I have a fluval 305 filter which has six ‘chambers‘ inside, three have ceramic rings and three have carbon in. If i were to remove the carbon from some or all of the chambers and replace them with ceramic rings would this improve my filtration capacity or make no difference?
The ceramic rings are for bio-filtering, lots of space for bacteria, The Carbon is chemical filtering, where the carbon soaks up stray arganic chemicals. As I dont use carbon in any of my tanks I would take it out and add more bio-media, but thats just my preference. Water changes will make up for the lack of carbon. Ian
The ceramic rings are to add surface area for the biological filter, whereas the carbon is a chemical filter. Increasing the rings will help overall, but the two serve such different purposes, that they are not interchangeable. Which you prefer is up to you.
More ceramic rings means there is room for more bacteria and so technically it does improve your 'filtration capacity', but that says nothing for the extra mechanical filtration and water changes which are both also part of that formula for stocking heavier. As for whether you need more as your tank is now - well if you don't measure ammonia or nitrite in the water of a cycled tank, then your filter is doing its job the way it is. Filter floss and foam is a better idea for those extra baskets. Simple sponge is very porous and made from lots of smaller threads - in the end it offers as much surface area for bacteria as any media, while it does it's other job too - improving your mechanical filtration. In fact, by putting filter floss in the baskets so the water hits it before hitting the ceramics, your ceramics will remain cleaner and unclogged for it. I stopped using carbon myself many years ago because I realized there was nothing for it to really do since the water treatment plant and conditioner have taken care of all the harmful elements, and to keep it working it would need to be changed every water change anyway. Most people don't really need carbon whether they know it or not, unless for a specific purpose, and those who hang on to the same carbon are effectively not using it anyway.
