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What do you do in regaurds to changing the filters i know with juwel filters you change the little sponges on a regular basis, but as for the 304 how does this work? and is anyone using one of these are they any good? my LFS said they would be ok! any advise.

I use many Fluvals. I happen to have a Fluval 304 on my community tank right now. It's a canister that has baskets. I have had no problems. I heard you have to be careful if you unsnap the cover to the impellor because after time, the platic wears and the snaps may break off. So caution. The hoses are a bit more troublesome to clean compared to other canisters like a Rena, because the hoses are made like an accordian....or a fan. And I have had my flow intake screen fall off....have to put it back on. Not a big deal. I also highly recommend the Rena....I have had no problems with it.
I love the fact you can adjust the flow. Great feature. Don't know what more to say, just that I'm happy with it. Some people use it with saltwater...says you can right on the box.
Make sure to get a filter much higher rated than what the box says. You should overfilter if you can. I have 2 canister filters on a 55gal tank.....deadly overfiltering, but my fish have been very healthy and happy. No problems with diesease or food rotting, etc.

Good luck.

Shell231 wrote:What do you do in regaurds to changing the filters i know with juwel filters you change the little sponges on a regular basis, but as for the 304 how does this work? and is anyone using one of these are they any good? my LFS said they would be ok! any advise.

You should perfom maintanence as you would on any other filter. Change the sponges 1 at a time...with the 304 you have 4 sponges which makes life a little easier. Make sure you perform ANY cleaning in water that has been removed from the tank.

Depending on the media you choose for the baskets, you should treat this in the same respect as the sponges....any "cleaning" should be done in old tank water and changes should be done periodically and not too much at once.

I was wondering where you got the media from i have in my 304 little sacks of stuff and 3 things that look like white paste pieces ( sorry explanation ) i didn't know how to carry on with that

Here's a link that gives you the whole manual for the Fluval 304. It is illustrated and should give you all the information you need about where the media goes, etc.
http://www.hagen.com/pdf/aquatic/Fluval_MSF_Manual.pdf

Thanks it was a great help!