"Mellie101" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi, in future i will ask people here rather than my LFS. They told me,
when I bought the filter, that I change the foam and charcoal once a
month and and the media every 6 months. So I made an order of the
charcoal and foam to now realise that the foam last for a very long
time. They did tell me that you rinse the media in the tank and put it
back in the filter. Don't worry I was going to research all this
before doing any of it. :-)
I have a fluval 404. Does seem to go through spurts where it kicks
lots of bubbles out but all in all very happy with it.
So, another question, should I rinse one foam sponge one week and then
the other the following week so as not to go through a mini-cycle?
Beginners are very scary, aren't they?
Cheers
Mellie
lol, I ran a fish dept, so I have *lots* of experience getting folks
started, and the level of expertise in this group is excellent. Rule 1,
the worst place to get fish advice is frequently the pet shop.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of starting details in this hobby, and
store associates are often teenagers on minimum wage who may not even own
an aquarium, but they may be trying their best.
Foam = sponge filter media (for mechanical & biological filtration), and
that should basically last you the life of the filter. I have a 30
year-old Fluval 201 running with its original sponge filter. The only
real reason to replace it is if the inside of it got completely clogged
(very difficult to do), or you are sterilizing a tank (and in that case,
you can boil them). On a well running tank, I rinse both sponges when I
clean a 404. If your tank is heavily stocked, then you should consider
adding a 2nd filter, and until you did so, you would clean alternate
sponges each time you opened the filter (every 2-4 months?).
Charcoal = carbon filter media (for chemical filtration, adsorbs various
nasties in the water), which we have already discussed. Usage is
optional. It won't hurt anything, though I have read it is better to not
use carbon with planted tanks as it does remove some desirable (to
plants) elements.
The 'media' you mentioned is probably the Bio-max (biological filtration
and that's the only other thing in a 404). These little rings are almost
indestructible. These are apartment buildings for aerobic bacteria along
their surface, and anaerobic bacteria which tunnel down inside the
cracks. You only need to keep the apartment doors open (rinse under
water) so the nutrient and gas molecules to get in and out. The
manufacturer recommends that you change 50% of them every 6 months. I
treat them like sponges, and keep using them for life. It is worthwhile
buying a 2nd box of them. The quantity supplied doesn't really fill the
4 chambers. If you're on a budget, buy the pond version. Bigger ceramic
rings, and a bit cheaper.
Regarding the 404, the bubbles are air entrapment, or a leak somewhere
(sucking air in, possibly along the hose connections). If air
entrapment, it will go away in a few days. If it persists give the
filter a bit of a shake, angling it slowly around too. If it's still
there after a week, then I would suspect an air leak somewhere. These
are quite common and reliable filters, but factory defects occur, so you
want to be on the watch for any unusual behaviour. Are your filter
handles two pieces? This would be their latest, and imo their best so
far. They have had some *bad* models in the past. My 201 is an exercise
in masochism ;~). My 304 is a prince in comparison.
You should pay a visit to the FAQs, particularly
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin.html
cheers
--
www.NetMax.tk