Equipment Review and Discussion :: Is my diy filter enough?

[robind]

Not really. I use the ceramic ring 'prefilter', and then gravel, and then biomedia. It's a 10 gallon tank so there's plenty of room for media. The tank has finished cycling now...and I haven't cleaned the filter since I turned it on in the first place.

[drtweak]

Where is the activated carbon??? I dont see any? I was going to say that might be your prob lol but you said its down to 0 now

[robind]

There is some activated carbon, I think. I never change it though, just wash it out. I don't think it really does anything for turtles.

[drtweak]

dude activated carbon is what breaks down ammonia! no wounder why it took soo long to come down man. having a good prefilter (mechinical), bio filter (bio balls what ever) and carbon are all needed to keep a tank healty and clean. If you dont have all three of them in there you need them!

Go out, buy some carbon that comes in pouches and make it so the water has to flow through it.

[robind]

Uhm, I hate to disagree, but that's simply not true. http://www.redearslider.com/filtration.html

You're thinking of biological filtration.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

What does "diy" stand for?I've heard people use it,but what does it actually stand/mean for?

[marisa]

DIY = Do It Yourself

[robind]

So the other day when I was cleaning the filter I broke it! I pulled on the glass and cracked it, so this filter is going in the garbage. However, I'm going to re-use most of the parts and convert to using plastic buckets. Right now I only have one 5g, but a couple more should give me enough capacity to not risk overflowing.

[scales]

i would also agree about the activated carbon, it is an essential media used in filtration for any tank, or any sort of filtration!!