Fluval Aquarium

Question
I just got  Fluval vienza 180 bowfront aquarium on wednesday. Im in 7ty grade and parents wanted to reward me with something special. I have a 205 filter on it. I am wondering what is the best combination of filter media (stuff that you put in the caskets to clean and treat the water) would work best for me. The aquarium is 40 galons ...keep in mind and I am new to big aquariums. I usually breed sword tails,mollies,gouramis,platies and lots of other fish. My old aquarium is also a nursery for the babies. Thankyou Brandon

Answer
Hi!
That sounds awesome! A new 40 gallon bowfront!

So you have a fluval 205 filter I assume? These filters are great. With the caskets the most important filter media to keep in there always is the biological filtration media. Which can be in the form of small porous pieces of rock or ceramic rings. Soft sponges and cottony fiber is always an excellent biological filter media as well. Its so important to have plenty of this material because that's where thousands of beneficial bacteria thrive that convert dangerous ammonia (produced by the fish) to nitrite and then later to harmless "nitrate".

Another type of filtration is carbon and Zeolite. Neither of which are really that necessary. Carbon is a bittersweet thing. Yes it does remove discolorations and odors from the water but it can't get rid of the source. It does a cover job with the actual environment and it can mask problems so you're not even aware of them until perhaps its too late. An aquarium that is properly maintained should never have an odor problem (only the pleasant 'earthy' smell healthy tanks have) nor yellow or brown water (unless bogwood/driftwood is the excuse.) So Carbon is not a sin. You can use it. Just don't depend upon it entirely and make sure to keep up with regular weekly partial water changes.

Zeolite is an ammonia-removing filter media that is best used in emergency situations but even then it won't be as effective as dosing the tank with ammo-lock or doing a big water change. And also having Zeolite in the tank whilst it is cycling may drastically slow the cycle by removing the ammonia the bacteria need to develop and colonize the tank and filter.

The large sponges canister filters have are for removing the larger particles in the water of course and you should make sure to rinse them in a bucket of tank water every-time you do a water change to keep them clean and water flowing through smoothly. Also if your filter is still running slow even after rinsing the sponges, check the impeller because algae and other debris seem to always find their way into and wrap around the impeller causing very poor function.

Try not to rinse the biological filter media very often at all unless clogged and only do so in a bucket of tank water.

Its best to keep the water flowing through the filter media in this order-

First water flows through the big sponges, then carbon, then biomedia last.

I do hope this helps and best of luck with your new aquarium!
Karen~