quick filter question

[WOGGIES]

I am using a emperor 280 filter. I bought it off a friend, so i don't have instructions for it. But it has 2 slots for the filter and one of them is for the "media filter." From the online site it says to only use black diamond activated carbon, white diamond ammonia neutralizing crystals, or diamond blend. But today I got aquatic gardens "activated carbon and zeolite crystals" and put it in the filter. There seems to be little white specs coming out of the filter. Is this right? Or did I do something wrong? thanks

[Drumachine09]

Did you put the carbon in a media bag? it could be floating out.

[Chrona]

The crystals are probably too small to be contained by the media bag. Companies usually make their media bags to suit the particle sizes of their media. For instance, Seachem bags are the only media bags I've seen that can hold onto Purigen. I wouldn't even bother with Zeolite, as it's a ammonia remover, which will reduce your bacteria population and cause an ammonia spike when it is depleted. Save the Zeolite for when you have an ammonia spike and just get regular activated carbon (Black diamond brand)

[Lady Hobbs]

Make sure with those filters you run a long thin brush up thru the uptake filters and also every now and then remove the stray bars and run a brush thru those as well. They get full of gunk and water doesn't full thru too well. It may just be there is gunk in there right now and some of it is just floating around? Sometimes when you mess around or change a filter, you get particles that were disturbed.

You can use whatever filter media you like. Charcoal if OK for getting a tank cycled or removing meds but doesn't have to be used all the time. Filter floss or another filter media also works.

Hope you will do a "fishless cycle"?