Thanks!

 

Well, my experience with Purigen is that it is a drag. Mine lasted about 2 weeks then it has to be recharged by bleaching it. It does reduce nitrates for a few weeks, but then the resin is loaded and it does nothing. I threw mine away in less than a month. I would go with a porous media, I like the BioHome Ultra myself, but if you want to use a SeaChem media....go with the Matrix. Matrix is also a ceramic media with very high porosity.

 

Purigen is chemical filtration, which is the one filtration you don't technically need. You need mechanical (sponges or filter floss to catch debris) and biological. I just took a quick look at the filter you're getting and it appears to come with sponges for the biological filtration which should be great, and it comes with a filter pad for mechanical.

That looks like a nice filter. The media it comes with should be a good start but because it's just baskets you could use whatever you want, like Biohome Ultra for biological filtration. The media it comes with looks like it should do a good job though.

If you do want chemical filtration, activated carbon is fine but it needs to be changed every 3-4 weeks. Purigen is supposed to last up to six months before needing a recharge. I've got some here but I've not put it in yet so I can't comment, although Lynxster's comment seems atypical of other reviews of Purigen.

 

I've seen lots of super good reviews of Seachem products. Seachem Purigen for example, has positive reviews everywhere, except Lynxster's comment, as you mentioned.

For this reason, I'm planning to fill my filter with Seachem filter media.

But I have no idea on what products I should use and how much of each product.. So could you have a look at this page of Seachem products, and tell me how much ml of which products I should buy? Thanks!



My filter capacity is 1,25 liter

Would this be ok:
- 100 ml Purigen
- 100 ml Matrix Carbon
- 250 ml matrix

=> This would be a total of 550 ml of Seachem products. I would still have 700 ml of space in my filter, so I could keep most of the default filter media's.

 

I don't think it's necessary to have two bags of chemical filtration. Even one is optional. I'd use the extra space to add another sponge/floss or more Matrix.

 

Ok thanks!

After the comments I think this is a good way to stock my filter:
- 100 ml Purigen (Maybe I don't technically need this type of filtration, but reviews on this product are awesome, so I'm eager to try it out. Since my filter has a volume of 1,25l, I think I can use 100 ml space for this).
- 500 ml - 1000 ml Matrix (I'll order 1000 ml of Matrix and will later see how much I'll actually use).
- 1 sponge.
- 1 floss.

The last question I have is what kind of sponge I should use. I currently have 3:
- Carbon sponge
- Nitrax 3.0
- Sponge fine 3.0

 

Well, I will say that maybe my results were atypical from what I have read, but at the time I had a lot of nitrates in the tank so perhaps that shortened the life of the resin. I do know after 2 weeks when I took it out of the canister it had all turned a rather dark brown color. I did recharge it with bleach as it suggests in the directions, but decided I really didn't want to reuse it and have to tear down the canister again in a couple weeks. I do think SeaChem makes some excellent products and this may work well if your bio-load is not too heavy.