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ok i bought the EHEIM Professional II well i was wondering what is the best media to put in it instead of the ones eheim suggest!

I know there are plenty of filter materials around and some are better than others. I also own a Eheim Pro11 and I can assure I would not buy any thing else. For the bottom basket they now have a new filter material instead of the small hollow pieces.
I will admit I do use two very fine filter pads as the last filter before it goes back into the tank.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
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Keith

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Why don't you like what eheim suggests? I use eheim media in my cannister that is not even an eheim. I always forget or mix up the various names of their media. Mostly I use the round ceramic pieces for coarse filtration(ehfimech?) and 2 baskets of the fine filter media that comes in a roll(ehfisynth?). For chemical filtration though I use Seachem's purigen and I don't have any biological media in my cannister. I have a penguin 330 biowheel filter to increase flow rate and it helps break up any film on the surface and shove it down into the cannister intake. Of course between biowheels and a planted tank there is more than enough biofiltration to not bother taking up space in my cannister.

I use the mech and synth in my Eheim. When I clean the filter, I rinse the baskets in waste water from the aquarium. Although Eheim recommends replacing a portion of the synth, I do not understand their reasoning and I never have replaced any of the original media.

In lieu of the Eheim products, you can use any type of ceramic media whetherrings or chips, lava stone, stars, media balls or sponge balls. The idea is to provide a large surface for bacteria to colonize.

One thing that I do not use is the carbon pad. IME carbon is a good idea with a very short life effectiveness in a filter. Additionally, I cut my own fine pads from sheet stock to reduce costs.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

I have only topped up my baskets with the Eheim filter materials. At the moment I have a small amount of Eheim's Lava Rock (First basket) this will be added at the next full monthly cleaning. I also only use the old water to wash all the filter materials.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I have to replace the cottony filter in the eheims regularly, but the blue foam, the syth and the mech last for absolutely ages, best part of a year.

Im just going on the water readings, they seem to work well for ages before needing replacement, I test the water at least fortnightly.

Last edited by longhairedgit at 07-Dec-2005 05:46

I only use eheim pro 11 filters and i see no point in putting anything other than eheim media in it,they last for ages and lets face it eheims arent rated the rolls royce of filters for nothing, you wouldn't put diesel in your roller.

Gibson SG you know you want one!!