Tetratec 1200

[faolteam]

My above filter tube that blows out the water is only about 24 inches long , my tank is 36 inches long ,

Does this matter, i also noticed that according to teh instructions on the filter media ie filter floss. TETRATEC BIOLOGICAL FILTER FOAM, TETRATEC CARBON TETRA TEC etc should be changed every 4 weeks, i couldnt afford to do that

[Cliff]

If your referring to the spray bar, it doesn't have to be as long as the tank to work well

You also do not need to change foam inseters every 4 weeks if you clean them on a regular basis in old tank water. All of the foam pads in my FX5 are over 2 years old now and I don't plan on changing them until they start falling apart

Carbon will need to be changed every 4 weeks or so. Any chance you could just replace the carbon with another foam insert ???

[faolteam]

that is expensive

do u mean not to use the carbon stones and just use foam??

[Cliff]

Yup, in most cases you can just use foam or a combination of foam and some biomedia.

In most filters that take cartridges, you can do replace the carbon cartirdge with a sponge. You really only need to use carbon unless you need to remove meds from the tank. I almost never use carbon in my FW tanks.

Edit:

I would suggest to have sponges on the bottom try, and biomedia in all other trays. Bio-max has always worked great in my set-ups

[faolteam]

For the Advice

[faolteam]

For the Advice