I have a bare-bottom tank - no gravel - I fill the baskets with crushed
coral to help with the PH - works great!
"Amateur Cichlids" wrote in message
. ..

"N2thewall" wrote in message
...
Greetings;
I hope this is not a stupid question, but I recently started a 45 gallon
freshwater tank for Africans....I purchased a Emperor 400 Filter & have
begun
the cycle 2-1/2 weeks ago

Question:
The 400 filter comes with 2 pads w/charcoal.....Also comes with the
tapered
baskets...Am I supposed to fill the baskets with charcoal as well?? If
not,
what are they for?

Any help would be appreciated

Regards
David

The baskets can be used either with the pads that came with the filter, or
just by themselves. I put filter floss, in a light layer in the baskets. I
add carbon if I want to filter out meds, or if I think there's a chance
the
wife has sprayed anything noxious near the tank. Typically, I just use
filter floss.