Making your own filter pads

twocents

What experience do folk here on making one's own filter pads?

What about the bulk media out there that you 'cut to fit'. Price? I've read in places that the 'cut to fit' cannot be rinsed out and re-used the way some media can. (Rena filter material for example, save for the final micro-fine filter).

Sources for such material?

Thanks for any input..

tanker

I bought a metre or a couple of metres (I can't remember how much I've got, it's a big piece) of the "cut to fit" material off a trader on Ebay. My newest aquarium came with cartridges which consisted of the polyester material with (I presume) carbon in the middle. I replaced those with just 2 layers of the material (one side at a time, a couple of weeks apart) and everything is fine, no issues with my fish. The stuff I got can be rinsed out. It's just the same as the material wrapped around a bag of carbon in my other aquarium. It's like polyester batting you'd use to make a quilt.

I'm in Australia, so I can't recommend a source. The trader I bought it off sent me an email trashing his competition, so I wouldn't recommend him or buy off him again in any event, but as a general proposition, getting a big piece has worked for me. The proprietary cartridges are quite expensive and it's a lot cheaper to do it yourself.

twocents

thanks Tanker... nice to hear from someone in Australia.. the Internet can be a marvel...

I have a Rena filter so the pads are quite easy to cut out. If you think polyester quilt batting would work, that might be another idea.. sandwiching it between the ready made bulk would add another layer of filtering.

So, would polyester quilt batting work? In the old days they used to sell this batting material..
Keep up the input.

bearwithfish

i have heard of using batting in filters (have not tried it myself) and you can buy it super cheep at cradt stores or fabric dealers

tanker

I'm no fish/aquarium expert, I'm a novice, so don't rely on my opinions about this. I've done patchwork quilting and the stuff I got from the aquarium supplier looks like quilt batting to me. Maybe a bit of googling would establish whether it is, in fact, the same stuff. My guess is that it is, but I wouldn't want to steer you down the wrong path. What bearwithfish says supports the idea, though.

zof

I saw some at petco today the lose stuff said 100% polyester didn't look to closely at the cut your own woven stuff though. I would assume the quilting stuff would work, just make sure they don't add any chemicals to it, check the bag for any type of fire retardants.

jeaninel

I use the quilt batting in 3 of my Penguin 350 filters. It comes in a roll and I cut it to size. I got mine from Walmart in the fabric dept. This roll has lasted me well over a year and I still have lots left. I do rinse (in used tank water) and reuse it but every few months I'll put fresh stuff in the filters.

twocents

Thanks.
I just went to a local fabric store and bought some batting material & some polyester pillow fiber-fill. The batting can be used for the coarse filters and the fiber-fill can be used for the finer filtration.
I don't use carbon, but I'm sure I can get it to work in the Rena filters. That is one advantage to the basket canister filters....although I imagine there are better designs .. but just haven't thought on it much.