Brand new to canister filters

[aquapeanut 0]

Hi! I bought an Aquatop CF400-UV canister filter from Amazon (with free shipping!) when they (accidentally???) listed it at $17 about 3 months ago. It's just been sitting in my basement because I didn't have any tanks set up big enough to require using a canister filter. I just bought it because it was $17!!

Anyway, now that I have 3 lil comets in a 29 gallon for the winter, I figured I'd pull it out and give it a shot. The directions are terrible for someone who's NEVER used or really even seen a canister filter in use! But, I managed to put it all together. And now I have to figure out what media to put in it.

It has 3 media chambers, and it came with a blue coarse filter pad and 3 white fine filter pads. It suggests mechanical media (the blue pad and a white pad on top of it) in the bottom, chemical media (activated carbon?) in the middle, and bio media in the top. So what would be the best for 3 comets in a 29gal? I've read that most people don't use carbon because it's not necessary and that fluval biomax seems to be what people prefer for biomedia. How full should I fill each chamber? Do they go straight into the chambers or placed in a holding bag of some sort and then into the chamber? How often should I use the UV light?

Also, I'm about to do water changes on my pearlie and comet tanks so I tested the water. Everything came out fine with the following results:

pearlie tank (20 long):

pH- 8.0

amm- 0-.25

nitrite- 0

nitrate- 10-20

comet tank (29 gal):

pH- 7.4 (this is the lowest pH reading I've ever had on any of my tanks so I prolly made some sort of error)

amm- 0-.25

nitrite- 0

nitrate- 10-20

I was wondering if having plants in the goldie tanks would help with the nitrates between weekly water changes. I saw a video on youtube that showed green foxtail in a ranchu tank that they didn't bother or eat. are there other plants they won't destroy?

thanks in advance for your input! off to do the weekly cleanings!

[kortniee 452]

I would just put more biomedia where the carbon goes. In my canister, the bio media is just in the bin loose, but you could use a bag if you wanted. You can fill the chambers as full as is possible without making it so the thing won't fit together.

Plants in a goldfish tank are a great idea! A lot of us start with anubias, java fern, crypts, or swords.