General Care Discussion

I have a Zoo Med 511 Canister filer and I need to pick up some new carbon bags (from Petco). I know I need activated Carbon, but I can't find out the specs of what I need. How much do I need per bag? Could I buy multiple smaller bags and double up to the right weight, or would that cause problems?

How large is your tank? The Zoo Med 511 is not too big so I suggest about a 1/2 cup of carbon per 10 gallons changed monthly. Carbon is much cheaper in larger bulk packaging. I suggest ordering it online from places like amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Acurel-LLC-Econom ... rbon+pound

Thanks for the advice. Currently a 55 gallon tank. So... about three cups? I have a second filter in there too, but it's only a standing tetra reptofilter.

I'm wondering about dropping that useless reptofilter and replacing it with this; http://www.amazon.com/SunSun-HW-304B-Ex ... H+canister, which as far as I can tell is far superior to the 511 in terms of GPH. GPH is the important thing, right? I'd use it in conjunction with the Zoo Med. Would this filter be OK for a turtle? Is UV filtration good or bad?

The sunsun is a big step up from the 511 filter. You can definitely run both the sunsun and the zoo med.

Here's our slightly dated filter thread. I need to update this to include some of the newer models but the sizings still hold true.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145

Would it over-filter a 55 gallon tank? Is that possible?

Over filter a 55 gallon fish tank? Yes. But it'll be fine for turtles.

Now I'm wondering how often I should be cleaning/changing the water in the tank with the sunsun/zoomed combo.

You won't be able to filter everything (like nitrates) out, so a partial water change is something to do on a regular basis.

Oh I've been doing complete water changes every couple of weeks, even if the water seems clean. Not to mention topping up every time the water level drops (which it does very quickly). I'm trying to work out -how- regularly I do need to change it.

MVB wrote:Oh I've been doing complete water changes every couple of weeks, even if the water seems clean. Not to mention topping up every time the water level drops (which it does very quickly). I'm trying to work out -how- regularly I do need to change it.

The best way is to get a nitrate test kit and use that as your guide. As water evaporates, other chemicals besides nitrates are concentrating. We can't test for them, but we can for nitrate. Using that as my guide, I needed 25%+ changes weekly.

Once I added the refugium with floating plants, I can probably get away with much less. I do 20% weekly.

In the original 20 gallon, that I got without knowing enough, I really need to do it more than once a week because my son over feeds. Less than before, but still too much. That just has fish.

There's really no hard and fast rule. I'd say 20 - 25% a week, but let the nitrate level guide that.

Thanks, I'm going to give that a shot!

General Care Discussion :: Need advice on replacing the carbon in my canister filter...

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