# So many questions where to begin



## joeeey (Jan 22, 2009)

Hi All, I have a 46 Bowed front, Fluval 404 & a wisper 10-30i, 3ft 25watt FL. I purchased this setup used a year ago and I have a few questions. I currently have a Bala, Jack Dempsey, a few cat fish. I plan on adding 10 -15 more small guys in total.


1. Do I need both filters or will the Fluval do the whole job?

2. If I keep the wisper along with the Fluval do I need to buy media for it or can it be made?

3. I have the Fluval 404 In which order should the media be placed in the chambers and what media should I be using? I'm not sure if it's setup correctly.

4.Do I need to replace the 4 foam pads in the Fluval or can they be cleaned?

5. Is a bubble air stone needed for oxygen or is it just used for decoration? It seems to make the water evaporate much faster. and makes a mess out of the tank cover.

Thanks
I do plan on adding live plants. If this matters any.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

1 - The whisper isnt really doing much on that tank, but with the bioload of catfish, JD, balas, and more, you will want to keep the whisper on there, and honestly, I'd invest in another 404 or higher filter. Especially depending on the type of catfishes you have, they can make a big mess and a lot of waste, and the more fish you add, the more biological filtration will be needed. Also keep up on your weekly water changes. I would do about 40% per week.

2 - In my Whisper, I honestly took all the media out, especially with it being used as a backup filter to a canister, and just bought a big bag of filter floss and stuffed as much in it as I could. On my 2.5G tank with a Whisper 10, I even siliconed sponge to the overflow section so it did not rush into the tank.

3 - Not too sure on this one, but I know in my eheim, it has three baskets. Top basket has a carbon pad on top of a sponge, second and third basket are filled with ceramic media. There is a post from earlier today that goes over different options for canister filters.

4 - Do NOT replace them unless you deal with some sort of super-disease. If you replace it, your tank will go straight back to a cycle, possibly killing your fish. I just take mine every water change and swish them around in some water from the tank that's in a bucket to get some of the gunk off

5 - It all depends. Some water, has a lot less dissolved oxygen than others. The higher the temperature, the less oxygen there is also. I use sponge filters in all of my tanks which are driven by an air stone. The bubbles popping at the surface provide good oxygen exchange, especially when using a canister filter where the output may be underwater. If you plan on adding live plants and dosing CO2, this will cause a negative effect though and the CO2 injection will do nothing at all.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

joeeey said:


> Hi All, I have a 46 Bowed front, Fluval 404 & a wisper 10-30i, 3ft 25watt FL. I purchased this setup used a year ago and I have a few questions. I currently have a Bala, Jack Dempsey, a few cat fish. I plan on adding 10 -15 more small guys in total.


jy: although I have never kept these fish I am relatively certain that you know that you are on your way to significant tank volume upgrades:
16" = *Bala Shark*;
10" = *Jack Dempsey* and
you did not enumerate the catfish.




joeeey said:


> 1. Do I need both filters or will the Fluval do the whole job?


Please keep in mind here that I have limited experience with a cannister, quite a bit with an HOB, but a ton with a wet/dry but *please keep both* although I know that the maintenance is a pain.

The *Fluval 404* is probably running at about 6X per hour and this rate will decrease when you add the plants.

I could not find any specifications for the Whisper but it may be running like 30GPH.




joeeey said:


> 2. If I keep the wisper along with the Fluval do I need to buy media for it or can it be made?


It can be made.

I would get some very el cheapo non flame retardant fluffy type quilt batting and use the Whisper for secondary mechanical filtration.




joeeey said:


> 3. I have the Fluval 404 In which order should the media be placed in the chambers and what media should I be using? I'm not sure if it's setup correctly.


1st basket - more quilt batting
2nd basket - ceramic cylinders*
3rd basket - sintered glass*

*If budget constraints enter into the equation plastic pot scrubbers can be used.




joeeey said:


> 4.Do I need to replace the 4 foam pads in the Fluval or can they be cleaned?


rinse the media thoroughly in WC water and btw I could not find any flow schematics for the Fluval 404 (please post a link if you can) but the basket adjacent to the darkest area of the foam pads is the 3rd basket in the filtration process.




joeeey said:


> 5. Is a bubble air stone needed for oxygen or is it just used for decoration? It seems to make the water evaporate much faster. and makes a mess out of the tank cover.


If you have a mild agitation of the surface of the water sans the air stone then the air stone is not needed (ie. the outflow from the Whisper producing some turbulence).

TR


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