I have a 55 gallon tank that my Oscar is in. I have a Fluval 404 on it. Now i know that sump filters dont use carbon. If im correct they just have a huge bio filter. Can i just put the biomax in all the chambers? Do i really need the the carbon? Can anyone shed some light on this for me. Thanks.

carbon is used to remove med and chemicals from the water. and basically thats the only time you really neeed it. i run without carbon in my tanks and im sure most of the experienced people here probably dont use it either. its one of those things that you can use it if you want but really its not necessary. if you do decided to use it dont forget to change it on a regular basis.

hopes this helps.

welcome to oscarfishlover

The biggest advantage of using a sump filter is you can literally pack huge amounts of media into it. whereas the canister and other types have filters have a set volume,a stamped filter is very flexible. If you want to use carbon in a sump filter then there's nothing stopping you from doing so.however, you may have to use If you do use a sump filter, I would actually suggest using media that pond filters use such as bac balls and a alfagrog, both of which have superb surfaces for bacteria to live on.

Having said this, you have only got a 55 gallon tank, there is absolutely no point in you having a sump filter. If you have a tank in excess of 100 gallons them a sump filter is certainly worth considering

Ok thanks. That in mind, how about on my 20 gallon with a hang on the back bio-wheel. Could i just put some foam pad or something where the carbon media pads go?

thats what i do with my penguin 150 on the 20 gallon tropical tank i have it works fine for me.

necromancer4 wrote:

QUOTE:
dont forget to change it on a regular basis.

Necro has brought top an extremely important point here. As he has already said, carbon is used to remove impurities from the water, people normally use it after they have medicated a tank. However, the problem with carbon is it retains these impurities, at some stage, the carbon will not be able to hold any more and all what the carbon has absorbed may start leeching back into your water which could be extremely serious. And all so as he states, change it every few weeks. Even better, don't even bother putting it in your filter unless you need it at some stage.