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I got a new xp3 for my girls and I read that 1 liter of ceramic rings will work for 75 gallons of water. Is this right? I googled that 1 liter roughly equals 1000 grams most packs I've seen come in 500gram bags. Also can I leave the rings in the net bag or do you think it works best loose? Is it economical to make your own charcoal bags for your filter? Can I reuse polyfill if I just use it to filter tap water in an optional set up?
Any input for my first canister will be lovely, thanks!

I also own the XP3, the bottom basket has course sponges and I pack the top 2 baskets with ceramic rings leaving some room at the top for a bag of purigen or carbon. Ceramic rings are cheapest over ebay and putting them in a mesh bag makes rinsing them out easier. I don't use charcoal, but buying charcoal in bulk and filling your down bags is also most cost effective than buying the them from the pet store. I would remove the polyfill as it clogs rather quickly in a turtle tank.

sperez3 wrote:I got a new xp3 for my girls and I read that 1 liter of ceramic rings will work for 75 gallons of water. Is this right? I googled that 1 liter roughly equals 1000 grams most packs I've seen come in 500gram bags. Also can I leave the rings in the net bag or do you think it works best loose? Is it economical to make your own charcoal bags for your filter? Can I reuse polyfill if I just use it to filter tap water in an optional set up?
Any input for my first canister will be lovely, thanks!

For charcoal I use bags made from nylon socks.

Thanks guys. I think the charcoal and polyfill is more for doing cleaning then normal filtration, right?

The polyfil is definitely a short term solution to clarify water. With the waste a turtle produces, it will clog and degrade your filtration quickly.

Most use carbon on a regular basis. It will help to clear the water and pulls out some impurities. But you do need to change it regularly and is not renewable. I buy bulk carbon and use bags for it. I don't use bags for my biomedia, but I would probably clean it better if I did.

You've probably already checked out the filter media thread:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145

yeah i looked at it already but its a general over veiw. Im curious on how much to use and which basket order works better and economical solutions since this will be a long term thing. I would like to save money where I can. I thought i saw someone using eggcrate foam as a secondary pad instead of the ones you would buy specifically for the filter. Some one also showed me an article on using peat moss to help with water hardness and that requires the use of carbon too. Im just trying to get ideas to expeirment with.

my question on the polyfill is that can it be rinsed and set aside for the next time i need it or is it just best to use new every time?

If you are going for economy, I'd avoid polyfil. It's cheap, but it will clog up fast. It will be difficult and likely impossible to rinse, so you will be constantly replacing it.

I've got a Fluval 406 set up as in the filter thread. I've had it a year and a half. I have not had to replace the sponges or ceramic media. I do replace the carbon monthly. There's a seachem product called purigen that does the same work as carbon. It can be regenerated with bleach.

Peat will help with water hardness and will do some of the same work as carbon, but it releases organic molecules that the carbon adsorbs, so peat and carbon together mean the carbon gets used up faster and blocks some of the benefits the peat provides.

Good know!