help with fluval fx5 media

[hector]

hi everyone, i bought a fluval fx5 canister for my mertens and was wondering whats the best media to use. the pond holds roughly 700-1000 ltr water. its for 1 mertens.thanks, matt

[ericrs]

its been a while since if done my aquaculture cert but id be leaning towards more mechanical filtration. eg coarse filter foam, maybe same ceramic noodles. get some different grades. and stagger them through the filter. so as the water passes through it goes through the coarse foam first then finer then finest.
bio balls i don't think will help massively as there mainly biological and serve as a surface area for all the bacteria to live on to break down ammonia,nitrate etc. as you don't have fish or much life in the water id be wanting that room in the filter working to get all the crap out.
it great you got an fx5. there a very good filter from memory and with that will make your live much easier.

[hector]

thanks ericrs

[ericrs]

and by the sound of the enclosure by the amount of water you got. id be getting him/her a mate. the filter will take it no worries.

[dragon170]

great filters I have mine set up for fish with filter pad and noodles in bottom one, white amonia remover stuff in the middle and carbon in the top and have had no probles with it. did find without the filter pad in it though the moss and stones would very occasionally block the impeller. hope that helps

[Sinners121]

as a general rule with my filters i like the filter to start of coarse and get finer

[Amazing Amazon]

Fluval FX5 Filter Media Pack - Aquarium and reptile online shop in Melbourne. Specialise in Baby Turtles, Lizards, Frogs and Pythons also for sale!

[hector]

The enclosure going to be 7 ft high x 6 ft long x 7 ft wide, there will plenty of room :-)

[Sinners121]

if i was you i would glass off 15 cm's along one wall and create a built in filter with a tank that big. have a look at aqua one tanks with built in filters and then you will get what i mean.

[Amazing Amazon]

The enclosure going to be 7 ft high x 6 ft long x 7 ft wide, there will plenty of room :-)

Too high for a canister. You will need a sump for that tank.

[hector]

What do u mean too high, the ponds not goin on the roof, it will be about 2-3ft of the ground. will that be enough to gravity feed the canister? if not how to plumb sump in?

[ericrs]

i would get inlet and outlet holes drilled in the sides somewhere where they are less visible. that way no hoses are actually having to go all the way up and down the sides again. then no need for sump. just keep it simple

[PythonLegs]

Stick with coarse foam in the outside areas and noodles in the middle buckets. Water turns over real quick through the fx5, so don't worry about thins like ammonia pads or matrix.

[ericrs]

totaly agree with pythonlegs. its also not needed as there is no fish in there. a turtle or 2 would look pretty cool tho. wonder if they would go well together

[Frozenmouse]

there are a few good conversions for the fx5 that remove the foam completely and fill the whole bucket with ceramic media it increases their filtration capability heaps . But if you have no fish there will be very little bio load so i wouldnt worry . And steer clear of their pad inserts they block in a couple of days and are a pain .

ps i wouldn't mix turtles with them, Mertins can become voracious when the weather is warm and are equipped with the right set of tools to extract all of the edible bits from a turtle .