Help with filter media for canister filter

[EvolutionZ]

hi guys. i have decided to get a dolphin c-500 canister filter for my upcoming project.
but im unsure of what i should put in the tray as its my first time handling with canister filters.
the tank will have cardinal fishes inside. bioload might be a little bit high too..
lets say if the c-500 canister filter have 4 trays. what should i put?

[bossteck]

Hi,

I am pretty sure C-500 will not have 4 trays. It will have at most 3 trays.
I suggest you use the following layout.
Tray 1 (the one which tank water will pass by first) Coarse filter medium, it should come in the box as a black piece of filter sponge, followed by finer filter wool.
Tray 2 and 3, bio media.

Bio media is basically any thing which beneficial bacterial can colonize and live on, I would suggest using ceramic ring (cheaper) or biohome (expensive but reputed to be effective in providing more living space for beneficial bacterial). Don't waste the limited area in your canister filter by adding things like japanese mat, bio balls which frankly takes up quite a fair bit of space.

[chenkingdom]

Hi Bro, what media to put in which tray depends on how your canister works.. usually the water will flow from bottom to the top.. so your initial tray should be Bio rings, second tray you can have Bio balls and the last tray you can have sponge to filter out the dirt.. if you have the fourth tray, you can enjoy a thorough cleaning by putting another layer of sponge..

This will help you achieving clean water for your cardinal..

[psp1000]

iam using Dolphin C-1000...

1st tray (Below) - black piece of filter sponge follow by white piece of Sponge
2nd tray (middle) - come with carbon but i never use , i just put abit of the Ceramic rings
3rd tray (top) - Ceramic rings

was thinking, can I put

1st tray (Below) - black piece of filter sponge follow by white piece of Sponge
2nd tray (middle) - Ceramic rings
3rd tray (top) - White Sponge again (Will it help in achieving clean water?)

Was thinking can I put this layout instead? cos still find that after water change , 2 or 3 days later, the water still look abit cloudy.

[antitrust]

i would swap ceramic rings to be at the bottom tray. should last you longer before you have to wash because your black sponge will clog rather quickly...

maybe your water is cloudy because you nitrifying bacteria is not well established?

[luncheonMeat]

Don canister filters comes with the Filter media when you buy them? Are they not good enough? I used mine ehiem canister as instructed. Would like to know what better ways there are. Keep them coming.

[psp1000]

hmm...so should I place the black sponge on the 1st tray (on top) instead? what happen if the black sponge clog? most of the ppl here say that the first contact of the inlet is the sponge..is it alright if the first contact is the ceramic ring?

Yes the Canister filter comes with the Filter media, 1 black sponge, 1 black colour (believed to be carbon) and 1 ceramic ring.

[z_z]

If the flow of your filter is from the bottom to the top, the standard setup (as suggested by eheim anyway) is ceramic rings followed by black/rough sponge, then bio balls with fine sponge.

The ceramic rings are the 1st contact. I am using this configuration with no problem.

[Salphur]

Dolphin c-500 has 2 trays only. I put the filter wool on top followed by black sponge at the bottom in the first tray and the base tray is filled with ceramic rings.


Cheers!

[psp1000]

So for Dolphin Canister ( all model) as long as we place the cermaic rings on the bottom tray then follow by sponge? please advice

so the correct way should be as follow??

1st tray (TOP) - sponge
2nd tray( middle) - black sponge
3rd tray(bottom) - ceramic rings

Is this correct setup for dolphin canister???

[granzord]

i bought a dolphin c500 , also have same problem . flow is it bottom to top. manuel read bottom tray sponge, top tray carbon.
search internet also no news on this. expert pls help . because i put sera super peat on top tray like no effect on ph....