How to set up an external canister filter for aquarium by Pondguru
Channel: Pondguru
Date: 2013-05-19

BIOHOME FILTER MEDIA, FILTER UPGRADE KITS AND FOAMS HERE: http://www.filterpro.co.uk
Decent external filters: http://geni.us/2LnO
2.3 litre booster filter for externals: http://geni.us/2bj1
1.2 litre booster filter for externals: http://geni.us/1pBh
This video shows how to set up an external filter for an aquarium using simply 3 grades of foams and great quality filter media........With the bewildering array of filter media available for sale and manufacturers trying to outdo each other with pointless technical jargon designed to confuse the beginner and enthuse the armchair 'expert' I decided it was time to once again make filtration simple and understandable.
Filtration is at its most basic level a 2 stage process:

1 - Mechanical Filtration. The water passes through a series of foams or screens, each one finer than the last until it is visibly clean with no (or very few) suspended solids.

2 - Biological Filtration. The 'clean' water flows over and through media which can be plastic, ceramic or sintered glass. The best types of media are high quality sintered glass and ceramic (although there is a nation of poor quality ceramic media for sale from China). The media supports beneficial aerobic bacteria which consumes ammonia and nitrite, producing nitrate as an end product which is used up by plants or exchanged with the atmosphere. The very best media (e.g. Biohome) also supports anaerobic bacteria which will reduce the amount of nitrate providing a more complete filtering process.
More surface area = more bacterial colonisation. Common sense.

Foams and media to be positioned as follows (in order of contact first to last by water): Coarse, Medium, Fine foams followed by media. Yes, it is that simple.

Many manufacturers will advise the incorrect placement of media and foam pads; possibly for no other reason than to sell more replacement media? but if the media is well protected from muck by good foams then it will last many times longer.
No doubt there will be some ass clowns who cuss this video up and insist on having filters with digital readouts and the latest branded media but too often the idea of filtration is over worked to the point of stupidity - a case of the 'Emperors new clothes'.

A filter is only as efficient as the media it uses and all too often manufacturers will sell cheap external filters which will filter no more than a small foam internal filter due to the media inside them being cheap ineffective crap. Rip out the guts of the cheap filters and replace them with decent layered foams and good quality media and your cheap filter is capable of outperforming the most expensive range of filters.

I am using 3kg of BIOHOME *MINI* ULTRA in this video. It is a sintered glass media which has been made to my specifications  by the manufacturer of other Biohome media. Unbelievably good stuff.

*NOW AVAILABLE - BIOHOME ULTIMATE - It has exactly the same structure of mini ultra but also has the added trace elements of Biohome Plus. This combination easily makes it the best filter media you can buy.

For quality filter media supplied Worldwide click the link below and contact me for bulk orders on sales@filterpro.co.uk or 07772848730
BIOHOME FILTER MEDIA, FILTER UPGRADE KITS AND FOAMS HERE: http://www.filterpro.co.uk

**PLEASE NOTE I HAVE CLOSED TYNE VALLEY AQUATICS AND NOW SELL MEDIA FROM HOME ONLINE. COLLECTING MEDIA IS NO PROBLEM JUST RING OR EMAIL ANY TIME.**