making your own filter cartridges..

[Juicebox]

im using the filter that came with my tank kit..

aqueon quiet flow..




I really dont like the cartridges you have to buy monthly or every second month..
they are a plastic frame coverd in white sponge,inside has carbon..
thecurrent one was running nearly two months,it got filthy dirty black,it was gross,i am guesing its due to me setting up an npt while using it,muck and dirt got into the pad. so it needed replacing

i dont want to be messing around trying to cut them open every time to remove carbon so i bought my own stuff to put inside the filter ..im wondering if this is safe and will it work..

heres what i bought...

1 mesh bag to hold the items..
1 large bag of white filter fibre
1 large bag of marineland blue/white bonded filter pad
1 small bag fluval biomax

total cost of materials about 15 bucks. i should get maybe 5 or 6 refills from this material so it should hopefully last a year or so..


so i cut up the blue filter pad and shoved it into my mesh bag so that the bottom and 2 sides of the bag was walled off with the blue pad, then i inserted the biomax and some white filter fibre into the middle of this blue box i created with the pad sponge,,then on top i put some filter fibre and i sealed up my mesh bag..

i slotted this into the spot where the filter cartridges go.its bulkier than the cartridges and takes up more space but its jammed in there and doesnt stick out the top of the filter or anything..


am i doing it right? is this a good way to go about it,i have no idea,i just looked at the filters in my two tanks and thought i could make my own and it would be ok..


any tips advice welcomed

[sandybottom]

i have the same filter. don't use too much filter floss, it will make water by pass filter. otherwise it should work well.

[Oldfishlady]

IMO/E you don't need to use carbon/charcoal-Its not needed-Its more of a personal choice, however, its a good idea to always have some fresh/unused activated carbon on hand for emergencies.

This is what I use to make my filter media-I think its the same thing that you have-now that I look at it...lol.....But I don't use a mesh bag with it.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...31&pcatid=4231
Cut to size-I only replace it once its falling apart-I do give it a good rinse in dechlorinated water or a bucket of old tank water a couple of times a month and/or when the water flow slows. Since I keep soil based tanks I don't really use the filters for filtration-but more for water movement in my big tanks.

In my canister filters I use poly-fill that I get in the craft dept at wal mart. I do toss it and use fresh every month or so-but I have soil based heavy planted tanks and so I don't need to worry about the nitrogen cycle.
If you use this method in regular inert substrate without a lot of live active growing plants-Rinse the poly-fill in tank or dechlorinated water a couple of times a month and/or toss half-then rinse half and replace with fresh so you can retain enough of your BB colony to seed the fresh poly-fill. Unless the canister also has the bio-balls-if so, they should have plenty of BB so you can toss all the poly-fill every month or so if you wanted/needed.

With these soil based heavy planted tanks-you don't have to worry about your cycle like you do with regular systems. You also may need to change out filter media more often.

[Juicebox]

that blue bonded filter pad is the same stuff i use..

im just concerned that since i just jammed all my sponge into the hole in my filter,how do i tell if the water is going through the sponge or if the sponge is being bypassed somehow..

the cartridges are thin and i guess the water is on all sides of it in the filter hole,but with my bag in there its jammed up against all walls of the hole,im thinking maybe i have too much sponge in my filter,and then i think hey i can never have too much in there

the water still comes out of my filter output so i guess its not blocked up but maybe its not going through the sponge,should i be leaving space on all sides of the sponge

[waterdog]

If the water is not going through the filter media you will see it either run over the top of the material or/and run back out over the top of the intake tube.