Equipment Review and Discussion :: Cascade 1500

[PrincessSplinter]

I hope I'm posting in the correct place. I'm new here! I just bought the cascade 1500 canister filter and was going to set it up like the chart I found on this forum. I had a few questions though. Where it says black coarse foam on the bottom tray and it says it twice in one tray does that mean I put two sponges in or just one? For example I went to put two in the bottom tray and then the trays wouldn't sit properly without being pushed down. is it possible to have them too full? I just want to make sure I'm supposed to be putting two and not just one any help would be appreciated!

[steve]

Welcome to the site! It means you should just fill it up. In many canisters with deep trays, you can mix and match what's in there. If it can't seat properly, then I would take it out. Just curious... how much pressure do you need to apply?

[PrincessSplinter]

Welcome to the site! It means you should just fill it up. In many canisters with deep trays, you can mix and match what's in there. If it can't seat properly, then I would take it out. Just curious... how much pressure do you need to apply?

It doesn't stick out much past the tray, but it's pushing up the handle that's why the tray doesn't sit right on it without pushing down. Instead of two black coarse foams in the bottom trays could I put one coarse foam and a floss pad in each? It fits with the floss pad in with the coarse pad.

[steve]

Could you post a picture of it or a reference photo? Since it's the bottom tray, I think pushing it down a little is not a big deal. You just need to make sure that they do get seated and the canister is locked properly or you might get a leak. Do they mention how to lay out the media in the instructions?

[VeipaCray]

I hope I'm posting in the correct place. I'm new here! I just bought the cascade 1500 canister filter and was going to set it up like the chart I found on this forum. I had a few questions though. Where it says black coarse foam on the bottom tray and it says it twice in one tray does that mean I put two sponges in or just one? For example I went to put two in the bottom tray and then the trays wouldn't sit properly without being pushed down. is it possible to have them too full? I just want to make sure I'm supposed to be putting two and not just one any help would be appreciated!

When I messed with the Cascade filters, the black coarse foam took up half a tray. I was able to put two pieces stacked together in a single tray and fill the tray up. The trays did stack nicely without much grief. Perhaps they've started making the foam a bit thicker now??? You can smash it down if you can OR just take a utility knife to one of the pieces and make it a bit thinner so that when both pieces are stacked the tray is filled. The idea is to put as much media as you can in the space you have to work with so that you're not doing constant filter maintenance because of our messy turtle friends.