# Filter media for canister filter questions



## Bob Madoran (Dec 22, 2014)

I have a SunSun 302. I purchased the Pro version that comes with filter media. Bottom tray is ceramic rings. Middle tray is plastic bio-balls. Top tray is the thick blue filter pad/sponge thingamajig. I do not use the carbon or the white filter pads that came with it. The white filter pads were falling apart and restricting the water flow too much.


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## kelsier25 (Sep 16, 2013)

Coarse sponge > Fine Sponge > Seachem Matrix > Purigen. I use purigen in all of my planted tanks and haven't had a problem yet.


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

I use sponges in the bottom, then the rest is hydroton expanded clay pellets with the top tray having a few packets of purigen on top.. 

I clean the sponges, housing and one tray with hot tap water.. cycling between trays, I use a colored scrubby pad to mark the next tray to clean.. go at least 4 months between service. Think I have one more tray than you so find what works.

I have buckets of hydroton around thats why I used it, works great and didnt cost me anything.


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## Perry (May 13, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. This is what I have decided to do. For the course filter I'm going to use 8 nylon pot scrubbers I got from the dollar store. For the middle I will use one of the white fiber filters that came with the unit. For the bio filter I will use the ceramic rings. What I'm not clear on is the direction of flow. Do I put the course filter in the top basket or the bottom basket?


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

flows from bottom to the top.. 

be weary of those filter floss sheets, at least on the 404b it flows fast enough it basically shredded those fiber filters and sent little fibers into my tank, you could see the floss coming out the spraybar.. sucked.. must have clogged pretty quickly then became a restriction, when I took them out they looked like they had been through hell so I tossed em in the bin and never bothered replacing them.


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## Perry (May 13, 2008)

nayr said:


> flows from bottom to the top..
> 
> be weary of those filter floss sheets, at least on the 404b it flows fast enough it basically shredded those fiber filters and sent little fibers into my tank, you could see the floss coming out the spraybar.. sucked.. must have clogged pretty quickly then became a restriction, when I took them out they looked like they had been through hell so I tossed em in the bin and never bothered replacing them.


Good to know, thanks! So I'll use the scrubbers in the bottom basket and the ceramic rings in the top. What should I use in place of the fiber filter for fine mechanical filtering in the middle basket?


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

personally id do scrubbers in the bottom with a packet or two of purigen and two trays of bio media so you can ensure at least one tray of bio media remains undisturbed every maintenance.. blast the scrubbers with hot tap water, rinse one tray with tank water and leave the other tray untouched and it should be alot cleaner without triggering a mini-cycle... next maintenance alternate bio-trays to rinse out.

if you want fine mechanical filtering put a pre-filter on your intake so it'll be much easier to maintain.. alot of the benefit of a canister IMHO is letting it run without maintenance for very long intervals.. putting fine mechanical filters in it will just result in you needing to more maintenance to ensure no restrictions have developed. 

Right now my determining factor is how long the purigen packets go, and I am currently planing on DIYing a purigen fluid reactor in a clear housing so I can monitor and maintain it separately from my bio-filtration.

ps: you need to stuff filter floss arround the trays and the tray handles to make these sunsun's bypass free.. so fine mechanical media in the canister without blocking the bypasses is pretty much pointless.. water polishing is best left to a dedicated micron filter that you run only as needed, running water polishers 24/7 just increases costs and maintenance without much added clarity.


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## Perry (May 13, 2008)

nayr said:


> personally id do scrubbers in the bottom with a packet or two of purigen and two trays of bio media so you can ensure at least one tray of bio media remains undisturbed every maintenance.. blast the scrubbers with hot tap water, rinse one tray with tank water and leave the other tray untouched and it should be alot cleaner without triggering a mini-cycle... next maintenance alternate bio-trays to rinse out.
> 
> if you want fine mechanical filtering put a pre-filter on your intake so it'll be much easier to maintain.. alot of the benefit of a canister IMHO is letting it run without maintenance for very long intervals.. putting fine mechanical filters in it will just result in you needing to more maintenance to ensure no restrictions have developed.
> 
> ...


Thanks a bunch! This really helped!


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